There is an incredible amount of knowledge in this industry.
Most of it isn’t sitting in a textbook or a database. It’s in repair facilities across the country, in the heads of technicians who have spent 30 years fixing vehicles, owners who have seen the business change more times than they care to remember and younger people who are coming into collision repair with different ideas about how things can be done.
One of the great privileges of publishing Collision Repair magazine is that people are willing to share that knowledge with us. They tell us what’s working and what isn’t. They share their experiences, their numbers and their opinions. Sometimes they agree with each other. Quite often they don’t. That’s okay! There’s usually something to be learned from both sides.
We’re proud, and frankly humbled, that people trust us enough to have those conversations. Our job is simple. Listen carefully, ask questions, gather as much information as we can and share what we learn. The goal isn’t to tell people what to think. It’s to give them enough good information to think it through.
There are some great examples in this issue.
Our latest CRM Collision Index looks at plastic repair. There has been plenty of talk about repairing more plastic parts rather than replacing them, but we wanted to know what repairers themselves thought. So we asked them. What are you repairing? What are you replacing? Does plastic repair make money? What gets in the way?
The answers tell us a lot more than whether a bumper gets repaired or replaced. They give us insight into profitability, training, insurer influence, confidence in the repair and the day-to-day decisions being made inside Canadian repair facilities.
That’s the value of the Index. It doesn’t settle the argument. It puts real information in front of the people making the decisions, from repair facility owners to insurers, OEMs and suppliers. It works because repairers are willing to be candid, and that candour is what makes the results worth reading.
We’re gathering information in other ways, too. We also carry the monthly Pulse of the Industry report, prepared by AutoHouse Technologies using repair order data from across the country. But numbers only tell part of the story. You also have to get out there, meet people and listen.
Our team spends a lot of time at conferences, facility openings, training sessions, industry gatherings and the occasional golf tournament. Some of the best information comes from talking to people face to face. Our CARSTAR Impact coverage from Halifax is a good example. Bring repairers from across Canada together and you quickly hear the same subjects coming up: people, training, technology, profitability, succession and what the next few years are going to look like.
We also have to keep an eye on what’s happening outside the industry. Vehicle technology, insurance, government decisions, the economy and artificial intelligence eventually make their way through the doors of every repair facility. Part of what we do is find people who understand these changes and help explain what they could mean for the people actually running collision businesses.
And we tell the stories of the people themselves. J.R. Martino is on our cover this issue. His is one story among thousands in this industry, but it’s a good one. He grew up around collision repair, learned the business, made some mistakes, kept learning and helped build something he can be proud of.
We like telling those stories because this industry has a lot to be proud of. Sometimes we’re pretty good at talking about our problems and not quite as good at recognizing our people and what they’ve accomplished.
After 25 years, our team isn’t standing outside the collision repair industry looking in. We attend the events, visit the facilities, ask the questions and, most importantly, listen. It’s a privilege to be trusted to tell this industry’s stories and share its knowledge.
We don’t want to take that trust for granted. We want to keep earning it, so please keep your comments, ideas and suggestions coming. We appreciate every one of them.
If you want to take part in the next CRM Collision Index survey, disagree with something you see in these results or simply have a story you think should be told, let us know. Find us at SEMA or the next event in your area, or write to [email protected].
The Index is only as good as the voices in it, and Collision Repair magazine is better because you continue to share yours.
