Connecting the Dots

Our feature article this month gives INSIGHT’s take on the current state of the jobber market.

If you are a jobber this will hopefully help you to adjust and adapt your business model to life in 2005. If, dear reader, you are a body shop manager or owner, do not make the mistake of skipping Moving Toward a New Model. Read about the jobber market because it does concern you.

This advice is also for our paint manufacturer representatives, insurers, and software system providers. We are all connected in our Collision Repair Industry, and whatever affects one industry segment definitely will impact all of us.

Note that our feature subtitle (Yes, I expect you to read the small print, too!) begins: “The relationships between shops and jobbers WILL change...” This does not mean “Maybe.”

Change is often uncomfortable, sometimes downright difficult, but it requires input and dialogue from all concerned parties to build a working relationship model that is acceptable and useful. You really must connect the dots together to make sense of a shared future.

Ron Pyle, ASA’s president, has written a letter to INSIGHT in response to INSIGHT’s December 2004 feature article, Unresolved Issues. The letter, addressing the Right to Repair issue, is printed in full on page 17. Your comments are welcome. Are independents receiving OEM service information quickly and easily? Is a legislative solution needed or not?

The number of collision repair facility managers responding to March’s TrendLine on Diminished Value who believe that vehicles are restored to pre-accident condition, according to their agreements with insurers, negating any claims for diminished value doubled since last year (See page 18.). Responses to the rest of the survey questions barely changed.

It is great to hear that two well-known and capable women are chairing important industry activities this year. Both Geralynn Kottschade, heading up NACE, and Janet Chaney, chairing the NABC PRIDE committee, deserve our thanks and support for the work they do on behalf of all of us.