Andrew Batenhorst is the collision center manager at Pacific BMW in Glendale, CA where they just won the BMW shop of the year award! Out of 272 shops they ranked #1!! Andrew is all about the process in his shop and the results speak for themselves. He talks about what changes he's implemented in his shop that has made such incredible changes such as: The Value of Process to allow them to be efficient & not wasteful, to be consistent and to put the right people in the right spot allows him to...
Apr 18, 2023•45 min•Season 1Ep. 66
Danny Gredinberg is an industry veteran and you've probably seen him around! On today's podcast, Danny shares with us what the DEG is (Database Enhancement Gateway) and the powerful uses it provides to help you get paid for what you are doing. The DEG is a FREE resource for the industry which improves the accuracy of the estimating systems. 50% of the online inquiries make changes to the information providers like CCC, Mitchell & Audatex. You don't just help yourself when you use this - you ...
Apr 04, 2023•52 min•Season 1Ep. 65
Freeman Collision Center in Santa Rosa, California won the award of Lexus Shop of the Year for 2022 and today we are talking with collision center director, Jesse Parks. Jesse shares with us what he feels allowed his team to win this year, how his mindset has shifted since attending the Discover Leadership Training with Mike Jones and the things that he's passionate about in his shop. Jesse is all about being stronger together and I am in 100% agreement! Reach out to Jesse Parks directly: Email:...
Mar 21, 2023•51 min•Season 1Ep. 64
Steve Olson of Louisville Collision Center in Louisville, KY is BACK on the podcast! He was killing it a year ago in 2021 and now they have taken things to a whole new level and in 2022 they added 5 new techs and increased their net profit by 65%. Yes, you read that right. Now they are geared up to blow the top off in 2023. Steve talks about how to maximize each RO, how he grows his people, bonus programs, what his blueprint estimators do, scheduling vehicles, getting parts deposits, how they se...
Mar 07, 2023•35 min•Season 1Ep. 63
Chris M. King of Status Flow is my personal performance coach. He's an author, a keynote speaker, he works with the Navy Seals and so much more! As someone that has helped me unlock areas of my life and after hearing the incredible feedback from the first time he was on the podcast I wanted him to back on come on and share some things with you that are transformational! Once something becomes possible in your mind it becomes possible in your life. We talk about the power of our speech. We talk a...
Feb 21, 2023•53 min•Season 1Ep. 62
Michael Bradshaw of K&M Collision in Hickory, NC received the 2022 BodyShop Business Executive of the Year Award for a single location! As a shop that is now working a 4-day work week they are doing things differently and seeing incredible results both in profit and in morale! Michael and his team have built an amazing culture and he gives us some examples of things they are doing to instill that personal connection with his team members. He is big on personal investment and pouring into his...
Feb 07, 2023•48 min•Season 1Ep. 61
Glue Pulling might not be taking over the world but it's definitely changing the game and as shop owners, managers, techs, etc - we owe it to ourselves to be informed about the incredible things on the market that can help us do a safer, better repair! Danny Hacker is on the show today and as a veteran of the industry and shop owner as well as working for KECO, Danny is so knowledgeable about glue pulling and shares some key pieces of info that shops really need to listen to. We talk about the m...
Jan 24, 2023•40 min•Season 1Ep. 60
Jerald Stiele is an owner of 3 body shops in Minnesota - two Collision Center 1 shops & Hopkins Auto Body 1. They have 8 OEM Certifications/Recommendations and are a DRP for a couple of insurance companies AND he says it's possible to do so WHILE repairing the vehicle properly (according to OE recommendations). He is frustrated by the generalization that shops can't be a DRP shop AND fix cars properly. How is that possible? Listen in as he shares how they handle their DRP relationships. Jera...
Jan 10, 2023•29 min•Season 1Ep. 59
If you've never seen Billy Walkowiak's posts on social media then you are missing out! Billy is a major advocate of the consumers and I like to think of people like him as the super-heroes in our industry. You should see the wins he is able to get for our consumers! As a veteran of the collision industry, he owns Collision Safety Consultants where he specializes in appraisal clause, total loss, diminished value and post-repair inspections. Tune in for some INCREDIBLE information that most of us ...
Dec 19, 2022•57 min•Season 1Ep. 58
Gold Coast Auto Body in Chicago, Illinois decided years back that the insurance company DRP model was not in line with what they wanted for their shop or their customers. After dropping all of their DRPs they worked for years on developing and honing their repair process to best help their customers and make things as seamless as possible within the shop. Listen in as Drew Plischke, the Director of Client Insurance Reconciliation at Gold Coast Auto Body, shares with us the pitfalls they found wh...
