Body Bangin'

A very popular guest of mine was a speaker at the SE Collision Conference and spoke specifically on a VERY hot topic...how shops are successfully finding and retaining talent and why shops are not being affected by this "talent shortage". His team educates and provides leadership education shops need to build a "magnetic business model" using the 5 key elements: 1 - Meaningful...

Sam Venezuela with National Autobody Research Company spoke at the SE Collision Conference and shared with shops how they can collect more  billable hours at better labor rates and share rates to combat insurance pushback using powerful, evidence based data. You've probably heard of Billable Genie and it's no wonder so many shops are raving about this tool. It provides real proof that in...

You may think that you have a wonderful insurance plan but typically, you won't know you are missing something vital until it's too late! Alex Whittit from Intrepid Direct spoke at the SE Collision Conference and talked to shop owners about common gaps in their garage policies,  and also the importance of "Cyber Liability". Companies like Rivian require 1 million dollars in cyb...

Everyone says they do the best work and have the best customer service so what separates your shop? At K&M Collision in North Carolina Michael Bradshaw, the VP, talks about the things that makes their shop different including understanding the insurance policy and how the appraisal clause works and when to utilize that knowledge. He had a session at the SE Collision Conference that was very po...

Jordan Hendler is someone you may have seen around in the last 20 years. She's the executive director of the Washington Metropolitan Auto Body Association, the Communications Manager for CIC, is part of SCRS Society of Collision Repair Specialists AND is president of Admin Concepts. Wow! That's a mouthful! In the 4th interview of this series Jordan and I talk about ways the industry can...

The 3rd interview of this series at the SE Collision Conference is with Thomas McFinch of I-CAR. I-CAR has shifted its focus from training to educating so what does that mean? Thomas talks about the pitfalls he sees a lot of shops fall into and the wonderful things he sees that are a necessary shift for our industry! Connect with Thomas McFinch  - Website: https://www.i-car.com/s/ Email Thomas: th...

The 2nd interview of this series at the SE Collision Conference is with Rachel Collector & Patrick Porter of Assured Performance - an OEC Company. We chat about the OEC "takeover" and what that means for you in shops. We also discuss what Assured Performance can provide a shop that you may not be taking advantage of including the VIP Card Program, education, the power of dealership r...

We kick off the next 14 episodes with an interview I had the pleasure of doing with THE Mike Anderson of Collision Advice! We will talk with the speakers and some of the sponsors of the SE Collision Conference so we can all have a taste of what those in attendance had the pleasure of experience first hand. On today's episode Mike touches on several of the things he spoke about in his sessions...

Many of you shop owners have an idea of what you'd like for your shop when your children or a manager takes over but how can you guarantee that will happen? You also have goals for your shop in terms of success and finances so how do you create a plan and execute it so it becomes a reality? We are talking with Matthew Di Francesco of High Lift Financial and he shares his process when helping...

Today we talk with Frank Rinaudo, owner of Frank's Accurate Body Shop in Slidell, Louisianna. I found Frank on LinkedIn and loved the videos he was making which showed the difference between an improper repair and a proper repair. As a non-DRP shop he understands the importance of education his guests and this was a way he could do so. He also shares with us some great information on becoming...

Greg Lobsiger is a body shop owner out in Indiana at Loren's Body Shop where he does about $300k/mo which is about 3.5 cars/day or 65 cars/month. He says "It's not about creating dollars. I want to take money home. I work very hard. I want my technicians to make very good money. Without question, I want to take care of those people. I better make stinkin' good money and that is...

Rachel James started in the industry over 20 years ago and went from the dealer side to a technician and now is crunching numbers for body shop owners and their employees on a daily basis at her practice with Northwestern Mutual! Although most of us don't like talking numbers she helps shops and their employees budget, helps us to know what numbers we should be looking at, we talk a little ab...

