The economy stinks, some insurers continue to look at ways to take well deserved dollars out of your pocket, the cost of feeding your family has gone out of sight, gas and oil products are costing you a fortune, your employees want more money, your materials and supplies seem to increase in cost daily. Could there possibly be anything else to worry about? If what has happened to the repair industry in the last few years is any indication, the answer is a resounding YES!

The collision industry will continue to face new challenges almost monthly. How each of you deals with the changes will determine whether you succeed or fail. Let's face it, in the past, collision repairers have tended to react to change and not in a positive way. Let me illustrate what I mean. In the early 70's, a piece of legislation was introduced in Lansing, Michigan to regulate the repair industry. The legislation was garbage. I was working for ASA Michigan at the time and the association was very concerned with the impact on repairers if the legislation became law. Several officers and myself traveled the state talking with all repairers, collision, mechanical, and transmission, because the law would affect every one of them. We outlined to each shop owner in attendance what they would be required to do if the legislation passed. Nobody, or at least very few, took us seriously. In fact at the meeting in Battle Creek/Kalamazoo we were laughed out of the room. Well, the repair legislation did pass and when faced with the challenges the law presented to each shop, suddenly the industry wanted to fight. Without getting into details, repairers ended up paying a lot of money to have a few provisions in the law changed, but no where near what should have been changed. This was a perfect example of the industry failing to see the warning signs.  They needed to act before their problems began not react after the legislation was passed. If the industry had listened they would have had the opportunity to work with the legislature to develop a law that would have been more effective and fairer. They didn't and to this day each repair facility if paying the bill for their lack of action.

In the late 70,s, as unibody vehicles began to hit the streets in large numbers, industry leaders saw the writing on the wall and formed IICAR (now ICAR) to train the technicians that were going to repair these frameless vehicles. To introduce ICAR to the industry and to teach the basics of unibody construction, ASA Michigan, very closely following a program that Sheila Loftus had developed in Washington D.C., presented part of all the ICAR seminars over two days at the GM Service Research center in Warren, Michigan. Over 700 technicians attended the seminars which to this day is the largest program every presented by the association. As happy as we were with the turnout we also realized that the program had only scratched the service as far as training all the technicians was concerned. A state ICAR board was elected and classes were offered around the state. Attendance was very poor, the result being that a ton of unibody vehicles were improperly repaired putting the lives of thousands of customers at risk. The press in many states exposed the poor repairs and the collision industry image took another hit because so many repairers had failed to heed the warning that technicians needed training on unibody vehicles. If the collision shop owners had acted rather than reacted the number of consumer complaints would have been minimized and safer cars would have been put back on the road.

Today repairers face the challenges of concierge type programs. Most have voiced their concern while others have jumped on board and participated as a repair center. The collision industry was in a position to stop this type of claims program, but they started too late.
Many shops are against DRP programs and are fighting to rid the industry of them. They have started too late. Many in the repair industry don't like aftermarket parts and would love to get rid of them. If that is their purpose they have started too late. The time to stop DRP programs and concierge claim service program ended when Allstate got a foothold with their PRO program back in the 6 0's. The time to stop aftermarket parts ended when shop owners were using the parts and charging for OEM.

In the near future the collision industry will face new challenges. Manufacturer certification of repair facilities is here, but only on a small scale. Beware and be ready in advance to address this issue. HMOs or a similar type of claims program is right around the corner. Open you minds and figure out what you will do when it is introduced on every street in America. Many insurers could care less about their policyholders and what they develop will affect your bottom line. Keep your ear to the ground and be prepared to deal with these changes before they occur.

If you react to change after the change occurs you will lose. If you know what is going on and are prepared for change you can act thus giving you a chance to win. What are you going to do.

Some of you have some ideas on what the industry will see in the future and how to deal with these changes. How about sharing your ideas and concerns with our readers.

Dennis Liphardt  
Email: denlip@mac.com
  LIP SERVICE LLC
Communication & Consulting          
A Florida Limited LiabilityCompany