Dec 05, 2022•50 min•Season 1Ep. 57
As shop owners we think we are providing 5-star customer experience yet data shows that only a small percentage of our customers think the same thing! Where's the disconnect? As one of the most popular keynote speakers for her talks on 5-star customer experience and, more specifically, the female experience - Katie Mares talks with us about how men and women are wired and how we can grow our culture and the quality of customer experience. Katie has a Masters in Adult Training and Development and...
Nov 14, 2022•50 min•Season 1Ep. 56
As a shop owner of Best Body Shop in Wichita, Texas, Clay Hoberecht is running his shop unlike most shops out there and having great success! As a client of Barrett Smith (episode #53) Clay was so frustrated with the industry as a whole and was begging to have different and do different. The main desire for him was to be able to do a safe and proper repair and be compensated appropriately which - at that time - felt impossible. After being slammed busy with cars wrapped around the building he ch...
Nov 01, 2022•1 hr 9 min•Season 1Ep. 55
Jamie McKinney is the author of "Speak Up, Sister", is a motivational speaker and leadership coach! She grew up in the collision industry starting at PPG and found that her path as a female could help both women and men, alike, step up and feel empowered. "If you avoid the fear of striking out - that's when you get to hit the homerun". As her first job out of college, Jamie felt frustrated as she was talked over by the folks that had been in the industry longer than she had been alive. She leane...
Oct 17, 2022•45 min•Season 1Ep. 54
Barrett Smith of Auto Damage Exerts (ADE) is a popular contributor to BodyShop Business as he speaks very openly and, oftentimes, controversial about insurance companies. Having been born into family that owned a shop then working for insurance as an adjuster to having his own shop helped him learn and create a process to help his own shop flourish. He now brings shops on as clients and teaches them this very different way to deal with guests and these insurance companies. His shops have LESS st...
Oct 03, 2022•35 min•Season 1Ep. 53
Walt has been having success getting insurance to pay for the full "estimate" or as he calls it - the "invoice" so we dive in to how he's doing it! His 2 main takeaways are: 1 - Run your body shop like any business 2 - Get your customer involved After hearing about some of Walt's successes with insurance payouts I asked him to come on the podcast to share what he is doing since SO many shops reach out to me and are completely exhausted by the back and forth and non-payment from the insurance com...
Sep 12, 2022•44 min•Season 1Ep. 52
Did you know that about 93% of shops have NOT claimed money that is owed to them as part of the CARES Act Stimulus that was enacted to help businesses that suffered because of Covid-19? Well, I hadn't either! Ray Roth of Stout (a full service financial firm ) shares with us what it takes to qualify for this Employee Retention Credit (ERC). Shops can get up to $26,000 back PER EMPLOYEE! Yes, you read that right! Get your free consultation from Stout to see if you may qualify: https://info.stout.c...
Aug 29, 2022•32 min•Season 1Ep. 51
This is a re-launch of episode #10 since it applies very nicely to what I'm hearing at all of the shops I work with. Everyone is dealing with a lot of pressure in so many ways in our industry. Mike Townley, owner of Telesis Collision Center, talks about a very outside-the-box idea we did in our days at Valley Motor Center, dealing with industry pressures and knowing different personality types to place your best people in the best positions for them. Connect with Mike Townley Email : mike@telesi...
Aug 15, 2022•43 min•Season 1Ep. 50
I'm seeing a lot of talk on the social media chat boards talking about shops adding a surcharge on top of credit card transactions. So, basically, if you run your guest's credit card they automatically pay x dollars on top of that charge to offset the fees you get charged as the shop owner. There are also ways you can save money when taking credit cards that you might not even know about...actually, most business owners don't know! Jeremy Scott is someone I trust for my clients and he educates u...
Aug 01, 2022•33 min•Season 1Ep. 49
There were SO many great takeaways during the SE Collision Conference and Kyle Bradshaw, the CCA President and Fixed Ops Director of K&M Collision, wraps up this series. Kyle talks about the value of being a part of any association PLUS he talks about THE hot topic at the conference - WAIVERS! Should you or shouldn't you? Or more like...will you or won't you? Connect with Kyle Bradshaw Email : kyle@kandmcollision.com LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kyle-bradshaw-ab060520a/ ____________...
Jul 21, 2022•18 min•Season 1Ep. 48
Creating a clear path and being a great leader aren't just things that we know how to do! As a leadership development specialist and life coach, Bruce Schronce talks with us about how he helps his clients be clear in their goals and identify what the gaps are in their current leadership style. Part of that is knowing what to say "yes" to so they know what to say "no" to. One of my favorite messages from this: Whatever has gotten you where you are at now is not going to get to where you want to g...
