Close Up: Meet the Mitchell Editorial Team, Tom Champion

At the core of Mitchell's philosophy is providing easy and direct access to our expert editorial staff. We interviewed our Editorial staff to find out what makes Mitchell Estimating unique, why they love working at Mitchell and where they see the future of the collision industry going. 

This time we’re sitting down with Content Specialist Tom Champion! 

What did you do before you came to Mitchell?  

Before Mitchell, I was a collision repair technician. I worked at body shops and dealerships around San Diego County. I was what is known in the industry as a heavy-hit collision technician. Heavy hits are like train wrecks, basically. If a car was hit with a lot of severe damage, I would be getting most of those jobs.

So my job really consisted of bringing in the vehicle and making a complete tear-down, and then basically blue-printing the vehicle, writing a supplement, every nut and bolt, clip, everything that's necessary for the repair. As the repair order was ready for me, I would bring the vehicle in and put it on a frame machine if it needed to be or a dedicated fixture system and make the necessary pulls to basically align and square the vehicle, the dimensions of the frame.

Why is your experience important to Mitchell Estimating?  

It's important for customers to have accurate data because, if they are spending time replacing something and not getting enough time to do it, it affects the bottom line. You really need to do a lot of research, investigate. With the experience that I do have, I know how long it takes to do something, what's involved in it. Without that research and experience, you're going to be just guessing at it. So it's very important for them to have the accurate labor times.

As you know, data is always changing, technology is always changing. So how do you stay current in your job?

I stay current by paying attention to the industry and just keeping up with new things that come out, always scouring through the manufacturers' service procedures and looking for new data, changes that they make, just always constantly keeping an eye on that. If anything is new, jumping all over it and taking care of it.

Can you walk us through a recent customer interaction, what was the problem and how you resolved it?

Recently a customer called in with an inquiry. It was a disparity in labor times from our database with another information provider. Ours seemed to be lower labor time, and he basically wanted to understand the disparity. Doing a little detective work we looked at what was included in the other system, and we're able to identify that the radiator support that this customer called in was unique to most of the other radiator supports.

It really didn't involve all the operations that were usually included. So I was able to explain to the customer, "Hey, you know what? This time is accurate. It seems like the other system that you're using, there included operations that really aren't necessary and create an overpayment.”  So he was pleased with that, to hear what was going on, why it's such a difference.

What do you personally get out of coming to work every day?
I feel like I'm making a difference to the user out there, because I was out there. If the times aren't accurate, it affects our livelihood. If they spend three hours replacing something, and it pays less than that, that's not good for the industry at all, for anybody really. So I feel like I make a difference every day that I come in to Mitchell.

Want to learn more about how Mitchell Estimating can improve accuracy and profitability for your auto body repair shop? To schedule a demo call (800) 238-9111.

WIN 2015 Addresses Change and Challenges for Women in Collision Repair

WIN (Women's Industry Network) is a not-for-profit organization dedicated to promoting leadership, recognizing excellence and fostering networking opportunities for women in the collision repair industry. This year's annual educational conference, May 4-6 in Washington D.C., will focus on facing change and challenges under the theme "Connect to Cultivate."

Industry leader Mike Anderson of Collision Advice will deliver the keynote address, "Choosing Your Destiny." According to WIN, Anderson will offer inspiration and guidance for creating a success story through self-determination, motivation and personal responsibility.

Representing Mitchell in the line-up of featured speakers will be Marianne Godwin, Director, Organizational Learning and Development, Human Resources, and Mary Yama, Specialist 2 from that same department. The two women will lead the session "Feedback: Giving and Receiving." The following are highlights from an interview we recently conducted with Marianne and Mary.

Which presentations are you most looking forward to?
Mary: "Paul Gange from Fix Auto USA’s session, 'Change Makes Me Happy… Or is it the Other Way Around?' I personally love change but not everyone does, so we can learn from each other by understanding that people approach it with different mindsets, some comfortable, some not so much. Seeing how change impacts people’s emotions can help us learn skills for our own change management."

"I’m also looking forward to hearing Mike Anderson’s Keynote. Mitchell has partnered with him on some of our corporate sponsored collision industry events in the past. Engagement is always high with good feedback."

Marianne:  "I’m also intrigued by Paul Gange’s presentation. Mitchell has gone through a lot of change and will continue to. I’m interested in seeing how other companies are handling change. It’s a learning opportunity for me."

