IBodyshop Managing Director Steve O'Brien has chosen to support his huge customer base (over 1000 bodyshops) by cutting the cost of his indispensable workshop management program by a generous 50%. Here is his message to the industry.
"We hope you are all staying well during this unprecedented time. We know that the repair industry is doing it tough, with estimates falling by 50 per cent on average in recent weeks. For some repairers, the impact has been minimal, whilst others are facing considerable financial hardship. And possibly worst is yet to come, with the market predicted to bottom out in May and June.
Having been a supplier to the industry for 30-plus years, DNS Technology cannot simply stand idly by and do nothing to help our Australian customers in this time of crisis. We realise our fees are at the low end of a shop’s overheads – but every little bit helps. Therefore, during the anticipated peak of the downturn, all iBodyshop fees will be reduced by 50% for three months from the 1st of May 2020. We will also implement free training for shops that want to take advantage of the slowdown so they can hit the ground running when business rebounds.
At DNS, this discount will result in a substantial financial hit. We have trimmed expenses where possible, but our overheads are relatively fixed. The iBodyshop service must be constantly maintained by our 31 staff to provide support during the crisis and, importantly, when business returns to normal. We have held discussions with our bank to defer our loans and have applied for the government JobKeeper allowance. We will also receive the PAYG rebate but, like all of you, our financial losses will be significant. We have, nonetheless, made the decision to reduce our fees in the interests of helping our customers ride out the economic storm. We are, after all, “all in this together”.
Our discount offer and free training applies to new customers, too. So now is an ideal time to transition to a new bodyshop system.
The Silver Lining
On a positive note, the crisis presents a golden opportunity for shops who want to take advantage of the downturn to improve their business practices and processes.
As the old saying goes, ‘never let a good crisis go to waste’. When business is slow, it’s the perfect time to implement change. There is so much more to iBodyshop than estimate writing, and now is the time to learn how you can benefit from its various other business management features.
The day-to-day grind of running a panel shop offers little opportunity for introspection. There’s no time to sit back and ask the big questions: “why do we do that, is there a better way?” At iBodyshop, we have spent three decades observing all of those little time-consuming activities that dominate so much of your day. We call it ‘death by a thousand cuts’. The core purpose of iBodyshop is to free your day of these time-consuming activities to achieve productivity and efficiency gains across the entire business.
Our training and support departments (14 staff) are ready to assist with any questions you may have during this time. They can help clean up your old transactions as well as explore, train or implement features you may not have used in the past. We reiterate that during this period all training will be free of charge.
Let’s stay safe now and get ready for a bright future.