It is your obligation to ask for the funds to repair vehicles to pre-accident condition

Action is defined on dictionary.com as “the state or process of doing something.” Sometimes to accomplish a goal that you have set, you must act. In an old video I watched recently, Steven Jobs states that “Most people never pick up the phone and call. Most people never ask, and that’s what separates the people who do things from the people who just dream about them.” The reason he gives us this insight is back when he was 12 years old, he called Bill Hewlett, who was co-founder of Hewlett-Packard, and told Mr. Hewlett that he wanted to build a frequency counter. Jobs asked Mr. Hewlett if he had any spare parts that he could have. As Jobs describes “he laughed and gave me the spare parts.” Mr. Hewlett also gave him a summer job and the rest was history. The lesson that Jobs learned from this experience was he needed to take the initiative and ask for what he wanted. He used this trait to help him become one of the most successful business leaders of our time. Jobs had to act. It has been 8 years since his death and Steven Jobs still provides lessons, by example through his life work, that we can utilize in our business and personal lives.

You may ask yourself, “How does this relate to my collision repair business?” Sometimes as managers and owners, we need to let go of our reservations and put forth the effort to ask for something in which we may think the answer would be no. The truth is how will you ever know unless you ask? Let me give you an example shop owners can relate to.
When we receive a customer’s vehicle, we write a complete blueprinted repair plan as the first step. During the blueprinting stage, we need to document by telling a story of the repair plan with detailed photos. After this stage, we need to make sure all the necessary parts are on the repair plan. This includes the one-time use parts and other parts that may be missed in the initial stages. The simple fact of asking can mean more money to safely repair our customers’ vehicles. What do I mean by this? This next part can be missed in our business.

When we send a supplement to be paid, we are asking for items on the supplement that are required to repair the vehicle back to pre-accident condition. This can be construed sometimes as items that are not necessary. This is not so. These items are needed to make a safe repair. In our business we need to be professional and write our estimate per manufacturer specifications. The engineers design vehicles to react in such a way that when there is a collision, the vehicle will do the job of keeping the person safe, and we are not to change any safety aspect of the design in our repairs.

I have heard my dad say things like, “I have fight for everything I get.” You may think this too. It’s frustrating. But we should not shy away from getting what we need to perform a safe repair for our customers. This is prime example of where you must be straightforward and ASK. This will mean money paid for the customer’s vehicle to allow for scans and other necessary items. Be sure to thoroughly document what you need, through use of manufacturer procedures and photos.

What if the answer is “no”? If you are one of the unlucky ones that have documented and asked, but don’t get what you need to repair the vehicle correctly, then it’s time to involve your customer. As much as you don’t want to ask your customer to help, you may need to have them call the insurance and be an active participant. Let your customer know the process collision repair shops and insurance companies use, the obstacles in the process to get repairs paid for, and they should happily do so. After all, they want their repair to be safe and paid for.

At the end of the day, there is an obligation to your customers to repair their vehicle back to pre-accident condition. It is your obligation to ask for the money to do so. It may take some negotiation, but asking respectfully and being firm, you should get what you set out for…and your shop or customer won’t be out of any money in the process.