Jul 20, 2022•28 min•Season 1Ep. 47
David Willett of Spark Underwriters spoke at the SE Collision Conference and speaks at events around the country. Today we dive into his talk about the 5 main ways we, as shops, can sustain success. David also speaks on the importance of getting into a niche where there isn't a lot of competition and how imperative it is to get to know at least 3 things about each employee so we can effectively build relationships with them and develop them. Connect with David Willett of Spark Underwriters Email...
Jul 19, 2022•23 min•Season 1Ep. 46
In a post-Covid environment how should we be talking and dealing with our consumers? Instead of telling our customers what WE think they want to know or WE think they need to know, Kristen shares ways to listen to what the customer needs and how to communicate with them to meet them where they are at using key conversational skills. She also shares with us some key points from her few days at the SE Collision Conference that were great! Connect with Kristen Felder at Collision Hub Collision Hub:...
Jul 18, 2022•26 min•Season 1Ep. 45
All shops have to purchase equipment at some point in time and there are things to think about before you invest that "Quan". (Jerry Maguire shout out if you've never heard that term.) Kevin, the owner of Lombard Equipment, has over 45 years in collision equipment and brings a lot of knowledge to the table along with Dave! They are in over 1,000 shops per month! Although you may be out of the service area of Lombard Equipment, which is Maine to Miami, you can definitely learn a few things about ...
Jul 15, 2022•20 min•Season 1Ep. 44
A very popular guest of mine was a speaker at the SE Collision Conference and spoke specifically on a VERY hot topic...how shops are successfully finding and retaining talent and why shops are not being affected by this "talent shortage". His team educates and provides leadership education shops need to build a "magnetic business model" using the 5 key elements: 1 - Meaningful Work (finding fulfillment) 2 - Acknowledgment (recognizing individual people) 3 - Measurement (to gamify your shop) 4 - ...
Jul 14, 2022•23 min•Season 1Ep. 43
Sam Venezuela with National Autobody Research Company spoke at the SE Collision Conference and shared with shops how they can collect more billable hours at better labor rates and share rates to combat insurance pushback using powerful, evidence based data. You've probably heard of Billable Genie and it's no wonder so many shops are raving about this tool. It provides real proof that insurers really do pay for things - even though they may be denying it. It references approved and paid insurance...
Jul 13, 2022•35 min•Season 1Ep. 42
You may think that you have a wonderful insurance plan but typically, you won't know you are missing something vital until it's too late! Alex Whittit from Intrepid Direct spoke at the SE Collision Conference and talked to shop owners about common gaps in their garage policies, and also the importance of "Cyber Liability". Companies like Rivian require 1 million dollars in cyber liability in your garage policy and we expect to see more requirements like this in the future. Why would you be liabl...
Jul 12, 2022•17 min•Season 1Ep. 41
Everyone says they do the best work and have the best customer service so what separates your shop? At K&M Collision in North Carolina Michael Bradshaw, the VP, talks about the things that makes their shop different including understanding the insurance policy and how the appraisal clause works and when to utilize that knowledge. He had a session at the SE Collision Conference that was very popular and I see the industry moving in the direction of us, as shops, being responsible to educate o...
Jul 11, 2022•24 min•Season 1Ep. 40
Jordan Hendler is someone you may have seen around in the last 20 years. She's the executive director of the Washington Metropolitan Auto Body Association, the Communications Manager for CIC, is part of SCRS Society of Collision Repair Specialists AND is president of Admin Concepts. Wow! That's a mouthful! In the 4th interview of this series Jordan and I talk about ways the industry can get more involved, how you can grow your shop and your people and how passion is a differential for all things...
Jul 08, 2022•18 min•Season 1Ep. 39
The 3rd interview of this series at the SE Collision Conference is with Thomas McFinch of I-CAR. I-CAR has shifted its focus from training to educating so what does that mean? Thomas talks about the pitfalls he sees a lot of shops fall into and the wonderful things he sees that are a necessary shift for our industry! Connect with Thomas McFinch - Website: https://www.i-car.com/s/ Email Thomas: thomas.mcfinch@i-car.com Call Thomas: 402.960.0847 _____________________________ Connect with Micki on ...
Jul 07, 2022•16 min•Season 1Ep. 38
The 2nd interview of this series at the SE Collision Conference is with Rachel Collector & Patrick Porter of Assured Performance - an OEC Company. We chat about the OEC "takeover" and what that means for you in shops. We also discuss what Assured Performance can provide a shop that you may not be taking advantage of including the VIP Card Program, education, the power of dealership relationships and what you can do in your shop to grow that relationship that works with what you are already d...
Jul 06, 2022•21 min•Season 1Ep. 37
