Bodyshops missing out on smart repair 'easy money'

News

Australia's collision repairers are missing out on huge amounts of lucrative work because of an unwillingness to embrace so-called 'smart repair' equipment and techniques says leading supplier Bradleys Australia.
"Dealerships across Australia have shown huge interest in smart repair systems and have been very successful in creating standalone profit centres using them but bodyshops are really missing the boat," said Bradleys Australia marketing manager Barry Scholz.
Dean Masters works full time using the Bradleys SMART (Small Accident Repair Techniques) system for City Motors Holden in Perth and said the system has proved lucrative for the dealership. City Motors has set aside a dedicated smart repair work bay and aims to expand this to two bays shortly, such is the demand and margins available. The dealership also has its own bodyshop but the smart repair section works independently of this and any smart repair work from the panel shop or the dealership, as well as work from nearby businesses, is referred to Masters.
"Something like paintless dent removal is like a licence to print money, it really is," said Masters. "A guy bought in a brand new [Holden] VX SS the other day. He had got a quote from a panel shop for the job and because it was high, they referred him to me. I looked at the damage and told him it would cost $85 and would take about half an hour to do. He almost fell over. I'm his best friend for life now!"
The Bradleys SMART Repair System includes everything you will need for paintless dent repair, Chip'n'Scuff paint repair, interior trim, windscreen, velour fabric and plastic repair. Despite proven profitability from this type of system, the response from the collision repair industry has been poor. Scholz said panel shops would do well to take notice of smart repair techniques however, as they are fast becoming the norm in the UK, where EPA regulations mean businesses will do anything to keep paint usage (and costs) down. Several UK insurers are now offering special 'smart repair policies' where customers sign up and are entitled to a certain number of smart repairs per year on their vehicle.
In the UK and the rest of Europe, both dealer service departments and bodyshops also use the Bradleys system to support customer loyalty programs. If a collision repairer can look after the customer with a 'cheap' option on minor damage they will invariably get the damage fixed rather than leaving it and will remember the shop if they have a larger accident. The shops are then able to cultivate a relationship with the customer.
The key benefits to the customer are the much lower costs and turnaround times and the benefits to bodyshops are that the margins are high, there is a lot of untapped work out there and customers love it.
"Panel shops have pretended that smart repair is not what 'our customers' want," said Bradleys general manager Terry Rowe. "But the mobile franchise smart repair people have identified a huge market out there; real people, real cars and it is what they want. Why on earth have panel shops as a trade insisted for years that these same people who pay incredible money to the smart repair operators are not 'our customers'? They are in the same market -- vehicle body repair and maintenance. They are certainly a different customer sector, requiring different marketing, but no other segment has such power to influence a panel shop's bottom line. And because it is a market segment so neglected by panel shops, it is a fantastic opportunity for those prepared to look at things differently from 'what they have always done'," he added.