Benner’s Auto Body carries on tradition with a century’s worth of cutting-edge repairs

This storied tradition lives on with the enterprise’s modern-day owner, Joseph O’Neill Jr., who at age 32 has recently reached yet another milestone in achieving Tesla’s OEM repair certification.

“We’ve been official since the beginning of 2018,” says O’Neill, known to all as Joe. “We’ve always tried to stay ahead of the curve,” and the prospect of working on Tesla’s aluminum body components and electrical propulsion systems “fascinated me as an owner” when the EVs were introduced into the car parc.

Already certified by Ford for the F-150 and its aluminum content, O’Neill went ahead and bought the equipment needed to conduct Tesla repairs prior to meeting the OEM’s rigorous training standards. “I just had a really good feeling about it,” he explains. “We liked the young brand and we liked that we were working directly with Tesla,” referring to the relative youthfulness of the respective staffs and a mutual cultural fit among them.

“A lot of the training we had previously done with I-CAR” along with instruction obtained through shop-equipment manufacturers. The technicians were able to further enhance their education through Tesla’s online training programs. “We were on the second wave of Telsa-certified shops,” Joe recounts, which meant that the virtual training aspect was now available without the crew having to travel across the country to the automaker’s in-house instructional facility in California.

“They were selling hundreds of Teslas” in the region surrounding the shop’s Cranford, N.J. location, “and we knew that would be good for us” regarding a consistent flow of customers.

“In three to five years from now you’re going to see a lot of that technology on other cars,” O’Neill observes, which positions the full-service shop for ongoing future revenues.

“We have always been on the forefront of technology in the auto body business,” he says. “My father was one of the first shops in New Jersey to have downdraft spray booths, frame machines and computerized estimating. I carried on the tradition with being one of the first shops in New Jersey to go waterborne and be aluminum certified.”

Leveraging a customer-centric marketing mantra known as The Benner’s Difference, “Our drive to be technically better than everyone else – to be trained in all model vehicles we service and to use the best quality products and tools to achieve superior results. We try and give our insurance partners and customers the feel of dealing with a small business with the size and expertise of a big MSO.”

SOPs and certifications

Mastering the most recent OEM certification requirements is a continuing process, as is tapping into the knowledge of industry experts such as consultant (and ABRN contributor) Steven Feltovich and taking advantage of the expertise provided by the shop’s lineup of vendors.

3M representative Jim Garripoli has been a particularly valuable mentor. “He was pivotal in helping me learn the business and setting up SOPs for every department,” according to O’Neill. “When I wanted to overhaul the detail department 3M brought in Dan Yaworski from Meguiar’s to demo how to use all their products effectively and efficiently.” 3M equipment and products are in regular use, with the processes augmented by readily available instruction.

“As we got into more OE-certified work, 3M has been with us hand-in-hand doing demos on the proper foams and adhesives to use for the repairs,” he says. “All-in-all I am very fortunate to have the relationship I have with 3M in helping me grow my company.”

“Vendor relationships are huge to me,” adds O’Neill, looking back to his life-threatening battle with cancer. “When I was going through my tough times it was certain vendors that stood with me the whole way and others that didn’t. You need vendors that understand the pressure we are under and are willing to go the extra mile to help alleviate it,” he says.

“One of the key lean principals is to have everyone involved in the repair in sync with each other,” he elaborates. “My vendors know when I need them to deliver, and they do so more often than not. That is why I am not in love with programs that put parts out to bid. Where is the loyalty in that? And on top of it, who cares if something is cheaper but can’t be delivered on time?”

A cooperative stance is applied to insurance carriers as well, and Joe has little use for the negativity that is often expressed throughout the industry. “I never once thought that the insurance companies were the enemies of the collision business. To me, greedy people are the enemy to the collision business,” he asserts.

“As shop owners we all have the right to not fix the car. If we feel that we can’t do the right repair for what they are willing to pay we have the right to refuse to fix the car. I have developed that philosophy for everyone who works for me,” O’Neill continues. “This has allowed me to have an outstanding relationship with every insurance company that I have come in contact with. I will never fault an insurance company for not paying us for something we didn’t have the proper evidence for.”

Several of the staff members have been with the company for more than 20 years, always keeping current with the latest techniques. “We have former employees that learned the business at Benner’s and now have gone on to work for insurance companies or open a shop for themselves,” he says.

