James Bishop, owner of The Ding Guy in Colorado Springs, Colo., has established a paintless dent repair business plan that includes a separate body shop.
Back in the early 1990s, Bishop says paintless dent repair was considered magic—voodoo even—to body shop owners.
When Bishop first opened his paintless dent repair facility, both customers and other shop owners were skeptical of its potential for success. And when he recently opened a separate body shop, even potential employees were wary of the endeavor.
Bishop outlines his plan to sell his business as a brand that could easily be remembered by customers and could be reached through a catchy phone number: 1-800-Ding-Guy.
The Unique Business Plan
- When the new body shop location opened in 2015, ROI from advertising became five times greater.
- The business saw more drive-by customers and gained more legitimacy in the collision repair market by having an auto body shop facility.
- The shop reaches the 70,000–90,000 cars driving by the business each day by being placed on the business area’s marquee sign.
- Bishop hired an outside firm, 720media, to help manage all the social media sites.
- Despite most paintless dent repair shops working on cosmetic damage to vehicles, Bishop is able to save on parts replacements through his paintless dent repair facility and then send the vehicle to undergo repairs in the body shop.
