A body technician who read my column extolling the value of participating in a 20 group shared his own perspectives on the topic in an e-mail to me. "Tom" (not his real name) said that he and other technicians he knows believe 20 groups might help shops on paper, but not in reality.
"It seems as though most owners come back not inspired to make more money but focused on how to profit more from the money they already make," Tom wrote. "How is this possible? Cut waste, cut pay and cut 'unnecessary' costs."
Some examples he cited: Why buy name-brand body filler when you can get a cut-rate brand at one-third the price? Why buy "true daylight" lights when cheaper lights will illuminate the booth? Why spend money on "unnecessary" things like OEM repair information, measuring system updates or training?
"All these things will save you a nickel now, but cost much more in the long run," Tom wrote. "The problem is that they only see the now."
Tom said in his major metropolitan market, the wage per flat rate hour has dropped by $2 or more in recent years.
"Shop owners say they want to do good work and get paid for it, but at the end of the day, they don't want to pay their employees to do good work," Tom wrote. "I'm not saying that 20 groups are completely bad, but they should help open owners' eyes to the bigger picture. It should help them be successful, not help them lie, cheat and steal."
Though I don't think the technicians in our shop view our participation in a 20 group the same way Tom does, I appreciated his comments.
I told him that our mantra – and I think that of the others in our 20 group – is to work smarter, not harder. That certainly includes recognizing that training, equipment maintenance, access to repair information, and high-quality supplies and products are anything but "unnecessary expenses." I've never heard anyone in any 20 group suggest saving money by skimping on those things, and I cringed at the thought of anyone having to work in a shop that considers these things "unnecessary."
I told him that in our group, we recognize that a lot of "waste" in our business is upfront in the office, based on poor processes or a lack of clearly defined roles. We're focused, for example, on avoiding the stops and starts that the supplement process costs both technicians and the shop by instead blueprinting upfront all parts and labor needed for a job.
Similarly, in the shop, we're not skimping on equipment but instead are making sure there's "a place for everything and everything in its place," so that technicians don't waste time looking for what they need. Cutting the clutter is much smarter than cutting the quality of the body filler. When we've occasionally changed a product line we use, we've done so only with the input of technicians, never ignoring the hidden costs a change could have in quality or productivity.
We haven't had to cut employee pay, though I know some shops have just to stay afloat in these challenging times. But at the same time, we've not been able to provide increases that we'd have liked to. Competition caused by too many shops chasing too little work means the money simply isn't there. But the quality of the estimate can impact a technician's wages every bit as much as the hourly rate, and I think we work hard to understand the nuances of the estimating systems, and to identify and document everything that needs to be done to the vehicle.
I told Tom that in my experience, rather than supporting unethical or short-term business thinking, 20 groups are giving shop owners ideas, tools and support for improving their business for everyone's benefit. If I didn't see that happening in the 20 group I'm in, I wouldn't be there.
I don't doubt that the business decisions Tom cites exist. I want to believe, however, that they're based more on a shop owner's lack of business skills or ethics more than on his or her involvement in a 20 group.
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