Dynamix Collision

By C.M. Fredrick

Tucked away off of one of the busiest roads in Springfield, Tenn., sits Dynamix Collision, in a building that was formerly a car dealership, and a restaurant and dancehall before that. The business itself, located at 501 22nd Ave. East, is housed in a spacious 18,500-square-foot building on 3.2 acres with lots of room, not to mention plans, for expansion.

From the outset, Dynamix has aspired to be more and do more for the customer. The diversified business creates new opportunities for itself and serves as a one-stop auto repair shop as well as customization shop for its customers. Because of this, the shop is typically filled with automobiles, in addition to other items, being repaired, painted, customized, or restored.

To alleviate some of the stress customers may experience during automotive repair, Dynamix has an on-site Hertz rental service. This service saves time for customers, who can simply drop off their vehicle for repair, get a rental car, and resume their normal lives quickly.

The customer-focused shop was started by owner and operator Gary Dean. Dean has worked in the automotive industry with dealerships and independent automotive repair shops since 1978. During these years, he has worked in almost every job, from mechanic and body repair technician to manager, both in body shops as well as service centers. He has over 400 certifications through General Motors, since a large portion of his career was spent working for GM shops and dealerships.

Starting Dynamix Collision in 2013, Dean originally created the business to build for retirement and to offer exemplary service to customers. Beginning with only two employees, Dean now employs 10 workers, including his son, Daniel, and daughter, Shelby, moving into its current property in January 2017.

It truly is a family-run business at Dynamix Collision. Daniel Dean works as an auto-body technician and service writer and has done so for over 13 years in the Middle Tennessee area. Shelby Dean uses her academic background in design to create customized vinyl wraps for signs, automobiles, and anything else that one can imagine. Often her projects can be seen alongside 10 or more other vehicles being repaired or restored in the workshop.

Diversification aids Dynamix in creating a shop that provides services to any customer with any issue. They repair any automobile, from the most expensive to the least. Instead of spending thousands of dollars on advertising, Gary Dean’s strategy is to supply great service to customers. Dean believes that customers will take care of the advertising for him if great repairs and even better customer service is provided.

To show his focus on customer needs, Dean stated, “I don’t evaluate the job by how much money I can make; I evaluate the job by what kind of service the customer wants.”

Within just five minutes of talking to Dean, one can see how devoted he really is to customer service.

To save on overhead costs, Gary Dean developed his business to complete any repair necessary for each customer without subletting certain procedures to other shops. According to Dean, the shop can be run by fewer employees without the hassle of taking vehicles to another shop to get alignments, stripes, or any other modification or repair.

The idea of taking care of all automotive repair issues led to Dynamix’s entry into the vinyl wrap side of its business. Designing and applying their own customized wraps to automobiles has allowed them to do custom work for local emergency departments, the municipal government, and local businesses. They have even designed custom wraps for the Coyote Ugly Saloon’s truck and trailer.

Dean has also used wraps to help individual customers who just need an overall paint job or who need a cool customized new look for their vehicle. Dean once used vinyl wrap to cover an entire pickup for an owner as a more cost effective alternative to an overall paint job.

Economically, the vinyl wrap portion of Dynamix has helped to sustain the business as well. Dean states that “the profits are much better” in this area and they mostly come without the hassle of negotiating with insurance companies.

Offering customization work and complete repairs as well as restorations demands the use of new, specialized equipment. Dynamix uses some of the most innovative tools and equipment in the industry. Special computer design software is used to create vinyl wraps, and asTech scanners are used to electronically diagnose automotive issues. The repair shop is also filled with many other cutting-edge tools added as the business has grown.

No matter how much Dynamix grows and diversifies, an automotive repair shop in today’s world must always deal with insurance companies. Currently, the shop is named on two insurance companies’ direct repair program (DRP) lists. Dean states that neither of these insurance companies try to compromise repairs. However, he believes that other insurance providers often cause repair shops to concede part quality to keep costs low, forcing shops to use aftermarket parts when available. Because of this issue, Dynamix has opted out of some companies’ DRP.

To avoid part quality issues, Dean always uses OEM parts, even when they cut into his own profit margin. He believes that these parts are safer for customers and better for the value of the repaired vehicle.

One of the business’s most ambitious plans is to build an all-new facility on the same property to complete full paint jobs. The paint jobs themselves will be affordable and will come with a lifetime guarantee. The shop would serve a dual purpose of providing a service to local customers and of training new employees. Dean believes that finding good technicians is his “biggest struggle,” but by training employees in-house, he states that this can introduce the field to new workers, instead of them “going to school, spending all the money, and finding out they really don’t have the knack for it.”

In the next ten years, Dean projects that collisions will be 50 percent of his business with vinyl wraps, customization, and overall new paint jobs making up the other half of it. Additionally, he plans to not depend on insurance referrals, future collisions, or even traditional training programs to provide business opportunities. Instead, he hopes to continue to specialize in serving customer needs with his diversified business so that he can pass it on to his family.  •

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