Time to elevate our stature

Oct. 4, 2021
Let’s work on behaviors in our industry to get the recruits and respect deserved

“Stature” can be defined as “importance or reputation gained by ability or achievement.” Synonyms include “reputation,” “standing,” “status,” “prestige,” “distinction,” “preeminence,” “prominence,” “importance,” “influence,” and “consequence.”  

How do you think the general public perceives our auto collision repair industry? Its importance? Its level of sophistication? Its integrity? Would they want someone from their family working in it? If they were, would people perceive it as a good career choice? In social interaction, are you proud to say you work in our industry? When you tell someone you work in our industry, what is their reaction? Do they seem impressed, or not so much? How does their reaction compare to their reaction when people say they are doctors or lawyers or professors or engineers or salespeople? These are all indicators of the perceived stature of our industry.  

I suggest to you that it is time that we strive to elevate our stature, to take it up a notch.  

Beliefs 

I am reminded of one of my mentors, Dick Cossette. When he passed away in 2002, some people told me how Dick changed their lives because of how they viewed their stature. Back in the ‘70s and ‘80s, there were very few MSOs, and today’s consolidation wave had not yet started. Many repairers started as techs and evolved into owning their own business. It was a common perception that they considered themselves as “second class citizens,” especially compared to other businesspeople. Dick and other industry leaders at the time spoke out and worked hard to change that. One tool they used, among many, was to start to dress more as businesspeople. Sport coats became common at industry events. In those years, and before, auto repair was a place where students who couldn’t succeed elsewhere could go. I’ve heard many mechanical techs from that era refer to themselves as “grease monkeys.” 

There are many professions where a more sophisticated term was adopted to elevate stature. For example, secretaries became administrative assistants and flight stewards and stewardesses became flight attendants. I am not saying that is without value. It may help. But more importantly, I am talking about the beliefs of people within our industry, as well as the beliefs of those in the general public. Changing a name, or a dress standard, only goes so far in terms of changing beliefs. It takes much more for people to perceive that an industry or profession is more sophisticated. Behavior is more compelling than rhetoric.  

First, WE must believe our stature should be elevated. Then we can work on convincing others. 

There are many reasons why our stature should be elevated. The government considers us essential. The vehicles we work on are far more sophisticated than ever. Vehicle manufacturer repair procedures have become far more extensive and precise. Human resource regulation and best practices are more extensive and complex than ever. Safety requirements are greater. Many collision repair businesses have grown to medium- and large-sized businesses dealing with very large amounts of sales dollars (and expense). As a result, our exposure to potential litigation is greater than ever. Management structure has become more specialized and sophisticated. Many companies now have CFOs, CIOs, COOs, directors, regional managers, marketing managers, IT managers, trainers, etc. Accounting, estimating, and communication technology is far more sophisticated. We are handling immense amounts of data. Repair tools and equipment are far more sophisticated and expensive. Required training is far more extensive and expensive. The challenges to operate at an efficient and profitable level are far greater than in the past. Out of necessity, most collision repair companies are operating like businesses, instead of many in the past who thought and behaved more like repair technicians who focused on repairs and hoped the profit and loss statements would be acceptable. 

Behaviors 

If you believe as I do, there are many behaviors we need to work on to elevate our stature. I am speaking as a repairer and as about our industry overall. 

Of course, there are countless ways to help. But I will bring up a few that stand out to me as especially current issues. 

No. 1: attracting more people and creating career paths 

It is no secret that we have a shortage of people coming into the collision repair industry, including repairers, insurers, and more. A higher industry stature would certainly be helpful. And if we had more high-performing people, it would help raise our stature. We need to think more about the latter and less about the former. I personally think there is a lot that we can do to better treat people in terms of offering careers. Pay is part of it. Certainly, we need to be more competitive with other trades for entry-level people. We tend to think too much about how much new people can contribute today, and thus we pay modestly. Other trades offer a higher entry-level compensation and understand that it will pay in the long run. And we need to do a better job of coaching and training to increase the chance of success, as well as to shorten the period of learning until the new individual is contributing more. It is a more expensive model, but a necessity. And we need to better consider the reasons that people do or would come to work in our field and better match those reasons to what we offer.  

In my career, I’ve known many people in the field of insurance claims handling. In years past, many came from repair shops or technical colleges. Many were trained next to repairers in tech colleges and I-CAR classes. Many had great respect for their companies and their ethics and enjoyed great benefits. For the most part, negotiations took place at the shop floor level, and more commonly, reasonable compromises and solutions were negotiated. Both sides were empowered. Many formed close professional relationships with repairers, and that became one of the positive attributes of our industry. In today’s world, many insurers train their own field staff and send them out (to shops or cubicles or home offices) with negative impressions of repairers and are given firm directives of what they will or will not pay for. I have seen too many who feel like they have a thankless job with little support or flexibility from their employer. Many soon leave the industry. I know of many insurers who are critically short-staffed, in some cases looking for scores of people for local claims departments. That’s hardly a model to build careers. And there are similar counterproductive examples from repairers and others in the industry.  

