By Dick Strom
I resent being thrown in the same grab-bag with just anyone
who calls his shop a "body shop." We have been in this
business 23 years and in our yuppies-n-lotsa-lawyers-n-doctors
area, you won't stay in business long without doing what you say
you will. We expect payment for everything we do, but not for
what we don't do. We do supplement most estimates and, if we can't
negotiate what we need to do each job correctly and safely, we
let some other "shop" bear the responsibility of an
irate customer. Frankly, I would rather go fishing (if I had the
time) than alienate perfectly good customers.
We make a good living and we have a clear conscience. The vehicle
owner is our customer, and we negotiate with the insurance representative,
on the owner's behalf, for fair compensation. For this reason,
more than 70 percent of our customers are referrals or repeat
customers.
We don't cheat our insurance representatives and we don't tolerate
being cheated by them. Recently, when two scraped Merkur door
glasses were cleaned up with buffing, we returned $900 to the
insurance company. As a result of our business policy, the insurance
representatives trust us and we regularly get what we need to
properly repair the auto.
When needed, we get the customer involved in the negotiation process.
If an insurer's estimate is insufficient to properly do the job,
and they are unwilling to negotiate, we tell the customer it will
be impossible to restore their auto to pre-accident condition
for what the insurer is offering and still make a reasonable profit.
We then compare the insurer's estimate, line by line, to what
it would take to do it properly and safely, and then tell the
customer we will have to pass on this repair. We say there are
other "shops" that will gladly accept the insurance
check, and remark "we guarantee you will be back to see us
next time you need the services of an auto body professional."
By this time they are usually on the phone with the insurer insisting
we do their repairs. We seldom lose a job under these circumstances,
but when we do, we usually get all their future work as predicted.
Does it pay to "play square" with insurance representatives,
customers and employees? One of our local parts suppliers recently
told me that we have more work in our shop than do three of his
good accounts combined -- and we are scheduled nearly three weeks
in advance!
Someone once said, "There is only one success ... to be able
to spend your life in your own way and not give to others' absurd,
maddening claims upon it."
| Dick Strom is owner of Modern Collision Rebuild in Bainbridge Island, Wash. In business for 22 years, Strom is a member of the Automotive Service Association (ASA).
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