Vendors offer multiple options to train your managers

May 1, 2018
Vendors offer a full range of affordable management training, with most of it packaged so your employees can conveniently take courses. All you need is a plan to make the most of the training available to your business.

Shop management training programs generally can be broken down into three types: 

  • Informal on the job, shop-led 
  • Formal on the job, shop-led 
  • Combination of shop-based lessons and outside sources 

The third selection arguably provides the best overall education. As with any type of training, especially from external providers, finding the time and resources can pose a serious challenge. Help actually is just a phone call or visit away from the same folks who provide the products and services you use every day.

(Image courtesy of CCC) Estimating training isn’t just for damage analysis staff members. Managers benefit as well and can help ensure the shop gets all the benefits of their information software

Vendors, most notably, your paint and information providers, offer a full range of affordable management training, with most of it packaged so your employees can conveniently take courses. All you need is a plan to make the most of the training available to your business. Build yours using the following available help. 

Paint vendors

Axalta: Axalta offers 11 courses in its Refinish Performance Management (RPM) program, covering estimating, parts management, customer service, production management and other areas. All Axalta courses have been updated for 2018 and are conducted either online or in-person, with many qualifying for I-CAR credit hours. 

Most recently, Axalta added a Repair Planning Process course that incorporates lessons on 100 percent vehicle disassembly, parts management and auditing supplements prior to upload. Beginning April 1, Axalta says it will be the first company to offer I-CAR Professional Development Program credit hours for completing eLearning courses. Production managers can earn up to 17 I-CAR credit hours by completing online courses through Axalta’s learning portal, the Axalta Learning Campus. Credit hours can be applied to I-CAR’s Platinum designation in its Professional Development Program. 

For aspiring or new managers, Axalta recommends Delivering Exceptional Customer Service, Refining Selling Skills, Parts Management, Lean Foundations, Production Management and Advanced Production. Each class is tied to a measurable improvement in the shop. Delivering Exceptional Customer Service class teaches managers best practices in customer experience and is designed to boost customer retention, repeat and referral customers, and help grow sales.  

For more experienced managers, Axalta offers five General Manager courses covering topics like recruiting, hiring, orienting /training, reinforcing processes, quality control and implementing teams. 

AkzoNobel: AkzoNobel offers nearly 20 classes that are applicable to management (though not all are available at any given time). Acoat Selected classes are considered an “in-the-can” service for users of Sikkens brand refinish products so there is no fee to attend. The majority classes are scheduled based on customer demand and conducted in an traditional classroom. “We’ve considered online or blended learning but our customers seem to prefer the personal interaction that comes with traditional classroom learning,” says Rick Fifer, North America Business Services Manager. 

(Image courtesy of CCC) Most paint vendors provide a full-range of instructor-led, interactive management training sessions.

Fifer recommends shops explore financial training courses since a number of managers “don’t understand the basic financials of a successful body shop.” He recommends courses like AkzoNobel’s Paint Material Management, which focuses on measuring and managing paint materials and paint material profitability. His company also offers a Financial Analysis class for a deeper exploration into overall body shop financials.   

For more experienced managers and those wanting to better understand the financial and operational KPI’s of their business, and to benchmark themselves against their peers, Fifer suggests joining either AkzoNobel’s Regional Performance Groups or one of several groups that meet at its North American Performance Group Conference. 

“In addition to elevated financial and operational benchmarking, we always include presentations and trainings, from both AkzoNobel and external vendors, regarding management and leadership skills,” Fifer explains. “Recent topics have included negotiation skills, understanding and leading different personality styles, Emotional Intelligence and online marketing.” 

BASF: With 11 courses in its VisionPLUS division (www.refinish.basf.us/training/), BASF trains managers in everything from Advanced Production Management and Paint Department Productivity to Marketing and Insurer Relations and Delivering Complete Customer Satisfaction. Craig Seelinger, VisionPLUS Program Manager, says BASF lets shops build whatever skillsets they require. “If you’re looking to add revenue, there’s Estimating for Profit and Measuring and Improving Performance,” says Seelinger. “If you want to open a new location, a course like Organizational Structure will help.” 

Shops with questions on courses or needing help setting up a training program can turn to BASF business development managers for guidance. 

BASF courses are formal, instructor-led and held across the country. Costs generally run from $100-$300 per student. All courses are I-CAR accredited (as are BASF Performance Groups, which Seelinger calls an industry first). Seelinger says BASF partners with local distributors familiar with their customers’ needs to determine which courses to offer to best meet shop needs.  

Seelinger also notes that BASF continually updates course content to ensure they’re as up-to-date as possible. “The same folks who facilitate our Performance Groups conduct our classes so they’re constantly upgrading our offerings with input from industry leaders,” says Seelinger. “The same course BASF offers one month will have changed when it’s offered again just several weeks later. There’s always something new to learn.” 

