Florida collision center complex houses everything under the sun

Owners of Florida-based Rick Case Collision Center took the phrase "under one roof" literally. The collision center is housed in a six-story 33,000-sq.-ft former parking garage, which is also home to a Rick Case-owned quick lube center, a luxury car dealership and even gas pumps. Not to mention, rumor has it folks can even get married at the chapel located on site.

The franchise, which began with a Honda dealership in Cleveland, now represents Honda, Acura, Hyundai and luxury dealerships dotted throughout northeast Ohio, Atlanta and parts of Florida. But there's only one Rick Case Collision Center, located in Davie, Fla., a city of 90,000 residents and a sizeable horse-owning population. And Case hand picked Andy Sapp to run it.

"He sought me out," says Sapp, a Ft. Lauderdale native, who was working as a manager of a nearby dealership at the time. "He told me he was looking for the best of the best. He wanted someone with communication skills with customers and insurance companies."

Compliments aside, Sapp ultimately joined the company because of the respect he has for Case as a person and businessman. "I signed up with him because they're great, great people to work for," Sapp says, referring to Rick and his wife, Rita. "They're also very personable and they contribute to the community with all types of charity and golfing events."

Sapp, a painter of cars in the 1980s, joined the business in October 2005 as general manager. The collision center didn't actually open shop until February 2006, so he was there from the get-go, recently helping the center celebrate a financially sound first year.

"Our total sales? Oh, we average $1 million a month," Sapp says nonchalantly of the center that includes 8 spray booths, 14 measuring machines, 36 metal stalls and 28 paint stalls. That's $1 million while handling roughly 500 cars a month with an average repair cost of $2,300 each. The direct repair program with State Farm alone contributes about $250,000 a month. Another quarter-million is attributed to walk-ins.

How do they do it? The 47 employees make a huge difference, says Sapp of his crew, many of whom followed him from his previous dealership. And the number of employees has grown over time. "When we were ready to open the doors of this center, I called everyone from my old store and said, 'Listen, be here Monday morning. We started out with 15 of us, then 25, 35, and now 47."

These employees have remained loyal to Sapp. Many of them have worked with him for 10 years or more. "To me, it's all about my people and the amount of state-of-the-art equipment we have. You have to have the right tools to fix the cars right and we have it all – from aluminum to steel," Sapp says.

As for the customers they aim to please, although most shops will tell you they're about "servicing the customer," Rick Case takes that motto to heart, according to Sapp. "The facility here – and I'm talking about the dealership – is like a small city. We have our own gas pumps here. When you buy a car here, you get a Rick Case rewards card. You earn points. You can use those on services or on buying a new car. You can pay your traffic ticket here. You can even get married here—all under one roof. He's a marketing guru." But he's never lost sight, according to Sapp, of the Rick Case philosophy, which keeps the center's engines running: "Our customers, our friends."

It should come as no surprise that a shop that virtually has it all focuses on training and certification. The shop has ASE certified techs and within the next four months the center plans to achieve I-CAR Gold Status. Some of the technicians are certified in Jaguar, while some have BMW certification for the aluminum structure. There's even a curtained off aluminum repair area with vacuum extractions.

Where does competition fit in with all that Rick Case Collision Center can offer? Sapp hates to disappoint, but he says: "There is no competition. Sure, there are competitors, but they don't even come close. People want to come to us. Customers in the Honda, Acura, Hyundai line are very loyal customers, who trust us with their car."

But for those who have achieved such ranks of success, Sapp realizes it's never safe to put business plans on cruise control. Sapp stays on top of his game with computer programs and communication with lateral support staff. "I do a lot of walking in the shop. I have a lot of lateral support staff – shop foremen, a quality control person. I also use a program called Production Plus, which tracks the car live wire. My production manager in the shop uses a wireless tablet that changes the status of the car, depending on what's being done. I can pull the program up any time of day, look up a customer's name and find out where the vehicle is at. We can then email this time-stamped log to our customers."

The reputation of Rick Case's collision center has apparently paid off within the community, as Sapp says he has spent "zero" dollars on advertising since the day he started. "It's all about word of mouth and customer loyalty. Of course, Rick calls me constantly – saying that I'm not letting him have any fun. Rick is big on the television and radio down here."

Potential future plans for Rick Case Collision Center include a second collision center, which may be located at a local Rick Case Acura site. However, Sapp says such plans are years down the road.

In the meantime, Sapp ensures that the equipment onsite is updated to feature the latest capabilities. "I'm still purchasing this equipment to this day. That's what Rick is all about – if it's going to help my customers, go get it. As technology changes, we change with it," Sapp says.

Visit www.rickcase.com for more about the franchise and service options.