Stephen Goodall Smash Repairs
AAMI/AP&P AUTOBODY REPAIRER OF THE YEAR REGIONAL WINNER (SMALL SHOP) QUEENSLANDStephen Goodall Smash Repairs
Two years ago Stephen Goodall moved from his very small shop in Pirelli Street, Southport to a much bigger new building next door on the corner. He took with him his staff (three of whom are family) and his passion for perfection. The new location enabled him to move upmarket in the cars he repaired, and to choose his customers. Now he's got a waiting list of work and a good reason to expand beyond his current staff of 10.
The business is driven by Goodall's personality. He's intense, has dour sense of humour and is emotionally involved in the work his shop turns out. A BMW job that went to another shop simply on price came back to him for rectification.
"It made me sick in my stomach," he recalls. He told the insurer: "it's not the repairer's fault. You just took the lowest price without knowing what the job entailed and then you signed off that the car was perfectly repaired. You got what you paid for." The rectification finished up costing the insurer double Goodall's original quote.
Apart from being a BMW factory approved repairer the shop has no brand allegiances. But Goodall shies away from quick jobs on budget sedans. He doesn?t like to be hurried or cramped by penny pinching. In return, he gives superb quality repairs ? to the point where owners of Mercedes, Porsche and other exotic cars are prepared to wait to get into his shop.
On the insurer side, Goodall is Allainz and NRMA approved but only participates in online quoting when it involves an established customer's car.
The shop itself is hospital-clean. Unlike most of his contemporaries, Goodall sees dust and rubbish before it hits the floor and he's on to it with mop and broom.
There are two Aussie spray booths for the three painters and one apprentice. Stephen's son, Matthew, is one of the painters and has inherited his father's eye for detail.
The repairers use the latest Mk5 Car-o-liner with Car-o-tronic measuring and the new Car-o-tronic CR500 welder to make up Julie Thomas's favourite trio.
And Stephen Goodall himself? The former champion cyclist moves around his shop at sprint speed, quoting, ordering parts, doing quality control, and washing cars. His dream: to take four weeks off and not think about the shop.
Goodall believes in training technicians to his required level. He prefers younger people because they can change. Of his own apprenticeship he says: "I was taught by a man who had a hard hand and a big foot," which probably means that only the best survive in his shop, but carry with them Goodall's special qualities of impeccable workmanship.
POWELL'S COMMENT
Stephen Goodall is consumed by perfection. He is intimately involved with every job in his shop. His eye for detail is paying off by bringing him a high standard of clientele and vehicle.