Today’s dealerships require that each department generates profit. Body shops have often been challenging as they are limited by insurance companies on what they can charge for labor and paint and materials. Body shops also get squeezed on parts gross profit and lately have additional requirements to order and price through the website the insurance company owns or manages. Body shop processes are generally poor and training on them is nonexistent. Many times body shop personnel feel like the evil stepchild that is not given any attention. Equipment requirements continue to increase as the industry faces aluminum repair and additional requirements of direct repair relationships with insurance companies. Many dealerships have already closed their body shops to stop large losses in the department. Body shops can generate a lot of gross profit for the parts department and expense distribution in dealerships. They must be trained with the latest production techniques and customer intake processes. They must control expenses, such as paint and materials with extreme detail. Inventories must be done on a monthly basis and compared to book values. Paint must be costed to the repair order exactly with tracking records to verify what technician mixed the paint and what repair order it went to. Lately I’ve been reviewing a lot of paint contracts and am finding huge amounts of money for the dealership in additional discounts that total over six figures! In an effort to assist dealerships to turn their body shop into a profit center with state-of-the-art processes Fixed Performance now has available an expert for on-site consulting and training. Aaron Sworden has the knowledge and wisdom needed for the body shop to be profitable in today’s fast changing environment. It isn’t time to run away from your body shop. It’s time to turn it into a profit center that allows your dealership to be a full-service resource that provides total care of your customers.

Sincerely,
Rob Gehring, President
Fixed Performance Inc.
rgehring@fixedperformance.com

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