Increasing workflow at body shop

[southgate]

As per title, established, medium sized car bodyshop needing more work..... Any ideas gents?

From past experience advertising doesn't help much. People won't look at your ad and think "i must crash my car so i can have it repaired there"

Most accidents do enough damage to justify an insurance claim. People phone insurance co and are steered towards approved repairers. Insurance companies then heavily dictate hourly rates because they have so much work... Getting approved status is also easier said than done.

Am I missing anything obvious?

[andyps]

I guess the quick though, and it isn't an area I have given much to, is to walk around car parks looking for cars with minor damage and putting an approrriate leaflet under the wiper. Either that or buy a Land Rover and cause a bit of damage!!

[HiRich]

I would wonder whether it's your advert that isn't working.
You seem to be looking for off-insurance work, and ding repair (the insurance work coming from accreditation). So how are customers going to find you? Routes might be:

• Semi-Permanent advertising, specifically Yellow Pages/Thompson. Press advertising won't work - you need to be there when they want you.
• Specialist advertising: Car club magazines, classic magazines (if these fit your bill)
• Sub-contracted, or commission-based referrals from general garages that don't have access to a bodyshop, or capacity (when the job needs to be done now)
• Ad-hoc: As Andy says, if you see a damaged car, stick a leaflet under the wiper.

Having made them aware, you then need to explain your proposition through your ad or leaflet. You also need a way to give them a quick price guide.

• Look closely at your ad. Get comments from friends and people at the pub. It needs to be very clear on what services and benefits you offer the customer.
• A website may be in order to provide more information. You may go as far as seeing the primary motive of the ad as driving web traffic rather than phone calls.
• Offering an estimate is probably very quick, but a pain as you need to see the job. Can you offer a 5-minute drop-in consultancy? Can you offer a free doorstep inspection (moped, digicam, clipboard)? Both would make it easier for the customer. Both have to be very clear in the ad. And both offer the opportunity to maximse the work ("while we knock out the panel, we could brush over that dodgy bumper for you")

[southgate]

HiRich said:

I would wonder whether it's your advert that isn't working.
You seem to be looking for off-insurance work, and ding repair (the insurance work coming from accreditation). So how are customers going to find you? Routes might be:

• Semi-Permanent advertising, specifically Yellow Pages/Thompson. Press advertising won't work - you need to be there when they want you.
• Specialist advertising: Car club magazines, classic magazines (if these fit your bill)
• Sub-contracted, or commission-based referrals from general garages that don't have access to a bodyshop, or capacity (when the job needs to be done now)
• Ad-hoc: As Andy says, if you see a damaged car, stick a leaflet under the wiper.

Having made them aware, you then need to explain your proposition through your ad or leaflet. You also need a way to give them a quick price guide.

• Look closely at your ad. Get comments from friends and people at the pub. It needs to be very clear on what services and benefits you offer the customer.
• A website may be in order to provide more information. You may go as far as seeing the primary motive of the ad as driving web traffic rather than phone calls.
• Offering an estimate is probably very quick, but a pain as you need to see the job. Can you offer a 5-minute drop-in consultancy? Can you offer a free doorstep inspection (moped, digicam, clipboard)? Both would make it easier for the customer. Both have to be very clear in the ad. And both offer the opportunity to maximse the work ("while we knock out the panel, we could brush over that dodgy bumper for you")

I like your idea of "commission-based referrals from general garages". We have a casual agreement with the nearest service garage, but looking further afield may be worth while. Trouble is, a lot of these agreements may already be in place.

We have tried advertising long term in the yellow pages etc but with not much success.
Have also tried directing traffic to website, again not much luck.
www.leedsmotors.co.uk

Free estimates and advice are already available. Maybe this could be emphasised more?
Doorstep inspections a possibility.


Great ideas, keep 'em coming

[insurance_jon]

befriend Insurance Brokers in your area. They have a lot more control over where there customers cars are repaired than you might think. Not all want commision, most just want assurances that you are going to look after their customer well. If your up against people like nationwide and jcc you will have a good chance win them over.

drop me a message if you want some pointers

[Andrew[MG]]

Just for the website....could you get rid of that landing page? Also, on the homepage could you make "Leeds Motor Company Ltd" small and "Accident repair centre" bigger? Just a small easy thing for you....

Other than that why dont you spend some time searching for similar business in other towns and copying what they do? Who is the best within 100 miles and what do they do that you don't?

[Ade355]

Partner with complimentary businesses in your area. Get to know each other and pass each other business. In your line of work, everything from stereo/ICE fitters (customers will have pride in their cars) to local cab firms, to delivery businesses . Thats the way to do it IMO

[richardxjr]

Buy out a local competitor. I know of one near to you (off Lottbridge Drove) who is always busy but has had enough. Not me I hasten to add, but I am on the same industrial estate.

ETA: Also, think about adding (mobile?) paintless dent repairs perhaps. I'm sure these guys are impacting on traditional bodyshops business. I used dent devils recently (I think the guy came from Brighton); very impressed. Not silly cheap but cheaper than a bodyshop, faster, done while you wait. Must be very profitable @ £75+vat a panel (half hour working)

Edited by richardxjr on Thursday 12th June 10:00

[bingbong]

You could do a bit more with your website, firstly show some before and after shots of some of your repairs. Also why not offer a service where people can upload (or just email) photos of the damage, and you can quote (or estimate) directly.

You could also make more out of the fact that by-passing the insurance companies for minor accidents could save people money, I see this is on the website, but i'm not sure the average man on the street would know what 'Non-Fault' means. You could even put together some sort of case study for this.

