ST. PAUL, MINN., March 12, 2015—Making paint-and-materials a successful profit center for your business doesn’t require fighting tooth and nail with insurers, says shop owner Ron Reichen. Maintaining healthy, profitable P&M margins is about systems and procedures, and Reichen, owner of Precision Paint & Body in Oregon, will share his two-shop repair business’s processes with fellow industry professionals at the FenderBender Management Conference in May.
His session, “Get Paid for Paint and Materials,” will outline how to intertwine cost accounting strategies into a shop’s day-to-day operations, creating a tightly monitored and thoroughly documented P&M system that provides shops with the tools needed to ensure they are properly compensated by insurers.
Paint, parts and material costs continue to rise, yet insurance reimbursement rates have remained largely flat, leaving more and more shops struggling to build healthy, profitable margins. Reichen says it doesn’t have to be that way.
“It’s a very important topic. Some people struggle with it,” Reichen said. “It doesn’t have to be really complicated, though. We’ve come up with a system, and we’re able to ensure we’re reimbursed for every item—a pack of gloves, a few ounces of paint. It’s just about having a system and a process in place, and following it.”
Reichen is an accomplished industry veteran, currently serving as the chairman of the executive committee for the Society of Collision Repair Specialists, the president of the Oregon Collision Repair Specialists, and a FenderBender editorial advisory board member. He has grown Precision Paint & Body in Bend and Beaverton, Ore., into one of the premier repair businesses in the Northwest. The shops were early pioneers in aluminum repair, and have earned numerous manufacturer certifications, as well as local, regional and national awards.
The FenderBender Management Conference, scheduled from May 18–20 in Philadelphia, will include educational sessions, engaging workshops, panel discussions, and networking opportunities, all aimed at helping shop owners and managers make money, save money and work smarter.
For more information and to take advantage of early bird registration rates that could save you up to $500, go to fenderbenderconference.com.
