Collision repair businesses, like all companies, generally don’t have all the tools and talent in-house needed to fuel their growth and success. That’s why most shop owners have at least a handful of outside resources they count on to help them reach their goals.
Larry “Skeeter” Smith of Skeeter’s Body Shop, for example, points to three such outside resources that have helped him improve his 25-employee business in Garden City, KS. He said the discounts available through the Certified Collision Group are helpful, as is his participation in AkzoNobel’s regional and national performance groups.
“We compare notes and it’s really helpful in seeing where we’re missing out,” Smith said.
Last year, he also started having weekly meetings with a business coach through the Automotive Training Institute, an organization owned by Driven Brands, the parent company of the CARSTAR, Abra, Maaco and Fix Auto USA franchises.
“It’s a half-hour, and you talk about where you’re struggling in the business, and they help you work through that and reinforce accountability,” Smith said. “My wife does all of our bookkeeping, but I never understood financials. I figured what I can’t do, let’s pay for. But as we’ve grown, I know I have to understand the financials. And they’re helping me with that.
“Our financials, for example, were showing our average repair order (RO) was about $2,500. But our mechanic shop alignments, and $400 or $500 tows, were each getting added as an RO,” Smith said. “So we figured out a way to remove that to see what our actual collision average RO is so our numbers weren’t skewed.
“You’re really working on these things in real time, so the health of your business is right there in front of you week to week,” Smith continued. “Like why are paint materials [costs] up this week? Well, we had some re-dos and some special toners. But did we get paid for that toner we’re only going to use once? It gets you more in tune with the small things that could nickel-and-dime you to death.”
Getting Marketing Help
Paul Vincent is among the shop owners who point to Collision Advice when asked about resources he counts on to help his business -- both when he owned three shops that he sold in 2023, and now as he operates Guardian Collision, which he opened in Jacksonville, FL, last year.
Paul Vincent.
“The entire Collision Advice team has been phenomenal,” Vincent said. “Not just Mike [Anderson], but the great team he’s built around him, and the Spartan groups, have helped me not only with my accounting and my processes, but it’s also allowed me to meet other shop owners and managers, making a lot of good friends and people to talk to and throw ideas at.”
3P Marketing is another resource he’s using that he found through Collision Advice.
“I’d never used them before until I started Guardian, and I’ve seen a huge change and growth from that,” he said. “Who they target, the ads, it’s been a big boost for me here. It’s digital, Facebook ads, geofencing. I check it every day to see how many people get the ads, and then how many are actually making it into my doorway.
“The founders of 3P Marketing came from a collision center,” Vincent said. “So they understand our industry. When I call and say, ‘These are the kind of vehicles I’m looking for,’ it’s just like a snap of a finger. They know what I’m asking for, and they nail it, and they get it out quickly. And there’s been a huge return on investment for me.”
Micah Strom, co-owner of Modern Collision Repair in Bainbridge Island, WA, also points to a marketing firm as an outside resource that has helped his business.
“Social media and things like that, I’m not big into it,” Strom said. “I know it’s useful in a lot of areas. We sub that out to Rockstar Marketing. They deal with a lot of automotive businesses. So that’s a better avenue for somebody else to do, rather than me.”
He also speaks highly of the local trade association in which he is active, the Northwest Auto Care Alliance. The association has quarterly meetings with guest speakers, and an annual training expo. Strom serves as collision chairman for the association -- its membership includes mechanical shops as well -- which also has allowed him to help other shops, he said.
“The growth that I’ve had from it, both business-wise and personally, has been immense,” Strom said.
Training Help, Student Recruits
Like Vincent, third-generation shop owner Evan Opeka of Opeka Auto Repair, a three-shop business in Western Pennsylvania, also said he benefits from the Spartans 20 Group he participates in through Collision Advice.
“My favorite thing about the Spartan group is that everybody seems to be focused on growth,” Opeka said. “It doesn't seem like everybody’s working to sell their business. It’s more focused on how to make their business better, or how to expand.”
But Opeka relies on other outside resources as well.
“We’ve grown a really strong partnership with BTAG,” a California-based technical training company that offers classes throughout the country, Opeka said. “The majority of our technicians have been through either the structural training or the outer panel training. That’s made a really good improvement. We’re doing higher quality work than we ever have.”
The company has also teamed up with several local high schools with co-op programs for student.
“We constantly are being sent brand new kids who want to be here and want to learn, and we start them through our training program we’ve developed,” Opeka said.
John Yoswick