Since the shop is so new, they're just beginning the I-CAR training process and have not yet achieved National Institute for Automotive Service Excellence (ASE) certification, but both are definitely on Beetler's agenda. "They are primary aspirations," he says.
The shop's success may start with a name like Alchemy, which was no accident. According to Beetler, it was first coined in the 16th or 17th Century and means a science built on transformation. An alchemist, a form of scientist, would turn base metal into gold."This transformation process translates to our cars as well, as we turn literal wrecks and unrecognizable slabs of metal into something stunning once again," Beetler says of the business in Corona, Calif., a city once known as the lemon capital of the world, and years ago, for clay mining.
Currently, the well-oiled collision repair and restoration facility operates with nine employees, although Beetler expects to add seven workers in the next two years. Although the current staff is small it's big on experience, with some workers having been in the business for 30 years.
"It's a huge concern in this industry and others to keep employees happy," Beetler says, after having spent two decades in manufacturing. To offset the imbalance, he believes heavily in running a team environment and offering benefits to employees, starting with a 401K, which he says is unusual in the collision repair industry. "It's crucial to provide a place where employees feel like they can stay."
The facility, which is 90 percent collision-based and 10 percent restoration-based, offers color matching, frame repair, free estimates, shuttle service, shop tours and refreshments to customers and insurance adjusters. Additionally, as with many technologically savvy shops nationwide, this one provides Internet photos to customers so they can view the progress on their vehicle's repair any time of day.
"Allowing folks to see what goes on behind the scenes removes the 'Wizard of Oz' element," Beetler jokes.
While the provisions may sound standard, Beetler hopes his shop stands a cut above the traditional collision repair shops. Customers often first comment on the cleanliness of the shop as they enter it, almost as if they're in a doctor's office, he says.
"And we make sure each of our employees is customer-oriented, recognizing that at the end of the day, the real boss is the customer," he says.
Beetler entered the world of collision and restoration repair via a nontraditional route. Prior to opening the shop, he spent 21 years in the roofing product and tile industry, most recently as a vice president with U.S. Tile, a clay tile roofing manufacturer.
It was his father who inspired Beetler's love of cars. His father owned car dealerships in Long Beach years ago. Beetler would spend summer days warming up the cars and washing them. In his early teens and twenties, Beetler began collecting mostly American-made classic cars and Harley-Davidsons. The love of the 2,000-plus pound machine never died.
Today Beetler's wife also contributes with sales and his son is beginning to show an interest in painting.
Family matters aside, Beetler and staff have made a significant investment — upward of $275,000 — in state-of-the-art equipment, including a Sunlight downdraft spray booth with advanced air accelerators, waterborne PPG Envirobase high-performance paints, a Curtis rotary screw compressor, part stands, welders and office equipment.
Beetler says future investments will include more software; the shop currently runs Pathways for its estimating system, and Autofocus by New Era management system.
For now, Beetler keeps one eye on the competition and how to keep the customers returning.
"We hear that customers like that we actually take the time to explain things to them about the process of dealing with insurance companies, for example, or dealing with repairs and how long it's going to take," he says.
DRPs are part of the long-term competitive plan. In the meantime, they have relationships with dealerships, and have established a thorough advertising program utilizing TV commercials, car shows, community events and print advertising.
Now that the business has been up and running for a year, Beetler shares some lessons he's learned.
"One of the biggest lessons has been understanding the high influence of the insurance industry on our industry," he says. "Initially, DRPs looked attractive. Now they seem to be controlling the business."
Next on his list of lessons is the difficulty with recruiting the right person for the job. "In our case, we wanted to find the best body man we could," he says. "Once we got him into our workforce, we needed to make sure that candidate fits our philosophy in team approach. It's critical to seek out people with good direction, good attitude — a team player. We don't need the employee with the chip on his shoulder. To prevent other problems down the road, our shop does prescreening, drug screening and background checks."
And Beetler also is big on tinkering with the Web site at www.alchemyautopainting.com, where customers can request an estimate or send a note. The site, updated monthly, showcases the shop's very first job – a Cadillac that still sparks pride in Beetler.
"The customer was thrilled with the results," he says. Future customers can review the before and after images of this particular car, among others, to see what they can expect.
