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Letter to the Editor

Customer Satisfaction Seminar Added to BASF's VisionPLUS® University

"Achieving Complete Customer Satisfaction" is the newest program in the successful series of Professional Business Management seminars offered by BASF's Automotive Refinish business. The series of half-day seminars is a major component of VisionPLUS® University, BASF's set of value-added instructional programs and business tools for the collision repair industry. VisionPLUS University also includes two Interactive Distributor Workshops, three Interactive Collision Center Workshops, VisionPLUS® OnLine business analysis and a comprehensive technical training program.

"This 'university' concept is an innovative one," said Guy Bargnes, Director, Marketing, BASF Automotive Refinish. "Of the many seminars and courses on the market, BASF's program is unique in that its workshops and training courses, as well as VisionPLUS OnLine, are integrated in content and approach," Bargnes continued. "It's a powerful combination of information, training and advanced management tools, and all the elements are mutually supporting. We feel this is a superior and more efficient way to deliver information to key people at the shop and distributor levels than a piecemeal or a la carte approach."

The Professional Business Management program for 2002 features five seminars:

• Measuring and Improving Performance and Productivity
• Fast-Track Production
• Profiting from People Skills
• Maximizing Your Estimating Performance
• Achieving Complete Customer Satisfaction

Designed by BASF's experienced Business Development Managers (BDMs) in collaboration with Collision Management Services, Inc. (CMS) the seminars teach crucial business-management concepts and techniques to owners and managers of collision repair facilities.

The seminars are accredited with the American Management Institute and are conducted by Bernie Blickenstaff, President of CMS. "The Professional Business Management seminars are based on BASF's extensive knowledge of the industry, and on the experiences of successful business managers," said Blickenstaff, whose own expertise was honed during more than 26 years as an entrepreneur and business owner. "We teach practical techniques that have been proven to work in real-world collision centers, large and small," explained Blickenstaff. "We began conducting seminars seven years ago, then we took the next step with interactive workshops. We've had great success in changing the behavior of participants, which has helped to improve the performance measurements of their collision centers."

The two Interactive Distributor Workshops, "Paint and Material Profitability" and "Paint Department Productivity," are taken in sequence, six to ten weeks apart. The two-day workshops consist of intensive, highly interactive training. After the first workshop, participants have several weeks to apply and practice the lessons they learned. The second workshop builds on their experiences during that time and gives them more tools and techniques to take back to their workplace.

The success of the Distributor Workshops led to the development of three one-day Interactive Collision Center Workshops covering "Paint and Material Profitability," "Paint Department Productivity" and "Estimating for Profit." According to Bargnes, training key collision center personnel in productivity and profitability principles was a logical step for BASF. "These workshops deal with concepts that are crucial to every shop," said Bargnes, "and now we can ensure that everyone in the chain -- BASF sales reps, distributor personnel and body shop personnel -- has the same training."

The content of the Professional Business Management Seminars and the distributor and collision center workshops is integrated with VisionPLUS OnLine, BASF's proprietary Internet-based business analysis and benchmarking toolset. VisionPLUS OnLine is part of BASF's "eBusiness Toolbox" that includes several Web-enabled color management systems and eCommerce Web sites.

"VisionPLUS University is an important value-added complement to our products, color-management tools, technical training and eCommerce offerings," Bargnes concluded "BASF's 'university' concept offers everything a shop needs in one, integrated and proven package."

©2002 Collision Repair Industry INSIGHT
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