Auto Glass Week™ ’16 was held in San Antonio October 5-7 and featured a number of informative speakers, networking opportunities and the annual GlasWeld Windshield Repair Competition.
An Insurance Perspective
Among the seminars, Wayne Sharrah, CEO of Insurance Claims Management, parent company to HSG/Code Blue, shared the insurance perspective and explained what AGRR companies can do to avoid some of the pitfalls third-party claims administrators hear about from customers.
Insurance companies pay out $43.5 billion a year to repair vehicles, according to Sharrah. Payments for glass claims make up a $2.5 to $3 billion piece of that pie.
“It’s a tremendous amount of claims,” he said. “There has been a 24-percent increase in insurance rates since 9/11. The cost of business and cost of glass has gone up. You guys need to help us understand what is going on in the AGRR industry. If you just learned something new [such as how to calibrate Advanced Driver Assistance Systems], you need to communicate this. Explain to insurers that you need to do these three things after the glass is installed. If this business is going to climb, they want to know.”
The glass industry represents a lot of buying power, Sharrah pointed out.
“I’ve been going to insurance companies to say we have to put reward guidelines back in for shops,” he said. “Based on cycle time, speed or repair rates, you should reward them [I tell the insurers].”
Insurance companies are thinking long-term. The industry needs to communicate with the companies about what is coming down the pipeline, he said.
“You guys need to help us understand what is going on,” Sharrah added. “Costs are what they are. To get a premium change, it takes 12 to 18 months. This is just the process to get a change approved. It is two years before insurers make any money back.”
While Sharrah noted that many AGRR companies do a good job, he says HSG does receive complaints. He pointed to these complaints as a learning tool for how some companies can improve.
“We get a lot of complaints at HSG about technicians who aren’t on time,” he said.
Citing an example, Sharrah said a customer reported that a technician was scheduled to come at a certain time. The customer said he called the AGRR company’s phone number to make sure someone was on the way. The appointment was scheduled for 3 p.m. The customer service representative told the customer the tech would be there by 4 p.m. When the tech had not arrived by that time, the customer called back for an update. The CSR told the customer the tech was running late and would be there within the hour. The customer had somewhere to be at that point and was upset but told the CSR he was willing to wait. He waited hours. When he called the company again, another CSR answered and explained that the tech thought the job was rescheduled for the next day and went home, Sharrah recalled.
Type in glass complaints on Yelp, Twitter, etc., and you’ll find hundreds of these,” Sharrah said. “If you’re not on time, apologize and commit to be there at a certain time. Otherwise the customer will be upset that the tech didn’t show up and no one called to tell him.”
Sharrah also advised that AGRR companies should return all calls.
“We’ve heard from a customer who said he called six times within a week and did not get a response,” he said. “The customer went to another company.”
Sharrah provided several tips to attendees, such as:
- Communicate the expectations of the job;
- Explain to the customer that the company will be sending someone out driving a certain kind of vehicle and he will have glass on the vehicle; and
- Explain that the job will take the tech one hour, two hours or whatever;
He also suggested that companies ensure technicians have good customer service skills
“If the first thing out of [the technician’s] mouth on a job is ‘dude’ … that’s not a good start,” Sharrah noted. “Most techs do a great job. They understand what needs to happen and communicate with the customer.”
Image is another important topic. There is an expectation of a professional image, he said.
“If a tech is smoking a cigarette and throwing it down on the customer’s property in plain sight, that isn’t good,” Sharrah said.
He also said that HSG has heard complaints about oil stains left on driveways from service vehicles. “Can you imagine with a smartphone what is going to happen? Click. They send a photo to us,” Sharrah said.
Business owners should set the standard, he advised.
“Customers have a vision as to how the person will look and how they will speak. I would encourage you guys to make an effort to insist upon a professional image,” Sharrah said.
So what does HSG do when it receives a complaint?
“We follow up with shop and let them know. We keep it away from the insurance company,” he said. “We hope it can be worked out. We really encourage you to call customer back to discuss the issue.”
He noted that insurance companies run industry surveys. HSG has data available down to the shop level on customer satisfaction, etc.
“We try to provide the feedback to shops as much as possible from customers,” Sharrah said.
Responding to an audience question about the insurance industry’s perception of NAGS, Sharrah said most insurance companies are frustrated by it because they don’t understand it. Pricing on the collision side is more understood since it comes from the original-equipment manufacturers.
“Our job is to work with you,” Sharrah said. “I’m out speaking with claims executives every day. We want to give work to you. To the extent you have problems with us … we want to know about it.”
Dominating Local Markets
Troy Mason, founder and owner of TechnaGlass and secretary/treasurer of the National Windshield Repair Association (NWRA), and David Leach, chief operating officer for Don’s Mobile Glass/Wardrobe and Bath Specialties, led a session titled “How to Succeed Without Size (Yet).” Though they each had their own story to tell in the hour-long session, their common theme was twofold: take care of your people and focus on the customer.
“Your culture is a by-product of your actions,” Mason said. “Just take care of your customers.”
Part of that, he said, includes training your people—and picking the right ones to hire. Each of his technicians undergo a four-week training program and become certified before they are placed in a store.
“This isn’t on-the-job training,” he said. “By the time they get to a store, they’re able to contribute. Make sure your people share your passion and your vision. They are your brand.”
Leach agreed, and added this tip: “Be difficult to get a job with.” And when it comes to customers, “do the right thing—even when you don’t want to.”
Both spoke to the importance of branding. Mason said it was something he learned “accidentally 25 years ago,” but it was a lesson he’s never forgotten and stressed the importance of being willing to invest in your brand. Leach noted that his company, based in Modesto, Calif., is now the city’s second most-recognized brand.
Leach attributed his company’s success to a willingness to constantly look at the industry with fresh eyes and being willing to “shift the paradigm as often as necessary. Agility is your key to life.”
“If everything you do succeeds,” Leach said, “you’re not trying hard enough.”
Part of trying, he said, was making mistakes and being willing to take that dare.
Above all, Leach said, “Don’t encumber your business with unnecessary bureaucracy. Fight the urge to complicate things.”
Knowing Your Customers
Kelly McDonald of McDonald Marketing covered a wide range of topics in her presentation, “Crafting a Customer Experience for People Not Like You,” and broke down the vast customer market into a set of strategies designed to improve marketing for local business owners.
Pointing to demographic trends that indicate 7 percent of the American population, or 22 million people, is now defined as “multiracial,” she said America is less the melting pot of old, in which races and ethnicities blend into a single “American” identity. Instead, the country is like a salad bowl–a combination of discrete ingredients, each with its unique identity, all sharing the same space.
This perspective, McDonald said, requires a marketing approach that is savvy, focused and customized.
“This is not a fad,” she said to the room of about 40 attendees Friday morning. “It’s a trend. Pay no attention to fads, but do pay attention to trends.”
Diversity, she explained, means more than demographics. It means understanding people who “are not like you” – in several different ways, such as age/generation, physical abilities, rural/metro, among others.
“Understanding someone different from you means understanding their life,” McDonald said, pointing out that a person’s priorities, values and experiences are what defines that person’s perspective.
Successful marketing, she said, realizes these factors and is built around a set of strategies designed to touch all possible customers, regardless of their “differences.”
Finally, McDonald said, a customer’s “perspective is never wrong. It can’t be. It’s how they see the world.”