“That is why education is key to running a profitable auto body shop. Resources such as ALLDATA are great for proving what it takes to fix a car.” Employees, appraisers and discerning customers “have the confidence that we are using the most up-to-date equipment. They are more likely to believe our position when they are able to see it in front of their eyes.”

Leveraging lean and green

Environmental consciousness is a top priority along with maintaining a high level of production efficiencies.

“We were one of the first shops to use (the 3M) CRIMP tool to measure and properly bill for consumables,” O’Neill reports. “After being extensively trained in lean process I turned to 3M to help my technicians be more productive. In between every two techs we have a 3M cabinet to store all their consumables and a full Total Automotive Sanding System. This allows them to stay more productive without having to walk back and forth to a centralized cabinet. We monitor what they use and the techs have to come to parts with an empty container to get a new container.

Sitting on the National Auto Body Council’s Board of Directors, O’Neill is an enthusiastic proponent of giving back to the nation’s military veterans and encouraging every shop owner to support the less fortunate in their respective markets through charitable contributions.

“Customers should also be proud to get their car fixed by a shop that gives over $50K a year back to the community,” he says. “We work with a lot of local and national charities, but our biggest relationship is with NABC. With our partnership with NABC we have committed to give two cars away every year to veterans.”

Serving the public is mission-critical throughout the company. “Customers should feel comfortable about dealing with us from the first phone call to the delivery of the car. Everyone who works for Benner’s is committed to delivering the total customer experience. They also aren’t only incentivized to produce more hours, but are also graded on how they interact with both our insurance partners and customers,” says O’Neill.

“Our goal as a company is to grow our knowledge to a point where the customer’s car never has to leave our facility,” he notes. “We now have a full-service mechanical, diagnostic, body, paint and detail department. Combined with having a satellite Enterprise location onsite, we are able to offer both the insurance companies and customers a full-service experience. We have been able to split the shop into being able to handle quick 24-hour repairs while still maintaining departments that can facilitate long major collision repairs.”

As is common throughout the industry, recruiting competent staff members is an ongoing challenge that is continually addressed. “The job market for collision repair employees is tough, so we have had to have multiple strategies to be able to keep a full staff.

“First,” O’Neill explains, “we have budgeted to offer a complete benefit package that includes 401k, health, disability and life insurance. Second, we have the ability for employees to take classes in our interactive conference room or testing area inside the shop. Third, we have been able to prolong the lifespan of a technician by buying equipment that makes it easier on the body for them – such as training them to do more highly skilled labor: This allows them to get paid a higher rate with not having to produce as many hours as when they were younger.”

A life-changing experience

O’Neill’s late father, Joseph O’Neill Sr., purchased the long-established business from the Benner family in the early 1980s after owning a pair of smaller shops for nearly 20 years. While attending a NACE conference Joe Sr. connected with a Texas shop owner who had a 40,000-plus square-foot facility. Upon visiting this operation, “He knew that he wanted to turn Benner’s into a large production shop,” O’Neill Jr. recalls.

He started working with his father in his early 20s and formally assumed ownership in 2010 when O’Neill Sr. was diagnosed with cancer, succumbing to the disease a few years later. O’Neill Jr. has had his own struggle with cancer, an especially grim period that also brought an inspiring, life-changing “Make a Wish” phone call, gifts and an onstage “Dream On” shout-out from Steven Tyler of Aerosmith!

Prior to this encounter, “I never had any intentions of taking over the business and in-fact never worked at the shop,” says O’Neill. “It was after surviving cancer that I went to work for my father to be closer with him. In the beginning it was only about spending time with my father and not about the business. I soon began to realize that there was a huge opportunity for me to help grow the business.”

He started attending Sherwin Williams training classes, and later moved up into more-advanced courses when O’Neill Sr. received his ultimately fatal cancer diagnosis.

“This time I had a different focus because I knew I would have to soon run the show by myself,” according to O’Neill. “They (Sherwin Williams) were gracious enough to send me to classes, seminars and 20 Group meetings around the country. I was able to meet some of the founding owners of both Caliber and CARSTAR,” he recounts with great gratitude.

“However, the person that really stood out, and I owe a lot to, was Steven Feltovich (of SJF Business Consulting). Steven turned out to be a godsend because he was able to show me exactly what I needed to focus on: He didn’t bother me with hypotheticals because he knew the timeframe I had to get up to speed.”