ARLINGTON, Tex. (Sept. 27, 2022)—The 2022 FenderBender Management Conference got off to a casual start Sunday night with a chance for attendees to connect and reconnect over drinks or dinner, but there was nothing relaxed about the energetic start to the conference's first full day on Monday delivered by none other than Mike Anderson.
Anderson clearly defined the message and course of action for attendees right off the bat: "Change the way you compete."
Throughout the talk, Anderson emphasized how shop owners do this, prioritizing employee retention through incentive programs and support, going above and beyond what's been offered before to compete in today's market. The same goes for customers, who have different expectations today as far as speed and convenience that they've acquired from other industries. The business model is changing, said Anderson, and it's time for owners to disrupt the status quo.
"If you're trying to disrupt the status quo and beat bigger competitors," was the bold message on one of Anderson's slides, "You're not going to do it by playing their game."
From there, attendees were free to attend the conference breakout sessions, let by industry leaders and shop owners from around the country. They heard talks from a wide range of voices on a wide range of topics, such as the ins and outs of lean processes from Lorens Body Shop owner Greg Lobsiger, giving employee feedback from On the Road Companies CEO Michelle Corson and marketing ADAS work from Jason Zeise and Darrell Amberson of LaMettry's Collision. One of the first speakers of the day was FenderBender columnist Tiffany Menefee, who utilized her background of two decades in the insurance industry combined with seven years of shop ownership to give an enlightening talk on successful negotiations with insurers.
Interspersed with the sessions were breaks for networking, and the day concluded with a kickoff party as attendees relaxed before another packed schedule of informative sessions on Tuesday.