What can people expect from your session? What do you hope they’ll take away from it?
Marianne:  "Feedback gives people the willies. We want to remove some of the stigma so that people become less uncomfortable with the process. Giving and receiving feedback doesn't need to be difficult or scary. Attendees will walk away with specific tools to help them give and receive feedback more effectively that very moment."

Why is it important to give feedback properly? What is some risk from just winging it or not giving it at all? 
Marianne: "When it’s given properly and appropriately, feedback is a gift that the recipient can only benefit from. It can help us change for the better by learning to do things differently. It can also reinforce good behaviors. Bad feedback is when you tell a person how you 'feel'. Effective feedback isn't about feelings. It’s about behavior.

Mary:  "If you don’t structure your feedback tactfully, you run the risk of offending the recipient. You can’t expect people to change their behavior if you go about it the wrong way."

Are there specific concerns about feedback for women in the collision repair industry?
Mary:  "Well, women are less prominent in our industry, so giving or getting feedback can be intimidating. It’s scary enough in everyday situations, but when you’re a woman emerging in a field like ours, it can be especially difficult. That’s why WIN was interested in addressing the topic."

What’s the best feedback you've ever received?
Mary:  "In general, I appreciate feedback from people who don’t typically give a lot of it. When they do, I really value it because I know it took a lot for them. Because they got up the courage or were passionate to give it, it means more to me."

Marianne: "I recently got feedback that I was intimidating! My first reaction was, 'that’s crazy. I’m 5'1", how intimidating can I be?' But when I thought about it and took it to heart, I realized that sometimes what I think is being passionate is intimidating to the recipient. My takeaway: sometimes, I have to temper my passion. See, the feedback was about behavior, not emotions."

Are there women in our industry you especially admire?
Mary: "Nina Smith-Garmon [Mitchell’s Executive Vice President and General Manager] has shown how you can come from a different industry, step into a role, and take on more and more responsibility. She listens and she cares. She’s a great role model for women."

Marianne: "For me, it’s Pat Rundel [Mitchell’s Senior Director, Content Management Editorial Team, Production & Management]. Pat is from the collision repair industry. She truly understands what it’s like to be out there in a male-dominated industry. Then she stepped inside and she fits here really well."

Mobilegeddon is today! Is your shop ready?

Does your shop have a "mobile friendly" website? If not, beginning this week there is a good chance your shop's position in Google rankings will be negatively affected!

Google is launching a change that gives a ranking boost to mobile-friendly pages in Google’s mobile search results. While this change is just one of many signals Google takes into account when ranking a shop's website, it is going to be an important one. Google says it will affect mobile searches in all languages worldwide, and have "a significant impact" in search results.

Why? It just makes sense since many people spend the majority of their time on their mobile devices. Mobile is not going away. If your shop's website isn't mobile-friendly, you're doing yourself and your potential customers a disservice, regardless of how Google is ranking your content.

Google states, "When it comes to search on mobile devices, users should get the most relevant and timely results, no matter if the information lives on mobile-friendly web pages or apps. As more people use mobile devices to access the Internet, our algorithms have to adapt to these usage patterns."

 So what should you do if your site isn’t optimized for mobile devices? Well, we suggest you start by utilizing Google's Mobile-Friendly test tool to test your website:

Enter your website URL, and hit "analyze". Hopefully you'll get something that looks like this, telling you your site is mobile-friendly:

If your URL is not deemed mobile-friendly, Google will tell you specific reasons, as well as info about how Googlebot sees it. They’ll also give resources to help you fix issues. Reasons a page isn't mobile friendly might include things like: "content wider than screen," "uses incompatible plugins," "links too close together," and "text too small to read."

Based on our research and experience, if your shop implemented a website over 4 years ago and you have not made any changes or created a separate mobile site you probably need some help ASAP. We have also found that many sites built by AutoWatch/SeeProgress some time ago are not "mobile friendly."

Google recommends the following platforms for creating new sites, and chances are you're already using one of them: WordPress, Joomla, Drupal, Blogger, vBulletin, Tumblr, DataLife Engine, Magento, Prestashop, Bitrix, and Google Sites.

