I own an 18,000 square foot collision center in Conway, Arkansas. We manage to stay pretty busy year-round and, without proper organization and having the right systems in place, business could easily and quickly spin out of control.
Since there are so many moving pieces involved with managing a collision shop, it’s important that we run a very organized process. From the moment, a customer walks into the door until they pick up their keys and, feeling satisfied, hit our “gong of success,” my priority is to make sure that every step of their service experience leaves a positive impression.
I take a lot of pride in the appearance of my shop. I work together with my team to make sure that every area stays tidy and organized. This is critical in keeping production flowing and maintaining efficiency at the highest possible level.
Organization extends beyond a physical state. It’s also a process of effective communication and teamwork. From how you interact with your staff members to the service you extend to the customer, it’s all a matter of organization by procedures.
At A&J Collision Repair, we want to stand out and ensure that the customer has the most enjoyable experience possible. If you’re looking to achieve a similar end-result, here some tips that might help:
Leave a Lasting Impression
A customer’s first impression begins the moment they open your front door. The best way to understand what they think of your shop is to walk in their shoes. Go through the entire experience so you can take it in exactly as your customer does. As the owner, this is an important exercise. It will allow you to identify, from a different perspective, what you’re doing right as well as the areas that could use improvement.
Find Your Edge
Extend your service to offer something that is unique to your shop. We have a drive-through inspection service where the customer’s vehicle is pulled into our garage to meet with the Service Advisor. After they complete the necessary forms, we will partially disassemble the vehicle to give the most accurate quote possible. It’s an extended gesture of personalization that our customers seem to enjoy. We also always go over our estimates with the customer to ensure they understand it. Again, another way to help us stand out.
Communication Gets Keys
It’s important to communicate with your customer but it’s just as essential that you talk regularly with your team. You need to be on the same page, set objectives for the week and, frankly, just have a little fun. You can set a weekly meeting and bring in donuts. At A&J Collision, we have a “morning huddle,” where we gather around white boards. We run through each department and discuss what our goals are for the day, as well as for the week. We also set an incentive such as “free lunch” which will be rewarded to the team at the end of the week if our goals are met. Bringing our team together like this on a daily basis creates a sense of unity, as well as accountability. It’s this teamwork that allows us to stay productive and efficient. It keeps our business moving in the direction that we need to stay in.
Put it in Writing
There is only one way to ensure that the job is completed to your expectations and that is to write out your exact expectations. This is called a procedure. I like to take it one step further and I also have checklists created for each procedure. Once they finish the first part of the job, they check off the task and move to the next. It helps to ensure accuracy and it also, again, holds my team accountable for the work they produce.
Organization is Everything
My business has a workflow that helps keep things organized. There’s an inspection area, Metal Line, Priority Line, etc. If a vehicle is repaired and ready for paint, it’s moved beyond the red markings on the floor so it’s clear that all cars in this section of our shop can be painted. We use visual indicators to minimize disruptions. For example, if you waive a green colored flag, that means you need help from a production estimator while a red colored flag will call over a technician. When disassembling a vehicle, we mark the vehicle for damaged parts and these parts will be placed into a red bin while the non-damaged parts are placed into a green bin. We also have storage areas for door parts and large shelves that we use to keep these components accessible through the repair process.
Having these processes in place allow us to be productive and offer a quick turn-around time to our customers. It’s the organization, personalization and the fact that we’re always smiling that keeps our business thriving.
