Aug. 24, 2017—In response to a recent FenderBender report on the driver’s increasing involvement in photo estimates, Cam Mashburn, owner of Mashburn’s Collision Center and a past FenderBender Award winner, said he is “working on a plan to combat this” in the form of a marketing campaign.
“It might not solve the problem, but I think it will help ease some of it,” he said.
While photo estimates have long been a contentious topic between collision repair shops and insurance companies, insurance companies have thrown a wrench into the issue by asking drivers to take photos for estimates. In particular, Allstate’s QuickFoto Claim mobile app feature has become popular, according to shop owners FenderBender has spoken with—including Mashburn.
That’s why, currently, he’s working with an ad agency to determine the best way to get the message to consumers that it’s simply not as safe for a driver to be taking photos of vehicle damage.
“The customer does not know what the insurer is expecting,” he said. “So our plan is to tell the customer that, and say, ‘Let us take the picture. We’ve got the app on our phones.’”
Mashburn is currently working on videos that will relay this message to area drivers. The videos will be published on social media, and the plan after that is to run ads on televisions and the radio and at local movie theaters.
“We’re figuring out how to make it work it and make it simple,” Mashburn said. “It’s a complicated thing. I don’t want to muddy it down and give too much information. We’ll just talk about the safety and the driver’s well-being.”
FenderBender will keep tabs on the campaign and follow up with Mashburn once it starts running.
