Children of body shop owners commonly work in the business growing up — and often at least one son or daughter is interested in taking over the shop when the parent, or parents, retire. And then there are shops like Fairway Collision Repair of Vadnais heights, Minn., a suburb of St. Paul.
When Fairway Collision founders Mike and Jane Lund opted for an early retirement in the early 2000s, all three of their adult children wanted to work in the business and be part-owners. That meant that the younger Lunds would have to grow the business significantly in order to meet the high expectations all three had for the business. Five years later, they've made great progress in achieving that.
"The sales growth has been in the double digits since we took over," says Kevin Lund, who is now general manager of the business, while his twin brother Cary is the lead estimator and their sister Pam Caruth is the production manager.The siblings have achieved that growth by adding new services, including towing and mechanical repairs, and by actively pursuing key accounts — including a Lexus dealer, which now sends all of its body repair work to the shop. Fairway also offers paintless dent repair through an independent supplier and has two rental car companies onsite.
As Kevin puts it, the company's philosophy is "One call does it all."
Fairway Collision has been in the same location since Mike and Jane founded the company 33 years ago on a site that previously had been a beer warehouse. The Lunds also bought the previous owner's home, which was right next door, and moved in. The younger Lunds grew up there and Cary still lives there. The original shop was around 7,000 square feet and the property included a three-hole golf course, which inspired the choice of the Fairway name. Over the years, the shop was expanded several times and now has more than 23,500 square feet. Where the golf course once was there is now a building and parking lot.All three of the Lund children had worked in the shop for at least 10 years before taking the business over from their parents. One of the first moves they made was to increase efficiency by promoting standard operating procedures — an idea they picked up in an industry 20 group sponsored by a key supplier.
"The staff now sees the big picture and sees the value of consistency and productivity," says Kevin.
The siblings also were concerned that the shop's workload wasn't consistent. To address that, they got involved with some key insurance company direct repair programs and with several local car dealers. Their relationship with one of two Lexus dealers in the state has been particularly valuable. Initially the dealer worked with several body shops in the area but now gives virtually all of its collision work to Fairway"Their main concern is their customer," says Kevin. "If their customers are happy, they're happy.
The decision to buy a tow truck was driven, in part, by the desire to generate more revenues and attract more customers but also as a cost savings measure. The company offers free pickup and delivery — and the addition of the tow truck, which can tow two cars, cuts down on the personnel time required to bring vehicles into the shop.
Not every move the trio made yielded big benefits. The company added glass repair capability but has begun to sublet that work as the owners have found it difficult to make a profit on glass repairs done in-house. But other moves, such as the decision to handle mechanical repairs, have been positive ones. Collision repair still represents 90 percent of the company's business — but the Lunds expect the percentage of mechanical work to grow as they begin to promote it more.
Diversification hasn't caused the shop to lose its focus on doing quality repairs, however. The company regularly conducts customer satisfaction surveys, which consistently are 98.5 percent. To help ensure that quality remains high, the company pays for employees to attend I-CAR training and maintains I-CAR Gold status.
"The technology is changing so rapidly these days you have to be trained," says Kevin. "It's a huge value. I can't even put a measurement on it."
Despite the success they have achieved, the Lund siblings are taking care not to become complacent. "As soon as you sit back and say, 'It's business as usual,' that's when you get left behind," Kevin says.
The Lunds recently made the bold move of hiring a marketing consulting firm, which is working with them to develop a full marketing plan and, as Kevin puts it, take the company to "the next level."
The marketing firm is revamping the Fairway Web site (www.fairwaycollisioncenter.com) and also came up with a clever way to capitalize on the success of makeover television shows such as "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition" and "Tim Gunn's Guide to Style." But instead of renovating a house or giving a woman a new look, the "Fix My Car" contest that Fairway is sponsoring will repair an entrant's "beater" vehicle. As Pam explains, "People will submit a story why they should have their car made over. We'll look for a needy person, and they'll get a good reliable car." In the process, Fairway also should generate good will and get some publicity in local news media."
Another area where the Lund siblings are taking care not to become complacent is in their relationships with one another. "Until we matured, we didn't get along, but now we get along extremely well," notes Kevin.
To help ensure that those good relationships continue, the siblings recently enlisted the services of a counselor who specializes in familiar businesses. The counselor met with them as a group and individually and, based on that, will put together some recommendations for prolonging and enhancing their partnership.
On the technology side, too, the trio does not hesitate to adopt new ideas if they will clearly benefit the shop. Although it's not a regulatory requirement in Minnesota, the shop already is in the process of converting to a waterborne paint system.
"It cuts down on some of our processes and will help us be more productive," says Kevin. Pam adds, "It will be more environmentally friendly."
Looking into the future, the three siblings are planning to expand their existing location one more time. After that, Kevin says, "Our next plan will be to have a second location."
