Case Study: BODYWORKS by Concours

"Our goal is to grow the business. RepairCenter really helps us to increase our closing rates and expand our business."

As a certified Mercedes-Benz and BMW collision repair facility, BODYWORKS by Concours has focused on delivering quality repairs and making customer satisfaction a top priority for over 44 years. Even in today's challenging economic environment, BODY WORKS has excelled with a "can-do" attitude and a commitment to use innovative technologies to maintain its competitive edge. Tom Gillespie, shop manager at BODYWORKS, certainly understands the value of technology.

"Our goal is to grow the business. RepairCenter really helps us increase our
closing rates and expand our business."

"You have to have technology," says Tom. "Before we got started with Mitchell RepairCenterâ„¢, we were really challenged on the technological front. With no central management system, we used to have many issues with scheduling and the duplication of efforts that negatively impacted our customer service. Everyone had their own stand-alone machine, and we lacked visibility into what was happening on the shop floor. After implementing RepairCenter, we were able to gain greater control over our work-in-process. With RepairCenter, everyone has access to the information they need with one click of the mouse. Even if I'm out of the shop or my technicians aren't on the shop floor, my receptionist can still see the exact status of every repair order."

A key benefit BODYWORKS has realized is the ability to document processes and manage repairs from start to finish. "It all comes back to documentation and being held accountable for everything that's being done," states Tom. "As a dealership, we have to document thoroughly. In just a few weeks after rolling out RepairCenter, everyone was on board and beginning to see the benefits. Technicians don't need to wait for their assignments anymore; they know as far in advance as I can schedule probably three or four cars down the line. And now they can track their hours throughout the week without a calculator or a pencil and scratch pad. They can see exactly what their hours are going to be and what they need to do to get paid."

Tom notes one aspect that makes RepairCenter so attractive is the ability to start small and add new features when you're ready. "With new technology sometimes it's best to take small "baby steps." We had some technicians who were not very comfortable using a computer, so with RepairCenter we started slow but were able to get up and running relatively fast. There is so much functionality in RepairCenter. We're still learning every day, especially with exciting features like reporting and analytics." Tom also emphasizes how RepairCenter has freed the shop up to do what it does bestclose sales and repair vehicles. "With RepairCenter, we're really focused on generating more sales. We've always had sales goals, but now we are able to use the reporting capabilities in RepairCenter to break down these goals by employee and track them daily along with closing ratios for our estimators. We also report back to the technicians to keep them on track. Our goal is to grow the business. RepairCenter really helps us to increase our closing rates and expand our business."

RepairCenter delivers the "scorecard" that shops like BODYWORKS need to better manage their business. Referencing marketing expert and motivational speaker, David Dunn, Tom explains how RepairCenter helps BODYWORKS keep score. "Would you watch a basketball game without a score?" asks Tom. "There's got to be a score. If we're playing this game with no score, there's no reason to play."

RepairCenter also fits in with the image BODYWORKS needs to portray to its customers. "We work on highend vehicles, and we want to portray that," says Tom, "The technology in RepairCenter goes hand-in-hand with the technology in the vehicles we're working on. With estimating integrated into RepairCenter, everything you need is in one single program. You've got all the reporting functionality along with the payroll and accounting functionality. There's nothing more you can ask for."

10/22/2010