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Letter to the Editor

Do You Excel?

Microsoft Excel now dominates the spreadsheet market. Not too long ago, Lotus 1-2-3 was the standard spreadsheet. In 2002, Excel was estimated to have a 90 percent market share. It is benefiting many different people in a variety of different businesses. The problem is, not enough collision repair operators are taking advantage of Excel's benefits.

Excel can be used to target specific markets, track financial information, and identify low performance areas. (See Output Chart.)

Kim Moore, body shop manager at North Brothers Ford, a Ford CCRN pilot program shop in Detroit, Michigan, recently attended an Excel training class. The Detroit Area Dealer's Association (DADA) local office worked with the Northwood Institute to provide Excel classes to managers in the Detroit area.

The level one Excel class only kept Moore out of the office for a total of eight hours - four hours a day for two days, and the cost was minimal. Although the class was not specifically geared toward collision repair, Moore has not stopped inventing new and different ways to apply his new Excel knowledge in his shop.

Excel allows collision repair operators to locate specific target markets. This is extremely beneficial in the collision repair industry. After learning Excel, Moore has decided to build a database covering insurance agents in his market. This way, he figures, he will reinforce relationships with those agents sending him a large number of jobs, and strengthen relationships with those not sending him work. The base data for his program comes from customer information and DMS, plus Yellow Page and Chamber of Commerce listings.

Excel also allows collision repair operators to track important financial information. This can all be done in Excel on a test case basis before decisions are made. For example, if the body shop manager at Number One Collision thinks his shop is losing money by being a DRP shop for Number One Insurance, the body shop manager can evaluate the benefits of remaining a DRP shop for Number One Insurance in Excel. (See Assumptions chart).

He can enter how many jobs his shop received last month from Number One Insurance, how many jobs he performed last month in total, and then see a percentage of the jobs Number One Insurance is bringing him. He can then average all of the repair order totals from Number One Insurance, and see by exact dollar amount how they differ from the overall total of repair orders. Additionally, he can figure in the impact of such things as parts and labor discounts. All of this can be done before the body shop manager makes a decision about whether or not to continue participation in Number One Insurance's DRP.

This same program can be used to evaluate whether or not to take on a new DRP relationship, using the same type of inputs.

Excel can also help collision repair operators identify low performance areas. Moore said that Excel allows him to see what needs to be done in his shop. He can now develop a spreadsheet to look at production versus non-productive staff ratios, track materials, compare labor sales versus parts sales, and track repair versus replace hours. Because he is able to identify the problems through his spreadsheets, a lot of time and money is saved. "Excel is a tool that opens up a lot of opportunities," Moore said. "I don't have a management program, so I need this."

Sounds great. However, almost all Excel users eventually encounters problems they cannot solve. Not to worry, there is plenty of help.

First, Excel contains a "Help" option. When clicked on, one may scroll down to "Microsoft Excel Help" and type his specific question. The office assistant then asks, "What would you like to do?" and there are usually several options to choose from.

One of the best reference sources that we have found useful here at INSIGHT is Excel 2002 for Dummies, by Greg Harvey, published by For Dummies.

Yet another way to learn Excel applications in the collision repair industry is through information sharing. Attend industry seminars, join 20 Groups, participate in classes being offered in your area. Most of the paint companies, as a part of their value added programs offer Excel templates to help with different aspects of the business. Check with your current supplier for this information.

In Moore's case, DADA sent information on the Excel class to North Brothers and the dealership paid for his class. With 90 percent of the market share, it is fairly certain that Excel classes are being offered in all parts of the country by computer stores, community colleges, and local school district adult education programs.

Staying on top of a changing industry is the key to being a successful collision repair operator. So will you Excel?

INSIGHT subscribers may obtain a free copy of the Excel file “INSIGHT DRP Evaluation Model.” E-mail editor@collision-insight.com or phone (800) 860-2744.

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