PPG: Looking for a full suite of training options offered around the nation, along with videos available online? PPG’s MVP Business Solutions program (www.ppgmvp.com) includes business courses on leadership, such as Have a Nice Conflict!, which explores developing more effective work relationships, and Leading Change, a two-day class that helps repairers assess and strengthen their leadership skills, while learning proven approaches to leading change throughout their organizations. 

The MVP program additionally includes coursework on sales and marketing, financial management, operational production and shop administration. In that last category, shops can study job relations, instruction and methods to develop skills needed to make the most of employee talents to optimize business improvement.  

PPG also hosts workshops and White and Green Belt training. Many courses allow students to earn I-CAR and Automotive Management Institute (AMI) credits.  

Sherwin-Williams Automotive Finishes: Lee Rush, Business Consulting Manager for Sherwin-Williams Automotive Finishes, says his company offers nine courses specifically designed for shop management: Achieving Service Excellence, The Road to Sales Success, Estimating Solutions for Profit, Compensation Solutions for Profit, Improving Performance with KPIs, Performance Management Leading for Results, Principles of 5S, Tactically Lean and the Lean Office. 

(Image courtesy of Sherwin-Williams Automotive Finishes) Vendor training tends to be conducted in formal classroom settings across the country, but more online lessons are being developed, some of which earn I-CAR credits.

All are offered in workshop formats, both regionally and by market, with online workshops currently in development. Courses typically run $295 per student. For repairers looking to enter management, Rush recommends Performance Management Leading for Results, saying it provides “the tools to manage employee performance and behaviors on both the production floor and the office.” 

“It is probably the most critical course we offer,” he adds. “The proven methods featured in the course come from many industries over the last 50 years on how to manage performance in your employees. It isn’t just limited to collision.” He also suggests Tactically Lean, which provide learning tools to transform shops from a traditional repair model to a more progressive one.

Also available are a number of online workshops, including Improving Workshop Efficiency, Cycle Time Reduction, and Damage Analysis and Blueprinting. Rush says the courses are interactive, featuring video and include an option to track performances. “We believe these will be especially useful for onboarding,” he explains. “It will help operators bring new hires up to speed quickly on business processes and rules.”

For more experienced managers, he recommends Compensation Solutions for Profit. Rush notes compensation remains one of the biggest hurdles for shops transitioning to a more progressive model, with many repairers still compensate employees the same way they did 20-30 years ago. In addition, he suggests Estimating Solutions for Profit to help managers stay on top of the latest vehicle technology while gaining a better grasp of estimatics. 

(Photo courtesy of Sherwin-Williams Automotive Finishes) Vendors report that their management training has helped transform hundreds of shop that have been able to effectively put their lessons to work.

Information providers

Both CCC and Mitchell both provide classes on using their software. Mark Fincher, Vice President of Market Solutions for CCC, says his company focuses on online learning that can then function as a springboard for formal in-shop training. 

“At the shop, we work with shops to develop best practices and show them how they can best apply our software for their processes,” Fincher explains. From there, shops can ask for help from CCC’s Elevate consultation services to further remake their operations.

What can a manager gain from this training? Fincher says managers need to be on top of estimating and other information services because of their effect on cycle times and multiple shop processes. Considering the hundreds of releases and other updates to repair information, every shop needs someone to manage this part of the business to ensure they’re getting the most out of their investment in information services. 

For example, CCC Direct recently introduced a checklist function to allow shops to create unique SOPs inside a set list of tasks for each repair to ensure every job is performed completely and correctly. “It’s something a shop can rally around. But if you didn’t know it was available, you couldn’t benefit from it,” says Fincher.

Final thoughts: Added benefits

Plenty of successful shops, including large MSOs, don’t go in for external management training. Odds are, though, the management training they already have in place offers much the same education they would gain elsewhere. Their success speaks for itself.

But so does the success of shops who go to their vendors for training. Axalta says hundreds of its customers have reported marked improvements such as better closing ratios, higher net promoter scores, improved paint and material gross profit, reduced cycle times, improved booth throughput and improved overall profitability.

Seelinger points to recent post-course surveys that show 99.5 percent of BASF trainees reporting be able to put lessons to work at their shops and 100 percent recommending the training to others.

Fifer says management training has the power to transform shops into top-tier performers. “The most successful operators weren’t born that way, and it didn’t happen by accident,” he declares. “They looked for opportunities to learn and develop their people. They realized the importance of knowing how to communicate, lead people, benchmark performance, motivate others, etc. We help them do all of this.”

That’s something to keep in mind as you work on your business and search for new ways to succeed.

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