Mike Anderson presented a great presentation at NACE 2009 about how jobbers can better position themselves in the collision repair industry.
As a jobber, the success of their customers is a curtail part of the jobbers success. If the shop is not doing well or goes out of business, this means the jobber is doing less business or will not be as successful either.
Mike explained that a jobber of the future is going to do a better job of serving their customers. With a shrinking industry and increased complexity of the vehicles being produced, this will be a challenge for the jobber and shop owners. The jobbers will position their customers to recruit and retain quality employees. They will position their customers to be coached to success. The jobber will become auditors for quality of repairs, estimates, waste, lean process, customer service, and much more to assure the shop is running effective and proficient. Shops that do not take hold and embrace the changes coming may be looking at closing their doors. Therefore, it is in the jobbers best interested to help the business owner avoid any problems the future may hold.
Mike also conveyed that shops are going to have to be more careful with material usage and find ways to charge for all of the materials used. Shops are going to have to dig a little deeper and assure that they are charging for all of the line items that are not included in the repair operation.
The jobber will need to become more resourceful and able to point their customers in the correct direction. They must know what websites are out there to help the shop owners. The jobbers will need to help with accounting issues, website designers, it experts, and marketing strategies.
In a nutshell, jobbers are going to need to position their customers to be coached to success and the shop owners are going to have to be open-minded and be coachable. This will be required to survive the futures competitive and complex times.
Mike gave an excellent presentation and this just touches on a few of the topics that he discussed. For more information you can contact Mike Anderson [email protected] or you can visit his website at www.wagonwork.com
Donnie Smith
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