Dealers are often frustrated with their body shop's performance. Complaints we hear include but are not limited to "I don't make any money," " I can't get good help," and "All those guys do is hurt my CSI."
Let's face it, most body shop managers are former technicians with little or no formal management training. Typically they are right out of the shop. Occasionally I will hear a dealer say, "Hey, my guy has been a body shop manager for 20 years." My single word retort is usually, "So?" If the dealer is still talking to me, I go on to explain that the fact that your guy has been doing it for twenty years means nothing in and of itself.
People in management need to operate at two levels: the affective and the effective. The affective domain includes perceptions, beliefs, and attitudes. The effective domain deals with more specific issues such as how to do something.
Dealers are usually affective or effective leaders, but rarely both. The hands-off dealer says, "I don't care how you do it, just get me results." The hands-on dealer says, "Do it exactly this way or else." You can guess which dealer operates "affectively" and which one "effectively."
What your body shop manager needs is both sides of the picture. He needs and deserves the big picture. He deserves an education which deals with the attitudes, principles, beliefs, and sense of mission the company embraces and stands for (affective domain). Your body shop manager also needs and deserves training which deals with specificity as to exactly how to do certain things (effective domain).
On the affective side, your manager should learn how the company feels about its customers:
· What the attitude towards employees is
· What the core values of the management should be
· What the company's position is on quality
· How important profitability is
On the effective side, your manager should learn more focused skills such as how you want and expect things to be done. It's likely, as a dealer who has never worked in the body shop, you do not know yourself and will seek outside qualified help to train your manager on these skills.
· What are the profit standards you will hold him accountable to and what mechanisms will he employ to achieve these standards?
· What methods should he employ as to employee pay, motivation, recruitment, and retention?
· How can he make sure that the customer's car has been repaired correctly?
· What decision-making process will he use when deciding on new pieces of equipment, negotiating deals with insurance companies, and how will he measure results?
Finally, it seems that typically the onus is put on the body shop manager to seek out this education and training for himself. The reality is that he will not. He will be so busy doing it wrong that he will not ever find the time to learn how to do it right. That's where you come in. You must assess his and your needs; you must spend some time with him and help him see the big picture. This will not happen in one jam session. By regular interaction with you over a period of months your manager will start to see what you see. On the smaller picture side, you too must serve as a catalyst and seek out the training mechanisms that are applicable to his needs. Yeah, you might even have to spend some money.
Your body shop should be a major source of pride and profit to your organization, but only if you take it seriously. Get the picture?
Dave Dunn is the collision industry's most respected management consultant. Dave is a shop owner from Galesburg, Illinois and president of Masters Educational Services with offices in California and Illinois. Masters specializes in all types of consulting, training, and education within the collision repair industry. If you have specific questions or require more information about this subject, please check the appropriate box on the reader response form on page 3.