Shop Owner

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Are photo estimates a downfall?
I have heard a lot of discussion about photo estimates lately. People ask me what I think about them and how they will affect our industry. My first response is that you should treat them as any other field estimate you receive; as an outline to write your own damage...
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Finding the right consultant to meet your business needs
In a previous column, I shared a few reasons I see collision repairers benefiting from bringing in an outside consultant. But given the time and expense you will invest in working with a consultant, you want to make sure you choose the right one. Here’s my advice for...
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Get more done by closing your business on time
Closing the business at the end of the day can be a great feeling. How you feel at the end of the day when turning the key in the door to head home has a lot to do with your overall happiness in life and in conjunction your effectiveness at work. It can provide a sense of...
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Digital marketing solutions for the collision repair shop
Accidents can happen.
A customer failing to choose your business for repairs is an accident you can easily avoid.
No matter where we are today, we’re always connected. That connectivity has led to an evolved consumer. That evolved consumer is changing the ways we as...
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The value behind in-process quality control
One of my favorite things to do when I visit a shop is enter the paint area, pull a damage appraisal off the dash and start checking over the vehicle. What I find reminds me that there is tremendous value behind in-process quality control (QC) checks. I have discovered...
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Strategies to ensure you make the right hire
As I write this piece, I acknowledge that experience can been a hard schoolmaster at times…put more simply this is not a pure science with absolute guarantees, but there are principles to follow that will provide success more times than not. For many years, my hiring...
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How to know the right time to work with a consultant
As someone who has consulted with collision repair shops for decades, I have seen the transformational power it can have on a business. I’m not saying that to tout my own success. I mean it more generally about the process of working with a consultant. I have seen the...
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Five rules to guide your business into the app world
Lakewood, Ohio, which sits just 15 minutes from ABRN’s offices, recently passed an ordinance making cellphone use while driving a primary offense within its city limits. Using a cellphone while driving is a secondary offense under Ohio law, but now Lakewood...
Focus Advisors launches specialized investment banking services to collision industry
FOCUS Advisors (focusadvisors.com), an independent investment banking practice, has been launched by Managing Director David Roberts, the leading collision industry M&A advisor. FOCUS advises collision industry entrepreneurs seeking capital, partners or representation...
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2019 ABRN Collision Industry Roundtable
Each year, ABRN hosts a Collision Industry Roundtable, bringing together a panel of collision repairers (see sidebar, “Who Was At The Table?”) to discuss what’s happening at their shop, the challenges they are facing, and what they see for their business...
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Position yourself for sustainability
Sustainability is the word I like to use when describing to shop owners what they must do to continue doing business in the collision industry. In my explanation, I try to illustrate how a shop owner must adapt to their environment to keep their business operating through...
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Online procurement systems could be helping your shop today
An interesting thing happened a decade ago when a number of online parts procurement systems hit the market. Even though these products were designed to make ordering more efficient and parts less costly, a large portion of repairers pushed back.
With shops, insurers, MSOs...
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Taking a hard look at the true cost of scanning
Over the years, our industry has experienced a number of significant changes — actually events — which have triggered major differences in how we repair collision-damaged vehicles. Some that come to mind include GM embracing uni-body construction, new substrates...
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Do you need an information resource department for your collision centers?
I am fortunate to work for LaMettry’s Collison, a respected regional MSO with many vehicle manufacturers’ certifications and dealership relationships. As a result, we work on many newer and high-end vehicles.
Our company policy is that we repair vehicles...
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The importance of business health
In the beginning of June, I started a new journey of better health. I want to be blunt and honest with all of you. Ever since my wife and I moved back to Mississippi in 2004, life and career has taken its toll; I have found myself fat and lazy. Saying this is not meant to...
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