Industry sharpens focus on developing digital photography options
From Polaroids to pixels, the technology behind the lens of collision repair shop photography gear is a fast developing field. During just the past few years, shops have shifted from film-based cameras, used to capture snapshots for insurance, estimating and documentation purposes, to digital imagery that provides better customer service, facilitates company training programs and promotes a business via sharp-looking artwork displayed over the Internet and in printed brochures.
Digital cameras are bringing point-and-shoot simplicity and the graphic wizardry of computer technology to the bays. And they are being used in various ways throughout the collision repair shops.
“The digitals are so much easier” than the cameras of the past, according to Mike Martin, co-owner with his wife, Sue, of G&M Body and Paint Shop in Mansfield, Ohio. “You can actually see the way it comes out; if you don’t like it you can take it over real quick.”
For the past two years, G&M has used a Sony Cybershot to E-mail damage photos to the insurance companies during the approval process. Martin says there’s also an added benefit of protecting your shop from potential disputes. A before-and-after sequence, for example, can easily solve a situation where a customer contends that a ding or dent wasn’t there when the vehicle was brought in, he says.
G&M is currently exploring a system that allows customers to view their vehicle’s repair in-progress online by logging onto the shop’s Internet site, www.gandmbody.com.
Digital photography has become a snap at Kadel’s Auto Body, based in Tigard, Ore., with 13 locations in Oregon, Idaho and Washington. A Sony Mavica FD75 is the camera of choice.
“We use it to take before-and-after photos and we use it for our marketing department,” reports Toby Wiltse, president and owner. “We use it for a training tool as well, such as showing a specific repair or weld.”
In addition to an attractive Internet site, the company has an internal intranet site for Kadel employees spread throughout the Northwest. “They can pull-up stuff as they participate in a phone conference,” Wiltse explains.
Digital shots are published in Kadel’s quarterly newsletter and advertising brochures distributed by each facility, plus the repair processes are duly documented. The company is using one location as a test site for online customer viewing of repairs at www.kadels.com.
“We take pictures of every vehicle regardless of whether the insurance company requires it or not,” says Wiltse.
Standard procedure
Electronic transmission of photography is virtually standard operating procedure for the insurance industry. “Now they won’t accept anything other than digital images,” says John Williams, executive vice president for the Independent Automotive Damage Appraisers.
“It’s all about documentation,” he explains. “When insurance company workers view your photos they should be able to say, ‘That was damaged—I can see it.’”
Insurance company photo requirements vary depending upon the situation, but generally, according to Williams, a desired shot is a close-up of the affected area that includes enough additional context to clearly identify where the damage is located on a vehicle.
A serious crash with civil or criminal implications may require images above a 72 dots-per-inch (dpi) resolution, or even 35 mm photography. “For a full-blown investigation they may want a higher resolution,” Williams says, and with a 35 mm shot “you can blow that up to the size of a poster to use in court.” Typically the repair shop does not handle these types of photo shoots. An authorized inspector is usually called in to analyze and photograph the evidence. For example, “You check the seat belts and make sure they were in operation.”
A shop with an eye for good camera work and graphics can attract positive notice from insurers, according to Stoney Patterson, manager at Bi-City Autoworks in Columbus, Ga. “When they have a customer they send them to our website [www.bicityautoworks.com],” he notes. A striking photograph of Bi-City’s building was shot several years ago with a disposable 35 mm Kodak and scanned onto the Internet page. Patterson points out that he’s now focusing on digital and reviewing a customer online viewing system. He quips that adaptation of this latest technology may be difficult because “we repair them faster than I can take pictures of them.”
Kevin Caldwell, general manager at the Assured Performance Network, a national cooperative with 250 members, believes e-mailed photos—especially ones that clearly portray the damage in proper context—speed along the insurance approval process. “A lot of times if you send a picture you’ll get the go-ahead,” says Caldwell.
Electronic billboard
Several customer online viewing systems are available in the marketplace. These differ from electronic estimating programs in that the emphasis is on allowing consumers to log in at any hour to review the progress of their vehicle’s repair.
While some people may be squeamish about seeing their beloved car in disarray, shops using the viewing systems report fewer phone calls and better customer relations. Such systems also illuminate a shop’s professionalism and add some pizzazz to the presentation.
“This isn’t our grandfather’s body shop anymore,” declares Brian Lesch, owner of Collision Repair Services (www.crsnow.com), with offices in Mansfield, Ohio, and Columbus, Ohio.
“Perception is 90 percent” of a potential patron’s opinion of a given business, and “technology has increased a lot. Customers now expect this,” he says. “If you’re perceived as being technologically inclined people will have more trust in the work you perform.”
“Customers want to see what’s going on with their cars,” agrees Dave Henderson, president of See Progress Inc. of Brighton, Mich. The company produces the AutoWatch system, www.AutoWatch.com.
“They have more confidence in what you’re doing and they’re amazed at how high-tech the industry is,” he observes. “It’s still hands-on, but even those hammer blows were measured by a computer.”
AutoWatch research reveals that 150,000 consumers on-average clicked-in 30 times to view their vehicle’s repair progress. And of 11,000 customer service surveys, 90 percent said the system “handles their information needs,” he says. (Also, viewers tend to access their vehicle’s picture with friends and family looking on.)
“The main thing is customer service,” Henderson contends. “The score revolves completely around communication and trust.”
By allowing customer access 24 hours a day, seven days a week, “the body shop customer has just communicated with his (or her) advisor, and they’ve done it at 10 o’clock at night,” he points out. “I can’t call the shop and see the car.”
Henderson says his shop customers report a 30 percent to 40 percent drop in incoming calls from customers asking about the state of their repairs, which equates to more time conducting other day-to-day business.
Car rental companies and other fleets use the service to monitor vehicle flow. “Hertz wants to know when that car is coming back, and they don’t have to call the shop,” Henderson says.
Jeanette Foster at Foster’s Body and Paint in Santa Maria, Calif., is a satisfied AutoWatch customer, www.fostersbodyandpaint.com. “It’s the best electronic billboard you could ask for. You’ll never get that type of advertising with a Yellow Pages ad,” she says. “The biggest advertising of all is that the customers can see their cars and it keeps them informed 24/7. If you just tell people it’s in the metal department, that really doesn’t tell them what’s going on.”
Foster goes on to observe, “If you’re doing what you’re supposed to be doing, there’s no reason why the customer shouldn’t be able to see the car.” She cautions that only honest operations should consider this technology, as excess charges and omitted components will become apparent. “A shop has to be ‘clean’ to use it.”
Customers sometimes make printouts of the photos to place in their personal records, putting them to use if they wish to subsequently sell the vehicle.
Foster’s customers are particularly fond of the paint booth and the action of the spray gun, she says. Plastic work is another highlight she enthusiastically records with her Sony Mavica. “If there’s one thing the public doesn’t understand it’s a plastic repair,” Foster explains. “They seem to be fascinated by how it goes from a blob into a finished product—people seem to have a comfort zone while they’re watching their car.”
