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Letter to the Editor

Summer Vacation

Join INSIGHT for a whirlwind virtual tour of west coast shops

If the oppressive heat of August has things sweltering around your shop, it may be time for a road trip. INSIGHT has always encouraged its readers to include a visit to another shop or two as part of your vacation. After all, it's a way to write off some of your travel expenses (check with your accountant about how to document the business portion of your trip), and it's nearly impossible to spend more than just a couple minutes at another shop without coming away with an idea you can use in your own business.

So this month, INSIGHT takes you along on a west coast road trip, a quick ride up Interstate 5 with stops at shops along the way. The goal: To come away with at least one idea from each shop of something they're doing that's different, out of the ordinary or just plain smart.

Making a difference

We start the trip in California's Bay Area, where Gigi Walker is one of a dozen or so area shops who participate in a unique way to make a difference in the lives of children and families in her community.

Walker, owner of Walker's Auto Body in Concord, Calif., participates each fall in a friendly competition among shops in the East Bay Chapter of the California Autobody Association to customize models of tractor-trailers.

"Each shop has about two-and-a-half months to customize their truck," Walker said. "Some of the shops put hundreds of hours into these trucks. Then in November we get together for a big dinner and auction. The trucks get auctioned off for anywhere from $200 to $1,000 each."

While the silent auction is taking place, the fancy paint jobs and other customizing work done on the trucks are judged by a 3-person panel that generally includes a local artist and a local or state government official. Walker said this year the group hopes to have Maria Shriver, the wife of California's Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, as one of the judges.

At the end of the evening, all of the funds raised through the auction are presented to uniformed Marines who attend on behalf of the Toys for Tots charity.

"We had about 250 people at the dinner last year, and we ask each of them to bring a new toy to donate as well," Walker said. "A lot of people bring more than one, so this last year in addition to the $4,000 we raised, Toys for Tots received 300 to 400 toys as well.

"It's really a one-of-a-kind event," Walker said. "It really brings our industry together and lets our techs showcase their stuff - in a small way, but for a great cause."

A unique look and feel

The next stop on the road trip is in near-by Oakland, Calif., home of Uptown Body & Fender, whose office is among the most interesting in the industry. Inside, the customer area includes classical music, unique artwork, an espresso machine, fresh flowers, brightly-colored modern furniture and bookshelves filled with a wide variety of books, kids toys and shop awards. But walk out into what will eventually be used for production space and look back toward the office to see one of the most unique aspects of the shop: The office space is enclosed in its architect's interpretation of a flashy futuristic car.

Giovanna Tanzillo, who owns the shop along with Lisandro Allende, is always looking for little ways to set potential customers at ease. She has a small poster entitled, How to Relax About Money, that she says does wonders with those uptight about a deductible. It offers such advice as, "Your money is not your life! It just seems that way sometimes." And, "Take a deep breath. What you are worth is not about money."

"I encourage them to read that, and I watch their whole body change," she says. "They relax."

In addition to finding positive ways to start each transaction, Tanzillo also works to thank those who do business with her shop. Customers picking up their vehicles after repairs find a nice thank-you card on the front seat, attached to a bag of gourmet caramel corn.

Mobile billboards

Heading north to Rancho Cordova, CA, near Sacramento, Dan Charlebois also has found a way to give back to the community - while also helping promote B & J Body Shop, the business he owns with two partners.

In addition to the collision repair shop, the company also operates a 35-employee towing operation, but some of what they do with their fleet of tow trucks could be done by shops that operate even just one or two trucks. Charlebois, for example, makes sure B & J's bright-yellow tow trucks are in the local 4th of July parade, and are there to offer free jump-starts or lock-out service during community events.

"Our 19 tow trucks see about 40,000 people a year," he said. "Maybe it's just a lock-out or a tire change, but what it does is get drivers used to doing business with us. The trucks don't say B & J Towing; they say B & J Body Shop. When you're there with a tow truck, they know you're in the towing business, but they may not know you're in the body shop business."

Speaking their language

Continuing north into Oregon, Ken Cooper said one change he made in his office staffing has made a surprising difference for his shop. Three years after Cooper made the jump from being a technician to being a shop owner in the small town of Hubbard, Ore., he purchased a second, much larger shop last year in near-by Woodburn.

The Woodburn location had been an existing collision repair business, but one change Cooper made was to hire a Spanish-speaking receptionist to help meet the needs of the community's rapidly growing Hispanic population.

"Until we hired her, we didn't realize how important a role that position really is playing in our business, because [Spanish-speaking customers] will try their best to communicate in English," Cooper said. "But I would say now on half of her calls we hear her talking in Spanish. It instantly puts those customers at ease. We feel like we can answer their questions better. We're very happy to be able to do that, because not only will it help our business but it will help us build trust in the community."

Looking for little things

It doesn't take stops in too many shops in the Pacific Northwest to discover that repair volume is down for most shops as unemployment levels in the region still exceed the national average.

That's why the folks at J&W CARSTAR Collision Repair in McMinnville, Ore., about 40 miles southwest of Portland, love to hear a bell ring. Shop owner Roger Fowler said his team of employees in the front office started ringing a bell each time another job is sold.

"Some stuff in this business can get you down," said Fowler, who marks his 20th year as a collision repair shop owner this year. "So we started ringing a bell every time we sold a job to create some excitement. It helps everybody share in that little victory."

And as we drive into the parking lot at Chris & John's Auto Body, Inc., in Milwaukie, Ore., a Portland suburb, owner Greg Turman said his staff, too, is looking for the little things they can do to help gain a sale.

"We've realized that things are not as busy as they used to be, so we concentrate harder on each customer, letting them know what we have to offer, more so than we used to," Turman said. He encourages his office staff, for example, to go out to greet customers in the parking lot rather than waiting for them to come into the office.

Getting state help

A number of shops say the slow-down in work makes for a good time to get some training in for technicians that won't want to take the time for classes when things are busier. Getting that training at half-price thanks to a grant from the state makes it all the more appealing.

Camille Eber of Roth & Miller CARSTAR Autobody in Portland, is one of ten collision repair businesses in Oregon to benefit from a $30,000 workforce training grant.

"It's actually federal money being distributed by the state, so I would think a similar consortium of shops could apply for this type of grant in their state," Eber said.

Each of the shops estimated its training needs for the coming year, and together wrote a grant application explaining how the training would help workers improve their skills and earning potential. Advancement of those employees would also open up new entry-level positions in the trade, the consortium wrote in its application.

The ten companies, which combined operate about 30 shops in the Portland area, found out earlier this summer than their application was approved. The $30,000 grant will allow the shops to be reimbursed for half of the costs of sending employees through I-CAR classes or I-CAR's welding qualification tests.

On the Road Again...

That brings this summer road trip to an end, but watch for more "virtual tours" and great ideas from shops in other regions of the country in future issues of INSIGHT in the coming year.   o

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