When it comes to creating a mobile site for an auto body or repair shop you need to focus on the most important and common tasks your customers are going to perform on their mobile device. From our perspective a mobile site for auto body and repair shops should include but not be limited to the following:

• Tap to Call Button
• Find Us with Map and Directions. If you own multiple shops you should provide a list of all your shops
• Schedule an Appointment
• Check Your Repair Status (if you offer this)
• Online Reviews (Check and the Ability to Give Reviews) 

Below are examples of mobile sites in the collision repair industry.

      
If you need a mobile site and have a good relationship with your existing website developer they should be able to help you design and implement a "mobile friendly" website fairly quickly.

Having a mobile-friendly site for your shop is good for more than just Google rankings. It's good for your site visitors, and could mean the difference in getting a new customer or not!

Next Steps
Mitchell’s Digital Marketing Platform has combined several powerful tools to effectively market your business online and drive more profit through increased sales. Contact us or call us at 866-639-7075 to learn more about how to attract new customers and manage your customer experience with the Mitchell Complete Digital Marketing Solution.

What you’re missing by not using Hub

Unclear, delayed and missed communication costs your shop thousands of dollars every year in wasted time, decreased productivity, missed deadlines, employee turnover and most importantly, dissatisfied customers and partners such as insurance carriers. That’s why we created Hub for RepairCenter^TM; an all new way to communicate and collaborate.

Hub will be officially released to Mitchell'sShop Management customers on April 23rd
That means our customers will have an all-new communication tool to increase productivity, reduce mistakes, build trust, strengthen relationships, create satisfied long-term customers, foster happier employees, and ultimately increase profits… All this at no added cost! Hub addresses a number of issues reported by auto body shop owners, technicians and estimators like you. Do any of these sound familiar?

• Messages and notes get lost, buried or used as a coaster on your desktop.
• Nobody has a defensible history of a job- or opportunity-related conversation. For instance, you can’t remember if or who update the customer or insurance rep on the status of the repair.
• There’s a lot of time-consuming rekeying, copying and pasting happening to get information from email into RepairCenter or vice-versa.
• Private customer information is floating around creating potential liability issues.
• You're using old-school communication tools such as sticky notes or fax that don’t present a professional appearance or inspire customer confidence.

Hub is here to help! Here's how:

#1. Real-time collaboration from one central and secure place

• Start and view all your conversations and notifications from one central location.
• Access messages from anywhere in RepairCenter so no switching between programs.
• Have private one-on-one conversations similar to Instant Messenger.

#2. Built in privacy controls with personal distribution list

• Manage your own private address books for secure, confidential conversations and collaborations.
• Streamline frequent communications with different groups of colleagues.
• Gain greater control over privacy and content distribution.

#3. Build in privacy controls with personal distribution list 

• Manage your own private address books for secure, confidential conversations and collaborations.
• Streamline frequent communications with different groups of colleagues.
• Gain greater control over privacy and content distribution. 

Here’s what shops that have been using Hub have to say 

Watch this short video to hear for yourself what Kevin Miller, Collision Advisor for BMW Concord Collision Center and others have to say about this power new enhancement to the RepairCenter suite. 

Learn more
To learn more about Hub, log into your RepairCenter and request access to Hub. Or call 866-639-7075 to request a demo.

Good Estimates: Your Blueprint to Profits

The insurance industry’s direct repair programs (DRPs) have grown rapidly since 2000. A FenderBender 2014 KPI Survey found that 70% of collision shops generated at least some revenue from DRP participation. And 50% reported that they generated 30% or more of their income from DRPs.¹ A recent Automotive Service Association® collision survey, which tracks the percentage of U.S. repair shops participating in DRPs, found that it has held steady at about 90% since 2001. Only 7.7% of respondents reported that they currently participated in no DRPs.²

An estimate is so much more than a price-to-fix quote. It’s a blueprint for the entire repair process, the key to customer satisfaction, and vital to your relationship with insurers. In fact, properly managing the repair process could make the difference between staying on a DRP or not.

What can go wrong? 
Many factors, some beyond the repair shop’s control, affect the integrity of an estimate and hurt cycle time. Somebody forgets to include the cost of common R&I. The lead time to order parts or the need for supplements cause direct delays. Backed-up production flow and last-minute schedule changes result in indirect delays.

