‘Loose lips sink ships’ say the signs around Maxbutts Auto Body Works - General Manager Jeff Nugent runs a tight ship at this ultra-productive Ashmore shop.
The purple livery on the exterior and in the reception area of this busy shop gives a great first impression. There’s ample customer parking and excellent signage outside.
Behind reception are the admin offices, then it’s into the workshop, which is jampacked with cars in an orderly fashion.
For the size of this shop, the throughput is astonishing. The building layout isn’t ideal, however there’s a seemingly natural flow to the workshop workload, which has no doubt been achieved with the benefit of Nugent’s many years of experience in the trade.
The team, which consists of an assistant manager, a quality control manager, two admin personnel, four spraypainters and an apprentice, 12 panel beaters and one apprentice, two detailers, a spare parts manager and an account lady, oversee around 73 repairs a week for just about every insurance company out there.
Nugent reports a good rapport with assessors and insurance company personnel. The shop is approved for Allianz, RACQ, NRMA, Zurich, Shannon, QBE Fleet, Sureplan and Fleetplus.
Maxbutts also has a strong and loyal customer base thanks to its 30-year reputation for quality repairs and excellent customer service.
On the subject of customer service, Alana at the front desk showed us files bulging with letters of thanks from grateful customers and glowing customer feedback reports that the company is justifiably proud of.
It’s a substantial workshop team to manage and a lot of cars to juggle, however Nugent expects the best out of his staff and they deliver it. At the team meeting every morning, he communicates the goals for that day so that everyone is clear on what is expected of them.
Staff development is high up on the agenda, but often has to take place on the weekend as the workshop schedule is so busy. I-Car courses are delivered onsite and followed by a barbecue.
It was great to see all the staff wearing topnotch safety equipment to undertake their work. Maxbutts uses an external consultancy for its health and safety policy and enforces these effectively.
Nearby is the company’s mechanical workshop so Maxbutts can keep the wheel alignment, steering and suspension and other mechanical requirements, and the profits made from them, in house. The business runs a fleet of 8-10 courtesy cars and offers car hire.
With a towing service as well, the business can claim one-stop-shop, offering an integrated service for customers.
Powell’s comments
With the aid of daily production staff meetings and two drive through spray booths Jeff has this compact but super organised repair centre pumping out large volumes of quality repairs.