No. 2: Structural repair quality and safety 

If we wish to elevate ourselves to a more noble position, we must behave more nobly, with higher standards of integrity and repair quality. One area in which I have a concern is vehicle structure and measurements. I am thinking of those medium-sized jobs for which one may or may not consider formal measuring. The very essence of I-CAR when it was created revolved around this topic. When more vehicles were constructed in a unibody fashion, instead of full-frame, there was alarm over the need for more precision and tighter clearances. We were trained to perform precise measurements. New equipment was developed and a new labor category (structural) was developed. There was a lot of emphasis on measuring vehicle structure to adhere to stricter manufacturer tolerances. In recent years, data has shown that the usage of structural and frame labor on estimates has declined. (Often the terms “structural” and “frame” are treated as being the same in some estimating systems, though technically, the terms describe two different areas and construction methodologies of the vehicle.) Instead of setting up measuring systems and pulling the structure to precise dimensions, the concept of “body pull” has become more common. Many insurers push it to keep costs down. Many flat-rate technicians like it because they get more hours, though they are at a lesser rate than structural (frame). Some shops are ok with it because it is faster, and it is more accommodating to insurers. But the downside is that instead of measuring and assuring precise dimensions, the body tech is “eyeballing” the pull, or at best, using less precise methods, such as pulling the structure to fit sheet metal. Vehicle dimension tolerances have not become more forgiving in recent years. In fact, the opposite is true, that tolerances are tighter and more demanding. New substrates and construction methodology have become more sophisticated. And now with the addition of ADAS and other high-tech features, proper fit of inner structure is even more critical. As an industry, we NEED to and SHOULD get back to performing more formal measuring and more precise structural repairs, including pillars and other upper body components as well as lower body. 

No. 3: Cost versus quality and safety: an economic solution for an engineering problem? 

I am going to call out some insurers on this, as well as shops who are enablers. All you need to do is turn on your television to see countless ads for various insurers touting how their policies are less expensive than the rest. “Switch to us, and you will save XXX dollars.” (If this were true, we should all simply keep switching and eventually get insurance for free!) Obviously, it is an extremely competitive market and virtually all about cost. There is little or no mention of service or quality, thus implying that all insurers offer the same coverages and quality of service. And so there is immense effort on the part of insurers to keep repair costs as low as possible. I understand that we all want to get the best deal possible in our purchases. I am just as guilty. However, as vehicle technology has been so rapidly changing, with a heavy emphasis on safety, so is the cost of repair is increasing. Our repair industry is changing and adapting in terms of its processes and new operations being performed. Thankfully, there is more collaboration between vehicle manufacturers, repairers, and insurers than ever. While manufacturer repair procedures have always been the repair standard for I-CAR, there is a dramatically increased dependence upon them due to new technologies. And vehicle safety and performance hang in the balance. We must adjust our thinking accordingly. Currently, in too many cases, insurer economics drive our process.  

Automation and artificial intelligence (AI) now play a big part in the claims handling process. There are many advantages and efficiencies. But they can’t yet offer a complete and thorough solution to creating the repair plan. We still must rely on the repair experts, the quality-oriented shop with the manufacturer repair information resources, to complete the plan. Some insurers still seek to control the process and thus the costs. As industry expert and consultant Sean Carey says, “They are seeking an economic solution for an engineering problem.” 

Instead, we must evolve into an estimate-centric process. Our primary goal should and has to be SAFE AND PROPER REPAIRS. We should first and foremost develop estimates and consider and refer to them as “repair plans” that prioritize and establish the safe and proper repair, guided by manufacturer repair procedures. We need to minimize the variables and think in terms that the repair should be what it should be. And once that is established, various rates and labor times and parts costs can be negotiated. In other words, we fix the car properly, without deviation. Costs can be negotiated, but only without compromising the safe and proper repair. We need to get to a point where the safe and proper repair is a given. And once we accomplish that, confirming our credibility and accountability, we will gain more confidence and respect from ourselves and from those outside our industry, and thus increase our stature in our communities and culture.  

About the Author

Darrell Amberson | Director, MSO relations

Darrell Amberson is the president of operations for LaMettry's Collision, a 10-location multi-shop operator in the Minneapolis area. Amberson has more than 40 years of collision industry experience, and served as chairman of the Collision Industry Conference for the 2021-2022 term as well as interim chairman for the first two CIC meetings of 2024.