There are SO many hot topics in our industry right now so I grabbed my good buddy, Dominic Martino, who is owner of Gold Coast Auto Body with his brother, Mario.  We are talking about all of the things they are doing that has helped them be bigger and stronger than EVER as a non-DRP shop! Dominic's team is incredible and is doing a few things you may think of for your shop. We are talking...r...

As we are all packed with work and having all kinds of issues I thought Michael Giarrizzo would be the best person to come on and talk about the lean processes he is known for running 65 stores for Sterling and training them to be lean and efficient. How is he handling these bottlenecks in production, parts issues and more?  He shares with us his insight! Michael is the president and CEO of DCR Sy...

Don't you wish you could get done in 1 day what would have taken you 1 week? I do! And, we can! Today we have Chris King, a performance coach with Status Flow sharing with us some key components for pique performance. At the end of the day - Chris shares with us that all responsibility for our life - is our own - and we can change it to become the Lamborghini that's living inside of us!...

Two of the biggest pain points in the collision industry are PARTS and PEOPLE and today we are discussing both with the ever-popular Dave Luehr! Dave shares insights into how we can deal with the parts shortages plaguing us. He talks about how you can schedule properly by following the formula in the video (Elite Scheduling Secrets) and using tools such as ADAS CoPilot with Frank Terlep. (Link to...

This labor shortage has gotten worse and everyone is dealing with it. On today's episode we flash back to earlier in 2021 where we talk about the "War on Talent" on Episode #19 with Andrew Batenhorst. He discusses how it's affecting him and his shop and gives some tips to those employees thinking about making a move. We also talked with Steve Olson in Episode #4. Steve's f...

As a business owner I understand the importance of staying ahead of any legal issues as best as possible. You do NOT want to get "caught with your pants down"! When I found out that body shops were being targeted because their websites were not ADA compliant I jumped into action. I found "accessiBe" which is a program that works in the backend of your website to make it ADA com...

Body shops are looking for techs and painters and we have some great ones being developed in our local trade schools. We've talked with instructors about how to get involved with schools and "woo" these students to their shops but now's the time to talk directly with a student. In this episode with talk with high school student, Kenneth Stuart, to hear what his take on our indu...

As a current body shop consultant that's been in our industry for many years, John Shoemaker sees a major issue in the collision industry that you may not think is that big of an "issue" yet needs to be addressed. John sees shops run in to huge problems not measuring vehicles and talks about how measuring can help not only with the technical side of the repair but also getting from...

Laura Gay, a former small MSO shop owner and now a certified Mergers & Acquisitions Professional (M&AP), spoke with us in Episode #12 and since then the auto body shop landscape has changed even more so I wanted to have her back on for a much needed update! Today Laura talks about the Biden Tax Plan that will affect sellers in 2022, what consolidators are now doing and things to think abou...

Charles Wilhite has been in our industry for over 40 years. He went from the shop side, to the insurance side, to teaching I-CAR and now is an independent appraiser. He talks with us today about what the appraisal clause is and when shops should counsel their customers to invoke it... For questions on the appraisal clause you can reach out directly to  Charles. Email: chaswilhite@gmail.com Website...

John Stuef is one of my favorite people in our industry and he had so many great topics and takeaways on his full podcast in Episode #2 of the Body Bangin' Podcast. Today's episode is a flashback on one of the highlights of that episode that is SO relatable! About John: John Stuef has been in the automotive industry for over 30 years and has a TON of knowledge and experience to share wit...

We are all quick to complain about the lack of talent in our industry but where does most of that new talent come from? SCHOOLS! Why are we forgetting about these schools and instructors who are educating and training the up-and-comers to an industry that desperately needs them? Most of these schools and programs are severely underfunded and can't afford to provide the tools, supplies, safety...

Andrew Batenhorst talks with us today about this massive war on talent we are fighting. We discuss why it's gotten so bad, the "shady" practices many shop owners are using, how we can fight and win, and, also, what employees should be looking out for when these offers are rolling in! Andrew is the collision center manager at Pacific BMW in Glendale, California and has a heart to exp...