According to Mitchell Vice President of Industry Relations Greg Horn, "The average additional administrative impact cost of a supplement is thought to be around $225 because of the administrative costs and increased rental time impact. For other delays, we can figure on at minimum the average $31.95 a day for a rental."

Kevin Mehok, CEO of Crashcosts.com and collision industry veteran of over 30 years, agrees. As he wrote in a SearchAutoParts.com article, "I recently performed a study for two large industry groups and determined that on every estimate written, they were missing a minimum of $35 just on forgettable items."³ That may not sound like a lot. But multiply it by the number of vehicles your shop repairs in a year and you’re likely losing significant revenue.

The end result of imprecise estimating? Throughput is disrupted, jobs can get backed up, time is wasted and everybody loses: the shop, the insurer and the customer.

Still in doubt? Then consider this… In a survey of over 50,000 vehicle owners, Customer Research, Inc. found that increased cycle time has a direct negative influence on CSI in several key areas including whether or not customers would recommend the facility. At a one- to five-day cycle time 98.1% said “yes,” at six to 10 days it dropped to 96.9% and at over 10 days it dropped to 94.1%. ⁴

Shrinking cycle time
As far back as 1999, WardAuto.com reported that Allstate had set a goal of a 72-hour cycle time⁵. The industry hasn’t achieved this ambitious goal yet. But, in just the past three years, the average cycle time has gone from 11 to eight days.

Why does cycle time matter? In evaluating DRP participants, insurance companies favor shops with better cycle time averages. So, the higher a shop’s cycle time, the more likely that shop will be removed from the program.

Replacing lost DRP revenue could be difficult, leading to an emotional impact as valuable employees get laid off or leave for better job offers. Ultimately, reducing cycle time could help you improve your bottom line. Research on four target shops showed that the effect of cycle time improvement over a year resulted in an increase in net profit from a low of plus 16.12% to a high of plus 21.26%. ⁶

A new way forward
The good news is that there’s a better way to accurately blueprint the repair process before a vehicle enters your body shop’s production stream. It doesn’t require fancy gadgets or a rocket-science learning curve. It’s as simple taking back control of the repair process by writing your own estimates. Patrick Yurek, owner and president of Collision Consulting LLC and writer for Body Shop Business, explains it this way in a BodyShopBusiness.com article:

"Most insurance appraisers have absolutely zero hands-on experience. So when they write four hours on a quarter panel, in their mind, they think it’s fair. When you call for a supplement asking for eight hours, they think you’re hijacking them because they simply don’t know....Why not get it right the first time? If you hand them a sheet that shows eight hours, there’s a better chance they’ll at least start at six. And then when you explain why it’s eight, you’ve got a far better chance of getting what you need."⁷

The Mitchell solution
Mitchell Estimating, helps you write accurate, defensible estimates right the first time. Mitchell Estimating, also known as UltraMate, combines accuracy and technology to provide reliable collision estimating data. Optional add-ons give you flexibility to enhance the solution.

Build the right blueprint and master the balance between quality repairs and tighter cycle time. When you do, you may find your DRP partners sending more business your way.

¹Bryce Evans, "A Changing Landscape”
²Susanna Gotsch, "Collision Industry Continues to Transform”
³Kevin Mehok, “Collision shop profits begin with writing a proper estimate”
⁴James E. Guyette, “Reversing the Cycle Time”
⁵John Yoskwick, “Body Repair Industry’s No. 1 Issue”
⁶Tony Passwater, “Stop Wasting Time”
⁷Patrick Yurek, “Estimates: Waste of Time or Path to Profit?” 

Join our Seattle Body Shop Boot Camp

Our industry is undergoing major changes. The Mitchell Body Shop Boot Camp is an opportunity for repair shops to stay ahead of the curve. Tune-up your business skills and learn how to make your shop more productive and profitable. 

This two-day training is a forum for shop owners and industry leaders to examine the newest resources for navigating the changing repair industry landscape and streamlining operations. Attendees will learn about emerging marketing techniques geared toward an increasingly mobile world. Plus, you'll hear about the latest tools for accurate estimating, as well as a glimpse into technologies available to propel shops to the next level. 

