Think about the last time you had a car in the shop in which you had to mask the engine compartment as part of welding in a core support or apron. Did you bill for this procedure, and were you paid?
A survey of nearly 1,000 body shops earlier this year found that more than one-third (35.7 percent) have never asked to be paid for masking the engine compartment, yet another one-third of the shops (34.4 percent) who seek to be paid for it said they are indeed paid "always" or "most of the time.”
The survey found a little more than 12 percent of shops acknowledge they have never charged or asked to be paid for “feather, prime and block.” Yet another 12.4 percent of shops said they are “always” paid for the procedure, and another 9.9 percent of shops said they are paid for the operation "most of the time."
This confirms something I see as I work with shops around the country. Here’s a procedure that 12 percent of shops aren’t even listing on their estimates yet more than 20 percent of shops are getting paid for it most if not all of the time.
If you find this kind of information valuable, I’d like to encourage you to participate in these new quarterly surveys that I’ve organized. Each survey lists about two dozen procedures or estimate line items and asks you to indicate how often each of the eight larges auto insurers pays your shop for each item (when it is a necessary part of the repair).
The surveys aren’t quick. You can expect to spend 10 to 30 minutes on each. But I think you’ll find that investment of time valuable for a couple of reasons. First, the survey questions will likely serve as a good reminder of many of the non-included items you may want to itemize on your estimates if they are a part of a particular repair job in your shop.
“My estimators, production manager and I did the survey together during our production meeting,” one Texas shop owner told me about our first survey earlier this year. “It definitely stirred up our thought process about some of the items that we have not been asking for.”
The second way you may find the survey results useful is when you’re being told, “We don’t pay for that.” The results can be another tool – along with documentation from the automakers or estimating system providers – that you can use to negotiate and show that you’re not “the only one” asking for or getting paid for it.
Our second quarterly survey, which focus on body labor operations will be available online during the month of July. Visit my company’s website (CollisionAdvice.com) for a link to where you can get more information about taking the survey or seeing results from previous surveys.
Here are some other things you should know about the surveys. First, your shop's individual responses will be held in the strictest confidence. Only cumulative data will be released. You need only provide a zip code and state to participate. You have the option to provide additional contact information if you’d like to receive an executive summary of the survey findings.
Second, the survey should be completed by the shop owner, manager or estimator who is most familiar with your shop's billing practices and the payment practices of the largest national insurers.
With 985 shops completing the first survey (only one response per shop location is allowed), I’m confident it’s already among the strongest surveys conducted in our industry. I want to increase the number of participating shops so we can provide statistically valid results even by state. To make that happen, please take the time to complete the survey, and forward the link to other shop owners you know. Make sure any association you belong to sends the link to your fellow members.
You’ll read more about the surveys right here. I’ll use the results as the basis for some of my future columns, to explain how you can justify charging for these procedures when they are necessary.
So visit my website (www.CollisionAdvice.com) to get more information or take the survey.
