There was little self-censorship of opinions during the second session of the ARC360 Looking Ahead digital event series, although one thing that everyone agreed on was the value of people.
Taking part in the session, ‘One size does not fit all’ were Leon Coupland, owner, HTH Dynamics, and Paul Smith, managing director, Fix Auto Loughborough, both of whom have a wealth of varied experience in the industry.
During a free-flowing conversation they discussed everything from the impact of technology, business models, and manufacturer approvals. But both agreed the bedrock of success in this industry and any industry remains people.
Leon said, ‘We all need to realise that without people we don’t have businesses, and without great people you can’t have a great business. It really is that simple.’
That was echoed by the results of a live online poll, which found 64% of respondents named people among their top three criteria for success, well clear of the number of attendees who said technology (45%) and process (43%).
People power
Leon went on to explain how the balance of power in the employer/employee relationship has shifted and the focus now has to be on creating a collegiate culture rather than a hierarchy.
He said, ‘People’s attitudes have changed. They know a lot more and want a lot more – and they all know their rights. Business now is a team event. There used to be senior, middle and lower management. That’s in the past. Even job titles are for me. Do you need a job title to make a decision? It’s about skills. But it’s got to start at the top. If the owner or manager isn’t representing the culture they can’t expect anyone else to.’
There is a solid business argument behind this, too, especially as the industry becomes ever more complex and the skills of technicians become prize assets. Paul explained that by treating people well they will treat you well in return, and when it comes to your workforce, that means performing better.
He said, ‘The better they perform the better the business does. The better the business does the more I can pay them, and the more I pay them the less they’ll want to leave. That matters because people are the most important asset you have. I’ve got some great people working with me and want to make sure they keep working with me.’
Technology
Having the right people – with the right mindset – is also critical to overcome the shifting sands of technology. The nature of vehicle repair means that the workshop can never evolve into a production line; there are simply too many variables. Illustrating this point, Paul recalled how Henry Ford responded to US government calls for bombers during WW2 by building an entirely new factory split into manufacturing and assembly.
The plan was to produce one bomber an hour, but it fell short initially due to the number of adjustments that were required during assembly as the technology within the planes, such as radar, kept updating. The suggestion was that the automotive industry faces similar issues.
He said, ‘We’re very good at adapting to new technology. But when I started we learned how to repair metal and then paint it. Now that part of the job is probably a third of the full repair job today.’
Leon agreed: ‘The issue we have is the industry changes every 10 minutes. The workshop changes every 10 minutes, so you deal with a lot of things which are unproccessible. We probably can’t employ the sorts of people we used to employ. Now we need people who have the correct mindset to overcome technology.’
Models
When it comes to the bodyshop itself that is employing these technicians, it appears there is still plenty of room for variation. A second live poll found that 47% of attendees think a medium-sized static site is best suited to serve the market today. Static ‘fast-track’ site was the second most popular option with 21% of the vote, while large and small static site operations were favoured by 15% each.
However, just three per cent said mobile repairers were the way forward, and actually it seems there is real concern about the impact this growth sector is having on the wider industry. While there is a role for the cosmetic repairer handling traditional smart jobs, both Leon and Paul expressed fears that some of these businesses are taking on more than they might.
Leon said, ‘Smart repair used to be within an A4 piece of paper, but it’s taking other repairs now. If we all stick to our core skills we’ll be fine. I don’t see how a bodyshop that invests in all the equipment and health and safety can compete with someone who turns up on your driveway in a van and does supposedly the same job.’
Paul was even more forthright. He said, ‘Smart repair is a sticking plaster not a long-term solution as they could well lead to later problems. And the worse thing is they cherry pick the bread and butter jobs from other shops and leave us with the big, horrible ones.’
Segmentation
But the emergence of mobile repairers is just another example of how the market is segmenting – be it by brand, business type, damage type and repair specialism. A quarter of respondents to a third live poll identified brand as the most prevalent of these, and Leon suggested there is a trend towards badge collecting again.
It might not suit everyone though.
Paul said, ‘Some manufacturer approvals are so cost prohibitive. They want vast sums of investment but they are such low volume. We had one manufacturer come to us recently and we looked at our books at they were just four per cent of our work.’
Fix Auto Loughborough, at 20,000 sqft, is a high volume, low margin insurance business, supplementing profits with a growing number of retail jobs, and its success and the success of others like it proves there is no one size fits all solution.
Leon, whose consultancy business HTH stands for Here to Help, concluded, ‘People need to pick a journey that suits them and stick to it. If you stick to it and are committed, then you’ll be successful.’
ARC360, in association with I Love Claims, is supported by corporate partners BASF, BMS, Copart, EMACS, Entegral, Enterprise Rent-a-Car, Mirka, Nationwide Vehicle Recovery Assistance, S&G Response, Sherwin Williams and CAPS; partners asTech, The Green Parts Specialists, Indasa, Innovation Group and Prasco; and strategic partners AutoRaise; NBRA; RepairTalks; and TrendTracker.
