CollisionCast

Your logo isn’t a brand—you are the brand, says Amy Anderson. And as the marketing director for the six-location Heppner's Auto Body in Minneapolis, she has quite a bit of experience in that realm. Building Heppner's "brand" has been a long, deliberate process that has had its ups and downs and alterations, but the brand she and her company finalized has helped set it apart in its market. In this...

Rich Lawson, estimator at Rick Hendrick's Collision Center, talks about his post-military transition into the collision repair industry and the impact this job opportunity has had on his life.

Tired of feeling the strains of the collision repair industry’s talent shortage, the leadership team at G&C Auto Body, an 11-facility operation in California, decided to take matters into its own hands. In this episode, G&C CEO Shawn Crozat details the company’s technician and estimator apprentice programs and how growing its own talent has allowed the now $50 million-per-year family business to c...

With consolidation making the collision repair industry more competitive each year, many body shops are feeling pressure to attain OEM certifications. Mark Bochenek, I-CAR’s OEM Business Development Manager, gives his views on just how vital it is for body shops to become OEM certified.  

Darrell Amberson, a FenderBender columnist and president of operations for LaMettry's Collision in the Twin Cities, discusses the importance of industry involvement, the future of diagnostic scans, and a little drag racing.

With a new year comes new challenges—and new goals. While 2017 is sure to provide the collision repair industry with myriad challenges, FenderBender columnist Mike Anderson prefers to look to the solutions repairers can implement to not only improve their own businesses but also make the industry stronger as a whole. In this podcast Anderson discusses the 10 most critical issues that need to be me...

A long-time advocate of collision repair industry education, Jeff Peevy of the Automotive Management Institute has preached for years the importance of regular training, both for shop operators and their teams. The benefits of developing a company culture focused on continuous improvement are many, and Peevy says FenderBender’s 2016 Education & Training Survey directly reflects that. The report co...

Grant Sunday, owner of Don’s Body Shop in Olathe, Kansas, has excelled in an area many business owners struggle finding the time to fill: philanthropy and grassroots marketing. And while any bit of philanthropy can benefit a business, Sunday is showing there are ways to get creative with your local efforts, from hosting Cub Scouts for building pinewood derby cars, to providing internships for loca...

Matt McDonnell, owner of Big Sky Collision and A&D Auto Body in Montana, discusses why his shop began performing routine vehicle scans, the challenges he's faced—and the victories. 

2016 FenderBender Award Winner Kyle Wharff, owner of Ace Sullins CARSTAR, boasts industry-leading customer service numbers. His shop owns a 100 percent Net Promoter Score, 97 percent of customers come from repeat customers or referrals, 100 percent of customers report felt they were kept informed and received their vehicles on time, and there have been zero comebacks in 2016. And because Ace Sulli...

It’s become both an important marketing component and a source of frustration for many small business owners: online reviews. While word of mouth referrals are of utmost importance, it’s getting to the point where you can no longer ignore online reviews, which, as surveys show, are becoming more and more important to consumers. Kevin Dean, president of Internet marketing agency WSI Net Advantage,...

Only 57 percent of single-location, independent repair shops routinely routinely track key performance indicators (KPIs), according to the just released 2016 FenderBender KPI Survey. And that’s compared to 89 percent of all other shops. MSOs, dealerships, franchises—they all track at a significantly higher rate. So, where, and why, are independent shops falling behind? What are the numbers that al...

As the largest rental car provider in North America, Enterprise Rent-A-Car publishes its quarterly length of rental (LOR) data for the collision repair industry as a tool to help repair businesses increase operating efficiencies, enhance customer service and streamline communications with insurance companies and customers. Dan Friedman, assistant vice president of collision repair industry relatio...

Only two years after launching the collision repair program at Fayetteville Technical Community College in North Carolina, program director Paul Gage’s first graduating class will have a 100 percent placement rate—each student choosing between multiple job offers. The school is revolutionizing the method in which upcoming technicians are trained, and through its involvement with the military, has...

Kevin Rains, a FenderBender columnist, Cincinnati shop operator and collision industry consultant, offers a sneak peek into two sessions he’ll be leading at the FenderBender Management Conference Sept. 19–21 near Chicago. Both topics are areas of expertise for Rains, and areas in which he is always striving to improve: social media marketing and leadership. Hear what social media strategies stick...

A common gripe in the collision industry is that insurance companies are difficult to deal with. Wayne Griffin, a former quality assurance reinspector for Safeco, discusses how he plans to manage DRP relationships as the new director of operations for Walker’s Collision Repair, and how both sides can work together to improve relations overall.

Roughly one year after the aluminum-bodied 2015 Ford F-150 hit the streets, the collision repair industry is still scrambling to become aluminum ready. Aaron Clark, vice president of technical compliance for Assured Performance Network, describes the industry’s status and what shops need to do to prepare for the future of vehicle design.

From insurer relations to OEM transparency to workflow management, FenderBender columnist Mike Anderson, owner of CollisionsAdvice.com, discusses a number of key issues plaguing the collision repair industry—and the solutions he thinks should take place this year.