A few years ago, CollisionAdvice owner Mike Anderson was writing his wish list for the industry, as he does every year. On that year’s list, he said that he wished there was a way that insurance companies would allow shops the ability to not have to rekey estimates. Little did he know that his dream was about to become a reality.
The Beginning
In 2014, Estify—a company that aimed to eliminate inefficiencies in the collision repair process—began.
Estify launched Estify Transfer, a product that allows body shops to digitize estimates, saving time and money.
“They found a need in the industry and they developed the software to rekey estimates and the company has grown into what it is today,” Anderson says.
The Impact
Estify has created an answer for that.
“I really admire Estify’s entrepreneurial spirit,” Anderson says. “I think our industry is several years behind other industries when it comes to technology so any time a company comes out that will save us time, it’s huge.”
With all of the demands that are put on employees at a collision repair shop, rekeying estimates can become a burden. Instead of having to copy estimates from paper into an estimating system or having to transfer that information from one estimating platform to another, Estify allows users to take an estimate in PDF form and upload it to his or her online Estify account. Estify then sends back the data the shop needs for the appropriate management system.
By eliminating the need to rekey every estimate, Estify Transfer opens up time for staff. Anderson says that the hours spent rekeying estimates can eat up precious time during the week that is better spent doing a number of different things—from looking up OEM procedures to following up on lost estimate requests to establishing better quality control checks.
The Future
At its core, Estify is a technology company that is focused on finding ways to create faster, safer and more efficient vehicle repairs. Many members of Estify’s staff have experience with technology or come from unique backgrounds that allow them to see outside of the collision repair industry when solving problems. Anderson says that because of the company’s strong technology background, he thinks that Estify has the capability to solve more of the industry’s problems.
