Jobbers should be partners with collision repairers and help them improve their business
There were times when jobbers thought if they provided shop owners incentives, you would jump and sign their contracts. Times have changed.
Today you need more than gifts to meet your bottom line; you need processes to improve your abilities to work through the narrow material margins allowed on estimates. You need a jobber to be your true blue partner. There are three areas where a jobber can help you in the management of your business: standard operating procedures (SOPs), key performance indicators (KPIs) and inventory control (IC).
SOPs are the first step in jobber assistance that will add to net profits. Each time you create a process to standardize operations you save money by eliminating waste. Documenting work performed allows you to be paid for what you do and decrease your cycle time.
Estimating SOPs would ensure your estimators write each of their estimates the same way. So ask: Do they always refinish the fuel door when refinishing the quarter panel? Do they always remember the Freon oil when recharging the air conditioning system? Do they always get the production date? Do they always follow the blueprint procedures?Refinishing SOPs ensure effective material usage and reduces rework. So ask: Do your painters always use a spray out card? Do your painters always check LKQ parts to verify undercoat integrity? Do your painters always inspect repair areas for imperfections? Do your painters always properly prepare raw plastic?
Detailing SOPs would ensure the product you deliver is correct. So ask: Are there glass fragments in the defroster ducts? Is there masking material in fuel filler area? Is the driver's side kick plate clean? Is there sanding dust under the hood?
These three SOPs will give you the biggest return in ensuring your document repairs actually accomplished, eliminate paint waste and solidify your CSI scores. Having a refinishing SOP is the surest way to fight insurance company paint time battles. When an adjuster wants to reduce paint times on a repair, present him with your SOP and ask what steps he would like you to eliminate. Let him know that you created the SOP to improve processes, and increase productivity. Inform him that any deviation from your SOPs will impact job quality and production efficiencies, and see if he backs off his paint time reductions.
Your jobber can assist you with KPIs to identify problem areas that you cannot see because you are in the middle of the forest and can't always see the trees. So ask: What is your average total sale per repair order? What are your average refinish hours per RO? What is your dollar per mix average? What is your paint material gross profit? What is your estimate-closing ratio? What is your average paint and material cost per RO? What is your paint and material cost per refinish flag hour?
There are two KPIs in the list that will almost immediately raise your net profit when they are monitored closely. First, average refinish hours per RO will generate the biggest increase in your bottom line. Raising this figure just two-tenths per RO will show additional dollars earned on a daily basis.
Second, average paint and material cost per refinish flag hour deals with the amount of paint you are mixing (wasting) for each job. By keeping an eye on this number, you will progressively reduce your material costs and increase profits.
There are several schools of thought about inventory control and all of them work. I prefer the proactive approach. Your jobber should know what you use and how you use it. He should be able to tell when you are buying too much of a product or using the wrong product. Your jobber also must be in tune enough to tell you when a product change is necessary.
He should also assist you in inventory control to eliminate excess on-hand material. Do you have a back up for every tint on your mixing machine? Is that necessary? Have your jobber review your usage, order by need to reduce the cost of your paint material inventory and you will add dollars immediately to your bottom line.
If your jobber does all this, he is true blue and is treating your business as if it's his. Together, your businesses will grow. //
