CollisionCast

Vision: Finding the Perfect Manager for Your Shop

From hiring the right manager to keeping tabs on their performance, there's a lot that goes into finding your right hand man. Here's everything to consider. Here are some tips from Steve Morrow, owner of Capitol Collision Center, on how to find the perfect manager.

How I Did It: Kevin Conner

Conner Brothers Body Shop has become a beloved, embraced body shop in the Chester, Va., community. Owner Kevin Conner details how he grew that operation and how he built himself back up after his father sold three of the family's four body shops.

Disrupt: Forming a Social Media Game Plan

Jenna Gross, chief marketing officer for Moving Targets, shares some insights into how to form a game plan for your target audience via social media and online advertisements.

Vision: The Keys to Mentoring Managers

As the general manager of five Cole's Collision Centers, Josh Jewett has a ton of experience mentoring managers in training. In this episode, he details his keys for grooming managers for success, the difficulties one can often run into when coaching managers, and how to empower managers who feel unsure of themselves.

Adapt: Autonomous Cars & Your Paint Department

Barry Snyder of Axalta Coating Systems discusses how a paint job in your body shop can affect the LiDAR technology that’s crucial to how autonomous vehicles function.

Disrupt: Making a Successful Move into a New Facility

When J.R. Hubbard moved Selecta Auto Body into a new 10,000-square-foot building a few years ago in downtown San Francisco, he did so after thorough research and planning. Here's how Hubbard readied his processes, employees and customer base for his business's big change.

How I Did It: Rocky Champion

For this month's edition of CollisionCast's How I Did It series, FenderBender spoke with Rocky Champion, who runs the $2 million Barrett Collision Center in Abilene, Texas. Champion details how he took his father's DRP-heavy shop to a OEM-certification-focused shop, how he ensures an ROI on OEM training, and why he ultimately decided to become part of the CARSTAR model.

Vision: The Keys to Managing Millennials

As millennials slowly overtake the workforce from baby boomers, shop owners will likely need to shift their management styles to accommodate the succeeding generation. Zac and Matt Ciaschini, owners of the $1.9 million Full Tilt Auto Body in Easthampton, Mass., manage a staff largely comprised of millennials, and are in a unique position to offer some advice. From leadership style to in-shop technology to creating a career path for employees, here is their blueprint for managing millennial employees.

Adapt: Improve Your Paint Booth’s Longevity

Representatives from Garmat and Filter Works USA sit down for the latest episode of CollisionCast to discuss how to properly maintain a paint booth to increase its longevity and improve your shop's bottom line.

Disrupt: Combating Insurance-Friendly Labor Rate Survey Bills

The California Autobody Association opposes Assembly Bill 2276—a labor rate survey bill—in its current amended form, as it throws out the previous bill's provisions that could have insurers using large areas to define a market and reusing old labor rates. Don Feeley, interim executive director for the association, spoke with FenderBender to explain the ins and outs of the bill, how the trend could spread to other states, and what individual shop owners can do to help combat the issue.