With rising repair costs and shrinking resources, insurers always look to work with the collision repair partners who make their life easier. So how do you become a source of relief for your local insurance partners?
A facility’s performance plays a major role. Carriers want to know that if they send their valued customers to your collision repair facility, they will get the repair quality and customer service promised to them. This is why it is essential to perform well, as it dictates how much business you will get. To help you earn more business, it is important to:
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Prioritize the Customer Experience
Customer service does not begin and end at your reception desk. Welcoming customers when they enter your facility, greeting them kindly over the phone, ensuring you check parts delivery timelines before you promise a deadline for vehicle return, explaining the repair process, following up with customers 48 hours after vehicle delivery (and much more) will only enhance their perception of your business and the quality of your repairs.
As many people do not plan to go to a repair center, they usually don’t know what to expect or how the repair process works. Therefore, if an unfortunate accident happens, we have the opportunity to really transform their experience and turn their day around.
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Uphold a Positive Image
Image is everything for a collision repair facility. Oftentimes, people picture body shops to be dirty and dark. This is why it is crucial that the exterior of the building is clean, the parking lot has spaces for customers, signage is clear, the waiting area is inviting and it shows that you care about your business.
Brand image can leave a lasting impression. If you want to attract new business, be prepared to invest in your store image so insurers feel comfortable sending their customers your way.
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Have Trusted Operational Processes
Ensuring repeatable outcomes of high customer service levels and quality repairs is no easy task. The solution lives in the repair process. This means empowering your staff to lead, ensuring every customer interaction is positive and each repair adheres to OEM guidelines.
Keeping up these pristine operations requires definitive guidelines that everyone in the facility understands. CARSTAR has a proprietary operational process known as the EDGE Performance Platform, which stores can use as a blueprint to achieve that premier level of collision repair excellence—for every repair.
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Keeping an Eye on KPIs
In the age of performance-based agreements, it has become more important than ever before to know your numbers. KPIs (key performance indicators) are measurable numbers that show your performance and usually what insurance partners put on scorecards as thresholds to earn their business. Cycle time, customer service scores, touch time and length of rental are just some of the measurements that may appear on an insurer’s scorecard, which they look at constantly. Owners need this insight into their metrics to see where they stand with insurers.
For small body shops, investing in a platform to track your performance can be hard to justify when there are so many other expenses at play. For networks like CARSTAR, however, it provides independent owners access to its exclusive analytics platform that unites information on operational performance, sales as well as P&L (profit and loss) into one location.
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Make Room for Education
Vehicles have had back up cameras, anti-lock braking and blind spot detection for years. Their impact upon the collision repair industry, however, has increased as the volume of technologies in modern vehicles has only risen. Composites, high-strength steel and aluminum also continue to make their way into newer vehicles affecting the repair process. It is crucial to invest in education to ensure technicians are educated in the latest repair standards and that you earn certifications that make sense for your book of business.
CARSTAR University is a tool available exclusively to the CARSTAR network that provides hundreds of online educational courses created in partnership with industry leaders, vendor partners and insurance colleagues. This helps keep facilities up to date with industry advancements and makes this wide variety of information easily accessible in one location.
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Join a Self-Managed Network
As insurers continue to experience cost pressures, many are reducing field claims staff and assigning less resources to manage their collision repair partners. Finding collision repairers who can keep their operations in check and support the claims handling process helps take some of the pressure off insurers.
For instance, CARSTAR has a field team who coach, counsel and consult its network through its operational processes on a daily basis. This is in addition to the call center that is available 24/7 for accident assistance and provides support in customer questions regarding claims. This level of self-management allows the network to address any questions or concerns before it has a chance to become an issue, enhancing the overall repair process experience.
If you are looking for a supportive network that can help you improve your performance and capacity so you can take on more DRP’s from top insurance carriers, consider joining the CARSTAR family. CARSTAR is a franchise system that provides resources to enhance and grow your business, while allowing you to continue independently owning and operating your business. To see if CARSTAR is right for you, visit CARSTARFranchise.com or call 844-906-9764.
