When ABRN contacts Top Shop winners, typical responses range from surprise to modest gratitude to unabashed joy. When Jimmy Lefler, CEO of Evansville, Ind.-based Lefler Collision & Glass Repair Centers, was contacted for the third year in the row with the good news, his reaction was unusual. His business was named the number one Top Shop in 2010, and missing out on that pinnacle this year was – to Lefler and his staff – a bit of a letdown.
"Not finishing first matters. For us, even a second place is just first place for losing," Lefler says. Of course, in many ways he is just kidding, but winning means a lot to this shop. Being last year's Top Shop was a key part of their marketing strategy. But don't feel too sorry for the shop. Their business is expanding by leaps and bounds, and they're already reloading for next year's contest, with a plan they believe can return them to the top.
Take, for example, their repair philosophy, which is based on a still-evolving methodology designed to reduce mistakes and any unnecessary effort. The company utilizes a lean process where every vehicle, as soon as it reaches the shop, is washed, photographed, completely torn down and blueprinted. If the repair is a bit unusual or difficult, estimators, technicians, painters and a mechanic work together to develop the repair plan.
A designated employee then notes any sublet repairs or special requests/concerns by writing them on the driver's door glass, where each task is then crossed off as it is completed.
Once this prep work is finished, the estimate is prepared and electronically transmitted to Lefler's claims processing unit (CPU), a four-member team tasked with processing every claim and eliminating any time-costing mistakes. CPU reviews the estimate then uploads it for insurer approval.
Once insurer approval is given, the repair begins in one of Lefler's "islands of excellence," the shop's version of the perfect stall, engineered to conform to 5S methodology in which employees need take no more than five steps in any direction to access tools or other necessary equipment.
This process helps Lefler's generate more than $9 million annually in collision and mechanical repairs. While the business continues to grow these revenue streams, in 2011 it turned its attention to a profit center many shops have been abandoning – glass repair.
This year Lefler spun off his mechanical and glass operations into a separate company. He also grew his glass installation operation by adding Glass Doctor franchises in Indiana and Kentucky.
Those additions built up his glass repair business from one installer with a single mobile facility to 11 employees and four work vans. While such an aggressive business approach in a weak economy may seem risky, Lefler says the accelerated growth was necessary since it better ensures the survival of this part of his business.
"Whether you're doing this or running a [multi-shop operation], you have to go all in," he says. "Either go big or stay out."
In 2011, Lefler was equally aggressive in building the infrastructure of his collision repair operations – notably, in his business's training efforts. In March, Lefler's arranged to have a trainer with 15 years of experience working with measuring systems flown in from Texas for a week to work with all of the business's technicians on unibody repair and electronic measurement. The trainer also provided instruction on the latest available information pertaining to repair strategies when working with multiple exotic metals.
In July, Lefler's arranged for a trainer from the business's shop management software provider to fly in from Michigan and provide five days of on-site training for all employees specific to their positions and the data they are responsible for in the program. In August, a technical trainer from Glass Doctor spent a week training glass repair employees and working to ensure all of them were certified with Dow, Sika, and National Auto Glass and registered by the Automotive Glass Replacement Safety Standards Council.
To better organize these and other training efforts and upgrade his business's human resources operations, Lefler also hired a human resources director, who previously worked as the corporate director for a regional bank with hundreds of offices.
"This was a significant hire for us," says Lefler. "Our new director has streamlined all of our HR operations and worked on critical areas such as personality profiling for new hires and working with state and federal business programs."
The latter efforts have proved particularly fruitful. Lefler says government programs help defray the cost of bringing in new employees, particularly in his detailing department (the only department where Lefler says his business sees any real turnover). These employment opportunities are a boon to the local economy that has seen manufacturing and other jobs leave the area.
Other programs have helped Lefler make his shops even greener with incentives for upgrades to power fixtures.
Lefler says 2011's most significant upgrade is a work in progress. He's working with a paint manufacturer to build a unique MSO lean operating model utilizing value stream mapping. Lefler calls the system "a real game changer."
He believes it's significant enough to put his shop back at the head of ABRN's Top Shops, a position he says significantly benefitted his business this past year.
Lefler made the most of the shop's 2010 honor, fitting all four of his locations with banners declaring, "Nationally Ranked #1 by ABRN." He had similar notations used throughout his business's marketing efforts and even on training materials. Lefler says the award helped him pick up business.
When a business is rated No. 1, people feel confident about turning to it, he says.
Notable here, for Lefler's business, retaking the Top Shop title is about far more than bragging rights and selling points. It's also more than an honor. According to Lefler, it's who they are.
