Hands-on Training for the Front Office

Most collision repair technical training is geared toward the technician. “OK,” you might say to yourself. “And water’s wet.”

But 3M’s new Front Office Training Course, which launched May 1 at the 3M Skills Development Center in St. Paul, Minnesota after eight months of piloting, has a different goal. The three-day hands-on learning course seeks to bridge the communication gap between estimators, insurance companies, technicians, and shop owners by giving front office professionals a tactile understanding of repair operations. The course immerses participants in practical repair tasks (like sectioning panels and welding) to understand the labor involved in repairs — particularly operations often overlooked in repair plans or estimates.

“You don't need to be the world's greatest body tech or the world's greatest painter,” says Digital Performance Manager John Ascheman, who developed the course with Application Engineer Specialist Ryan Marrinan. Instead, front office professionals learn core body and paint processes using OEM repair procedures so they can better understand how they’re performed. This translates into a better rapport with production staff and being able to negotiate with the insurance company to “help sell more dollars for your shop.”

The new course is an outgrowth of existing body and paint courses at the SDC, Ascheman says. Attendees had asked how to get some of the same information to front office staff but not as in-depth.

“This course really ties together the understanding behind, ‘Well, I need to cut this panel off, and I'm going to need these types of abrasives to do it,’” Marrinan says. “We give you the chance to go through those different processes and get a good hands-on understanding of what is being explained, and then how you can use that to support a better repair plan or estimate, or even just a better discussion within the shop.”

The two joined the April 9 CollisionCast to talk about the new course.

“Ask the adjuster”

There are many quality courses already available teaching how to write an estimate/repair plan at a desk using information providers’ systems, Ascheman notes.

“That is not what this class is,” he says. “We wanted to be something different in the industry.”

Instead, on day one the new course begins with an estimate already written for a vehicle. “And we build a repair plan for that vehicle and go through the actual repair process of this vehicle from beginning to end. On reviewing the estimate, we look up OEM repair procedures. And then we start looking into how to have meaningful conversations with insurance companies to work with them, understand where they're coming from, what type of documentation they need and why they need those types of documentation.”

The first day includes sectioning a frame rail and what is required to install a quarter panel, learning about squeeze-type resistance spot welding and what a proper weld should look like, including performing destructive testing and mistakes commonly made by technicians, such as grinding a weld too deeply and damaging the internal structure. Proper surface preparation, including abrasives and adhesives selection, are also covered.

“Day one really sets the stage and is probably the most intense hands-on day there is,” Marrinan says.

At the beginning of each module, Ascheman says, is an “ask the adjuster” section to discuss the typical pushback the insurer would provide. On the second day, Marrinan says, attendees learn how to repair a small dent on a fender, followed by how technicians could make a mistake, such as increasing the size of the repair larger than it needs to be.

“As an example, when the insurance company [adjuster] says, ‘Well, that dent is small enough you shouldn’t have to blend into that next panel.’ As much as that drives me nuts, I have to admit that sometimes the insurance company may be right.”

“We walk them through the process of what typically happens in a shop that causes them to have to blend the next panel, and if you're not getting paid for that, what is the effect that it has on the shop” for lost labor, lost materials, and so on. OEM position statements and bulletins about how and where body filler should be applied, along with ensuring proper corrosion protection are also covered. And for that last point, the two trainers note that “corrosion protection” is simply a line item originally intended to absolve an insurer of liability and doesn’t reflect the entire process, which may include etch wipes for “box rash,” epoxy primer, and seam sealer, in addition to cavity wax.

Primed for success

Texture coatings, such as rocker guard, are taught on the second day, including not-included operations such as masking and test spray-outs, are taught on the second day. On the third day, attendees also learn spray gun use by prepping, masking, and priming their repaired fenders and learn about what is and what is not included in estimating systems for these operations.
By the time they get to Day 3, they're all taking bets with each other on who's going to have a better paint job, even though no one's ever pulled the trigger before,” Ascheman says.

Attendees are coached on how to use the proper gun angle and adjustments needed for proper application, and later how to denib and polish their painted fender.

This isn’t a product-pitch course, the course developers note — it’s about process integrity, repair standards, and giving shop professionals the confidence and knowledge to improve communication, write better estimates, and ultimately deliver higher-quality repairs.