How it Works: Collision Advantage

The Reviewer:

Robbie Windham, 46 years old, says that working with cars is all that he’s ever known. While he attended community college, he got his first job working at a body shop and started doing some repair work on his own. He started his own shop out of his parents’ backyard, and as demand for his work increased, he kept adding on. In 1991, he officially opened up shop as Windham Body Shop.

The Shop:

Windham Body Shop, located in New Albany, Miss., has gone through a few location changes but is currently housed in a 6,000-square-foot building that employs eight. In the past year, the shop has implemented new processes, including blueprinting.

Another thing that Windham is focused on is following OEM repair procedures. Being a member of the Mississippi Collision Repair Association, Windham is always reminded of the importance of following the recommended OEM repair procedures. So, when ALLDATA introduced its now award-winning Collision Advantage, Windham decided to give it a try.

How it Works:

Collision Advantage integrates with all three of the major shop management systems. To use it, open Collision Advantage and go to the estimate portion. The estimate will then show up, line by line, along with all of the necessary information needed to do the repair: OEM procedures, alerts, vital repairs and manufacturer positioning statements.

The Review:

Windham says one of the biggest pros in purchasing Collision Advantage is that it’s allowed him to get paid for his work.

“It’s just like anything—you can get paid for the work but you need the documentation,” Windham says. “Collision Advantage provides great documentation.”

Collision Advantage allows users to print off the recommended repair procedures or any position statements and attach them to the estimate. That way, when it’s sent to an insurer, the documentation for why all of the completed work is right there. This has been a huge help for Windham, especially with getting paid for pre- and post-repair scanning.

“I can search OEM position statements,” Windham says. “Nearly all of them require scanning, so now I can print that off with the estimate and get paid for it.”

Another aspect that Windham really likes is the fact that with Collision Advantage, everything is documented. That way, he can show proof of everything that his shop did to a vehicle.

“A few weeks ago, we did a repair for some folks from Oklahoma,” Windham says. “When they got home, they took it to a shop because their crankshaft sensor was leaking. The new shop tore the car back down and tried to charge us for repairs that they said we didn’t do. I printed off the ALLDATA documentation and was able to prove we did it. That was a $1,600 ticket they were trying to stick me with.”

The ROI:

“I was skeptical about getting it because of the cost, but it was able to more than pay for itself with just that one cost that I was able to avoid,” Windham says.

Another job came into Windham Body Shop recently that looked to be a total loss. Windham looked at the information in Collision Advantage and saw that there was a recommendation for fixing the frame rail. Because of that, he was able to salvage a total loss and obtain a $10,000 job.

On top of obtaining more work and making sure his staff is not accused of not doing work that they performed, Windham also says that he’s paid for $250–$300 worth of work per week that he had a difficult time getting paid for before. Now, because of the documentation he can provide, he’s compensated for all of the repairs.