Copeland family stays ahead of the curve with consolidation

“We’re moving ahead. If you’re not moving ahead, you’re moving backwards,” says Shaun, crediting Tracey’s sharp business acumen for driving the enterprise forward. “He’s the one who buys everything. I’m like, ‘Let’s get this organized and get everything in place’.”

A few years after Tracey signed on with CARSTAR, Service King, Gerber and ABRA all moved into the Seattle-area marketplace. “Once they hit, they all got here. With all of the consolidation going on in the industry, we have been fortunate to be able to grow our footprint locally,” Shaun reports.

“We have the advantage of working with an established MSO, but we’re still like a family MSO. With each shop being managed locally we can still keep it a family business.”

At CARSTAR’s annual convention in July, Hi-Tech was awarded national Top Sales Growth and Top Footprint Growth honors.

Except for the Fred’s Autobody location in Hoquaim, Wash, which is two hours away, all of the shops are within a half hour of each other, creating a significant presence in the region. “Nobody can get between us – we’re aiming for market domination,” Shaun quips, but he’s only half joking. Tracey is consistently monitoring expansion opportunities, including the exploration of possible shop purchases in markets as far flung as Arizona and Nevada.

A key priority, though, is that the current network of key vendors is geographically positioned to serve any new outlet that is added to the roster. “We need to make sure that with consolidation we have coverage. We want everything in place with our jobbers and distributors so that all the same companies are providing the parts and services,” says Shaun.

“With our growth we have focused on keeping all the shops on the same page. All of our shops use the same materials, paint line, management system and SOPs,” he explains. “Our shops are all linked by one main server and VOIP phone system. Anyone can be reached by their extension or cell phone from any shop, and we can also print to any shop. I can do an estimate in Spanaway and print it out in Olympia, and this allows estimators to help shop-to-shop – with the estimators linked, all of the estimators can help each other out.”

Shaun is the main point of contact for all the vendors, which are the same for every location. “We have a master order list with first and second calls for all our parts ordering. And we buy our materials exclusively from Total Sales and WESCO. There is a master order list at all the shops, and I meet with our reps monthly to go over products, and we have a quarterly meeting with our technicians to make sure the they are happy with everything we are using.”

Shops of varying shapes and sizes are continually looked at for possible purchase, but no deal is made until several facets are reviewed. Census data is analyzed for a neighborhood’s population density and demographic considerations such as income levels. The nearness of competing shops is taken into account, along with the viability of establishing direct repair program affiliations.

Hi-Tech’s 14 DRPs and the customer referrals they can provide are an important element of the company’s sales volume and operational details. “They can expect a business model from you and how you run things, and they expect you to replicate that at your other stores.”

Looking askance at shops with few or no DRPs, such limits can cause a collision center to shut its doors should a major disagreement arise with an insurance carrier. “Our eggs aren’t in one basket,” Shaun points out, noting that the aligned procedures at the shops aid in maintaining positive relationships with insurers.

“I rotate around the stores and engage with the adjusters and supervisors during routine spot checks and also during any inspections and audits. I serve as the main contact for all of our stores, making sure our insurance providers have just one call to make, and then I push that out to all of our locations.”

Can-do capability

As with the multiple DRPs, likewise there are few limitations regarding the types of repairs that Hi-Tech actively pursues through an extensive marketing strategy that includes a heavy rotation of radio advertisements on the region’s No. 1 network of stations airing several formats to beam to the broadest reach of potential customers.

The can-do list for the clientele includes commercial fleet vehicles of all sizes, municipal transit buses, auto dealerships, rental car companies, motorcycles, motor homes, trailers and boats. A towing service is also part of the portfolio.

Plus they do landscaping. Tracey additionally owns a landscaping and construction business, “so if a car has run off the road and into a fence or something, we can also get the job of repairing the fence and reseeding the lawn,” says Shaun, highlighting Hi-Tech’s commitment to serving the public.

“Customer service is our top priority. We strive to make every customer feel like they are our only customer. Repeat customers and word of mouth have helped us grow our customer base for the last 28 years.”

Maintaining high visibility within the assorted market communities, this year’s edition of Hi-Tech’s annual summer golf tournament raised more than $40,000 for a local children’s hospital. A yearly program donates a new car to a deserving military veteran. And for 14 years an annual car show with more than 500 vehicles on display has been raising funds for the region’s parks and recreation programs. In addition, the company participates in a December toy drive for underprivileged kids.

All of the shops are I-CAR Gold, and “we invest in training every technician so they are all I-CAR platinum and welding certified. All our estimators and I-CAR platinum and ASE B-6 certified, and our main store is aluminum certified along with several OEM endorsements.”

Added educational and marketing expertise is obtained by belonging to a CARSTAR Puget Sound 20 Group made up of 22 shops within the organization.