Also can you handle classic restorations, if so go to some classic car shows and hand out flyers, or stick an ad in some classic's magazines.

[HiRich]

Andrew[MG] said:

Just for the website....could you get rid of that landing page? Also, on the homepage could you make "Leeds Motor Company Ltd" small and "Accident repair centre" bigger? Just a small easy thing for you....

Both good ideas - go straight to the About Us page. The "Services" page is OK, but could be better. I'd look at it more from the perspective of a numpty car owner, to make it very clear, so:
What We Can Do For You:
- Small dents
- Paint touch-up: chips, scratches (accident & keying), refreshing a faded panel
- More serious work: crash damage
Mention benefits (looks better, will get better price at sale). Can you do race cars (of all types) - straightening, knocking out panels, partial or total respray? Might be worth mentioning - even if you've never done it, it sounds good.

Make more of the "quick estimate" - for some customers it's imperative that you get them to "pop in". It creates an initial commitment to action (if they make that initial visit, unltimately they are going to get the job done). It gives you an opportunity to make your pitch - convince them you are professional and trustworthy.
Of course, follow through. Train & practise your sales pitch (all staff who will do estimates). Build a rapport with the customer. Create a Job Sheet/Assessment/Estimate form (20 minutes on MS Word). Demonstrate that you've understood what they want, and they understand what you plan to do.
As an example: I have lacquer flaking on my bumpers and wing mirrors. You've convinced me to pop in. You take a look, agree you can do it. You highlight fading of the paint underneath and recommend a light blowover first. You need to strip the items (but offer me the option of doing that myself). You give me a price for that. You spot the chips on the bonnet (and some other minor work), and offer to do that at the same time for mre £££. You give me an estimate - you allow me an escape route if it's too much, but if I'm interested you can book it in for Tuesday to Friday. I see a tidy site, a friendly salesman. I'm sold.
So under services, dedicate a paragraph to"pop in for a quick, no-commitment estimate"

It would also be helpful if you could give some idea of time & cost. There are a lot of people out there living with minor problems - £75 to tidy up a panel, £150 to tidy up a chipped bonnet sounds tempting and may get a few of them in. Obviously you would want to couch these as guide prices only, but the customer may not know whether they are staring at £100 or £400, and whether it's an afternoon or a week without the car.

But I doubt the website directly draws traffic. The full process is:
- Awareness (some form of advertising)
- Inform (website/email/phone call)
- Estimate (drop in)
- Commit
Can you post a picture of your Yellow Pages ad? It may not be the best medium, but I really think it's a bedrock for you. There might be a better story to tell.

Finally, I notice you're rounf the corner from Tesco. Can you advertise there? Just a small local business card (if they do them). A huge number of driving customers are already there. A five minute detour, NOW, on the way home is so easy to do. Just picking up a handful a year would justify the cost. If you can do it, create a dedicated message, stressing the "NOW, for a free estimate"

[jamoor]

Interesting, dont know if this is useful to you, but there is a bodyshop near me that's got no approvals etc, and a couple of times I have seen him with 2008 model cars in from main dealers getting repaired, some quite big considering the age of the car. Maybe the dealers don't want to repair them in house in case someone sees?

[VetteG]

I dont know if this would be of interest but my som had a hell of a job trying to get someone to spray his Triumph Spitfire, all they seemed to do is insurance or other minor dings, if you pitched towards classics it may open some work areas.

G

[southgate]

Some great ideas there, some i hadn't thought of and some looked at from a different perspective.

Right, i'll look at the website this weekend. I have enough knowledge to redesign and upload new pages. Was always a bit sceptical about that splash/landing page.

As for advertising, most of our work is towards the higher end of the market, eg. we're BMW approved. I thought advertising in prestiege marques owners club mags and forums, also going for classics and restorations - something we have good previous experience. Also local health clubs and the Tescos (if possible)
Will stress the free consultation, free estimate and advice thing.

Maybe diversifying into paintless mobile dent removal and aircon recharging amongst a few others?


richardxjr - Which business are you and does the competitor you mention begining with a "C" then an "S"?

[Anatol]

Do you have an express line/in-house SMART repair? Or a mobile workshop for on-site SMART repairs? Obviously, I'm banging the drum that I know well, but we make a business out of just this sector of body repairs alone - the margins are good, the capital expenses very low compared to full-service facilities, and the service can be delivered to customers without going via insurance due to the likely repair cost being below excess amounts.

In addition, the service can be delivered in a very convenient way - on the drive or in the works car park, on a same-day basis (so no need for courtesy cars), and with minimal conversion training uses your existing staff and skillset.

If there are SMART repairers local to you, they see plenty of cars that are damaged too severely for SMART work - can you offer them incentives to refer the work to you?

We've looked at expanding into PDR, but the general consensus is that mastering it takes a very long time, and if it's not being used all day, every day, the skillset degrades VERY quickly. Unless you were going to devote someone to it full time, it's probably cheaper to subcontract in - PDR techs usually charge about £30+vat per *panel* to the trade, leaving a fair bit of room to mark up for retail end-customers.

If you're a VBRA member, get ahold of their campaign materials on why it's illegal for insurers to prevent claimants choosing their own repairer, and circulate to any potential customers...

Tol

[richardxjr]

Wheel refurbishing too. Ideally a full drive-in then pick up next day service. A USP for you, there's no-one else doing this for miles around.

Obv the type of people who get wheels refurbed will also want to keep their bodywork tip-top too.