Trade groups help industry through challenging times

By John Yoswick

This has been a disruptive year for the dozens of state, regional and national trade associations representing shops, just as it has been for their membership as well. Executive directors and their boards have found themselves canceling events such as trade shows — often a key source of funding for the associations, learning how to hold online training and meeting online, coordinating staff now all working from home, seeing legislative efforts put on hold, and working to remain relevant to the business they serve.

Automotive Report asked trade association leaders to offer an update on their current activities and upcoming plans in this unprecedented time.

Texas group plans smaller events

The Auto Body Association of Texas (ABAT) is among those that had to cancel many events, including the Texas Auto Body Trade Show, a primary fundraiser for the group.

“In response in response to this, we are looking at hosting smaller regional events, Jill Tuggle, executive director of ABAT said. “We want to continue to bring education to the shops in the safest way possible.”

Tuggle said difficult economic times such as these are when association membership can matter most for shops.

“We understand that things are far from normal from a financial aspect for many businesses, ABAT included,” she said. “Our educational slate will be centered around the importance of being a profitable shop and ways our members can increase profits.”

One initiative the association has undertaken this year involves creating a means for consumers to more easily file a complaint against an insurance company as well send that information to their local lawmakers to raise awareness of the issues, she said.

“We will be pursuing legislation in the spring that, if passed, would have a positive impact on a shop’s ability to seek reimbursement for OEM recommended repair processes,” Tuggle said.

For more information about ABAT, check the group’s website (www.abat.us). 

Consumer education one focus

Consumer education is also a focus for the Carolina’s Collision Association (CCA), according to Josh Kent, the group’s executive director.

“We put together a committee of members to come up with ways that we could educate consumers, and out of that came the idea of building a webpage with a zip code search that, once finished, will promote safety as well as inform consumers about what they should look for when choosing a shop,” Kent said. “We will have videos from manufacturers as well as some shops. Our shops will have a code of ethics that they will voluntarily sign and post in their shop that will allow them to be found in the zip code search by the consumers.”

The association is also working with a third-party to conduct labor rate surveys and to educate shops on tools that can help them calculate appropriate rates and understand averages in their market.

Members also have access to educational webinars and other resources that can help their shop, Kent said. CCA’s “Trade School Committee” is “working on ways to improve and educate and attract younger people to the industry.” And it’s “Legal Committee” is developing definitions to help shops better understand language in insurance policies and state statutes in North and South Carolina.

For more information, visit the CCA website (https://carolinascollisionassociation.com). 

Working in collaboration

Kent does double-duty, also serving as executive director of the Tennessee Collision Repairers Association (TCRA). As such, CCA and TCRA each benefit from the synergies of working together on some projects. Kent said the TCRA has rebranded itself, including a new website (https://mytcra.com) that includes some of the same resources for shops found on the CCA website.

The Tennessee group also has similar legal, trade school and consumer committees to bring similar education and assistance to shops, consumers and educators in that state.

“We team up with CCA to provide non-stop education for Tennessee repairers as well, working with Mark Olson of VECO Experts, I-CAR, SEM, CCC, etc.,” Kent said.

Virtual event planned for January

The Automotive Service Association of Texas (ASA-Texas) is the state affiliate of the national ASA, which represents both collision repair and mechanical repair shops.

Jennifer Elfert Vredenburg, executive director for ASA-Texas, said one of the new things the group offers its members is a automotive content library, ready-to-use social media postings, and monthly marketing resources. Every four to six week, members receive an updated pass code that gives them access to the content of hundreds of automotive-\themed images, with new content added monthly. Customized graphics can be requested, and shops can use the content as-is or add their own shop information to them.

Vredenburg said this summer and fall she has been consumed with planning for an upcoming event.

“Although the title is still unofficial and the scope still expanding, we are working with industry partners across the nation to create a new virtual global event for automotive repair and collision shop communities,” she said in mid-September. “The event will be in January, and ASA-Texas is thrilled to help create opportunities for our industry like never before.”

For more information on ASA-Texas, visit its website (www.asatx.org).

Offering estimate auditing tool

Aaron Schulenburg was asked back in July about what role associations play during a tough year like this one.

“For us as an association, one of the biggest challenges we see ahead is building optimism within an industry facing all these challenges,” said Schulenburg, executive director of the national Society of Collision Repair Specialists (SCRS). “While this is a great industry that we are exceptionally proud to be a part of and to support, I think it’s a tough time for small business owners, and I think in the months ahead, maintaining optimism is going to be a challenge.”

One of the SCRS projects Schulenburg is most excited about is the launch earlier this year of the Blueprint Optimization Tool (BOT).

“It’s a Windows-based auditing software auditing software not just designed for collision repair professionals but by them,” Aaron Schulenberg of SCRS said. “We worked with our partners at NuGenIT to develop the BOT, which will essentially run your estimate through an audit tool to identify any potentially missed operations. We recognize the complexity of today’s estimates and how easy it is to overlook things that could or should be included on the sheet in the blueprint development process. This has increased the efficiency of that process for that shop, and provides a return on investment by capturing things that otherwise would have been overlooked.”

Schulenburg said subscriptions for the tool start at $139 a month, but SCRS members receive a discount that more than covers the annual dues for membership. The tool initially has worked only with the CCC Information Services’ estimating system, but a version for one of the other two estimating systems is expected to be available before the end of this year.

SCRS offers live online demonstrations of the BOT every Wednesday at 2:30 p.m. Eastern. Visit the SCRS website (www.scrs.com) for details about the demos or other SCRS activities and membership benefits.  •

John Yoswick, a freelance writer based in Portland, Ore., who has been writing about the automotive industry since 1988, is also the editor of the weekly CRASH Network bulletin (www.CrashNetwork.com). He can be contacted by email at john@CrashNetwork.com.