Matt Heubner, Solution Specialist for Mitchell   

Our panel of industry leaders includes the following speakers: 

• Rick Leos - Collision Program Director, Toyota Motor Sales 
• Ron Reichen - Chairman, Society of Collision Repair Specialists and Owner, Precision Body and Paint
• Paul Massie (via Video Conference) - Powertrain and Collision Product Marketing Manager,
  Ford Motor Company
• Frank Terlep - CEO, Summit eMarketing Sherpas
• Wayne Krause - Manager-Technical Writing, Mitchell International

"Technological advances in the auto repair industry continue to modernize operations," said Brian Moss, Director, Solution Advising West at Mitchell. Mitchell's body shop boot camp series aims to educate and inspire repair facilities to take advantage of the industry's latest and greatest tools and strategies to improve their business and retain loyal customers."

Mitchell hosted a successful local Body Shop Boot Camp for repair shops in the Chicago area last year. The next Body Shop Boot Camp will take place Tuesday, April 21 and Wednesday, April 22 in Seattle, Washington. To learn more about the body shop boot camp, please visit www.etouches.com/bodyshopbootcamp or email repaircenterinfo@Mitchell.com.

Want to attend a Body Shop Boot Camp near you? Local interest decides where we'll be next. Email repaircenterinfo@Mitchell.com to request Mitchell to bring the Body Shop Boot Camp to you!

Using Video to Sell and Service Customers

Video is a very powerful communication medium. It has been said that a "picture is worth a 1000 words". If that’s true, then a video is worth...1.8 MILLION words!

If you’ve seen the AC360° CNN video that outlines the issues between insurers, repairers and consumers, you know that video is a very powerful communication tool.

AC360° Video: CNN's Drew Griffin investigates claims that some insurance companies
are skimping on repairing damaged vehicles to pad their profits. 

Did You Know? 

• One minute of video equates to 1.8 Million Words (Dr. James McQuivey, Forrester)


• 59% of viewers will watch a video from start to finish that is less than one minute (Wistia)


• 92% of mobile video viewers share videos with others (Invodo)


• 65% of executives have visited a vendor's site after watching a video (According to Forbes, 39% have called a vendor after watching a video)


• 70% of marketing professionals report that video converts better than any other medium (MarketingProfs)


• When marketers included a video in an email, the click-through rate increased by 200 to 300% (Forrester)


• The average internet user spends 88% more time on a website with video (Mist Media)


• 64% of consumers are more likely to buy a product or service after watching a video about it (comScore)


• Visitors who view videos stay on websites an average of 2 minutes longer than those who don't view videos (comScore)


• Website homepage videos are shown to increase site conversion rates by 20% or more (ReelSEO)


• Using video on website landing pages can increase conversion by 80% (Unbounce) 

Top 5 Online Video Ideas
So what is your plan to incorporate video into your company's sales, marketing and customer service strategy? Here are five ideas to get you started. 

1.    Create, Share and Distribute Company Video Profiles and Customer Testimonials: Use video to share your unique story with your various audiences. This can include customer testimonials, employee spotlights, unique business processes or your company's culture and values. Brands like Papa John's and Samuel Adams® have fully committed to telling their stories this way.

2.    Company, Service and other Video Updates:
Consider delivering regular company or service information with staff, insurance partners, customers and prospects through online videos. Offer something new to inboxes by embedding a video in your emails to your partners and customers. You should also consider utilizing video as part of your company's DRP application process.

3.    Explainer Videos:
An explainer or how to video is usually a 1-2 minute video that a shop can use promote their business; educate the consumer on the repair process and/or to introduce a new product or service. Below is an example of a repair process explainer video.

 

4.    Behind-the-Scenes Repair Process Footage:
Provide your customers, insurers and other partners an inside look at your company's business and repair processes. Sharing behind-the-scenes footage offers a sense of inclusion rewarding current and potential customers.

5.    Document Events:
Enter the realm of "brand journalism" by capturing and sharing the events your shop is involved in or supports. Your customers will feel like they're part of the action, creating a stronger bond.

It doesn't matter if you’re an independent auto body shop, franchise, local, regional or national MSO or Repair Network. If you are able to utilize visual media better than your competition, you will come out on top.

Sharing what you and your company do through video builds an emotional connection with your audience in a way that's impossible to establish with just plain old text.

Next Steps
Mitchell’s Digital Marketing Platform has combined several powerful tools to effectively market your business online and drive more profit through increased sales. Contact us or call us at 866-639-7075 to learn more about how to attract new customers and manage your customer experience with the Mitchell Complete Digital Marketing Solution.