Nationwide, work has slowed. Still, there remain reasons to be optimistic about the outlook of the collision repair industry. Despite a slightly dimmed outlook among respondents to the annual FenderBender Industry Survey, 60% of respondents still expect their sales to grow in the next five years, with 18% expecting them to remain flat.
Our survey in recent years has pointed to a possible return to DRPs in terms of revenue reported and the number of DRPs, and from all sales categories, from under $250K to $5M+. The majority, 36%, reported having one to three DRPs, closely followed by 32% who report no DRPs. At the peak, in 2023, 44% of survey respondents reported they have no DRPs. This reversal could signal some shop operators' desire to pump up volume as it comes off an all-time high.
Of course, this is not a universal viewpoint. In response to our question, "What's the biggest misconception about today's collision repair industry?," DRPs were on the mind of one shop operator who expects his business to grow and also plans to eliminate the arrangements.
"[It's a misconception] that DRPs are profitable, when all they are is a race to the bottom with a shortage of technicians and pay. If the insurance company is allowed to steer to DRPs and behind the scenes regulate payouts, this industry will continue to collapse to the point of the government stepping in for total regulation, as they are trying to do with healthcare."
Whatever your plans are, we at FenderBender want to help you get there with strategies and inspiration. Support your state and national associations, who work behind the scenes to monitor and implement legislation that benefits all collision repairers. And if you have your own success story that you think could aid another repairer, won't you drop me a line and let me know about it? We're in this together, and a rising tide lifts all boats.
