Operational Intelligence

Customer service gets talked about constantly in collision repair, but very few shops actually build operational systems around it. In Episode 10, Tom sits down with Dan Bernier from Morrie Collision to break down what genuine customer service actually looks like inside a modern collision shop. Dan shares how his team built consistently high Google review scores in a highly competitive Canadian in...

Most shops are busy. Very few are profitable. In this episode, James Heward breaks down the system behind high-performing collision shops that consistently outproduce their competition without adding chaos. This isn’t about working harder or chasing more DRPs. It’s about controlling throughput. James shares the exact framework he’s used across Caliber, Fix Auto, and his own $20M operation to incre...

Most collision shops think low car count means they need more marketing. Tom Zoebelein argues that in many cases, that is the wrong diagnosis. In Episode 8, Tom flips the conversation from lead generation to close ratio and explains why better sales execution in the front office can drive revenue faster than buying more leads. Using real examples from inside shops, he walks through where repair or...

Most truck shops are missing required operations and leaving real money on the table. In Episode 7, Dean Hancock explains how to build commercial truck estimates that actually get approved and protect your margins. Dean owned and sold a heavy-duty shop and now works with Hero Group. In this conversation, he breaks down the structural mistakes most estimators make and how to fix them. What You’ll L...

nsurance denials aren’t just an estimating problem. They are a safety problem and a consumer problem. And according to Peyton Bell (Bell Auto Body, Oklahoma), the only scalable fix is state legislation that stops carriers from denying payment for documented OEM repair procedures and parts. In Episode 6, Peyton breaks down why the popular advice to “just bill the customer” collapses in real life. M...

X Games athlete turned high production collision shop owner is not a normal career path, but that is exactly what Ted Culbertson did at Top Gun Auto Body in Helena, Montana. And he brought a leadership philosophy most shops are missing: trust built through transparency. In this episode, Ted shares how he attracts younger employees, why he interviews people with little or no experience, and how he...

Coming off a lighter 2025, most shop owners are heading into 2026 thinking about one thing: car count. In this episode of Operational Intelligence , I sit down with John Brown of Red Rock Collision in Cottonwood, Arizona—the only independent shop left in his market , surrounded by consolidators and DRP-fed competition. And here’s the hook: with the cards stacked against him, John isn’t just stayin...

Most shops run sales on gut feel. Shane Orlando runs it on a system. In this episode of Operational Intelligence , Shane Orlando from Orlando Auto Body breaks down how he tracks closing ratios, why it matters to production and profitability, and how any shop can implement a straightforward workflow to monitor leads, estimates, follow-up, and sold jobs—so the business isn’t relying on assumptions....

Episode 2 — How BodyWorks Plus Built a Culture That Runs Itself (with Brian Davies) Operational Intelligence What if your shop’s culture was so strong that the team held itself accountable — without you constantly checking, reminding, or chasing people down? That’s the focus in this episode. In Episode 2 of Operational Intelligence , I sit down with Brian Davies , owner of BodyWorks Plus in Charlo...

Episode 1 — Why This Podcast Exists (And Why the Industry Needs It) Operational Intelligence What if every collision shop owner could peek behind the curtain of the best operators in the country — and steal the one thing they do better than everyone else? That’s the reason this podcast exists. In the debut episode of Operational Intelligence , I explain why I decided the industry needed a show lik...