By Gary Butler
Teamwork. To some the word conjures images of an Olympic bobsled team, or game seven of the NBA finals, with success or failure hanging on whether the team pulls together or not. But for Justin Hinton and Jason Dye, co-managers of Gold Team Collision Center, 1031 E. Highway 11-E, Jefferson City, Tenn., the word carries even more currency. Hinton and Dye say they have helped create one of the premier collision repair centers in East Tennessee by teaming with insurance agents, I-CAR class instructors, an extensive network of repeat customers, local technology schools, and their community as a whole.
“We wouldn’t be where we are today if we didn’t constantly strive to build relationships and nurture them,” Hinton said. “Everyone in the business says that doing quality work, having excellent customer service, and working hand-in-hand with insurance companies is the key to success, but we do more than just ‘talk the talk.’ We ‘walk the walk,’” he said.
Concerning insurance agents and adjusters, Hinton said the shop has such a personal relationship with several of the agents that “they feel comfortable calling us up anytime to bounce ideas off us or help a customer with something.
“And we feel the same about them,” Hinton said. “That kind of rapport has gone a long way in helping us create a great base of repeat customers.”
Hinton and Dye’s shop is in a fairly rural area. They say that being one of the relatively few DRP (direct repair) shops around carries with it the responsibility to go above and beyond doing the minimum required to repair a customer’s car.
“The I-CAR classes we attend, and sometimes sponsor here at the shop, are critical resources to stay abreast of the latest technology in this business,” said Dye. “Justin goes to every I-CAR class available, and he passes on what he learns to the techs here.”
Both men say that technological innovations — whether they are for the better or not — require constant scrutiny and research on their part.
“Some of the technology that’s out there is so advanced that sometimes an issue comes up that we haven’t faced before, and we have to scramble to learn the technique and in some cases buy new equipment,” said Hinton. “We’ve been repairing aluminum panels for some time now, but there are advances in some vehicles, like the Ford F-150 for example, that change on what seems like a daily basis. We bought an $8,000 rivet gun just to handle some of those changes, but the challenge is on-going.”
Hinton goes so far to say that technology is by far the most significant change to the collision repair industry in several decades.
“There have been more innovations in technology in the past 10 years than in the past 30 years,” he said. “Like cameras and radar in some of the vehicles that brake automatically, keeps the vehicle in its lane if it starts to wander, and even turns the eye of the headlights when you turn the steering wheel.
“Those things are highly sophisticated, and it requires constant vigilance on our part to know how to repair them after a collision,” Hinton said.
Although Hinton and Dye both agree that I-CAR is their best single resource concerning technological advances, they also believe in collecting information wherever it is available.
“Sometimes we read about a brand new technological advance in a publication like Appalachian Automotive Report, then someone brings in a vehicle for repair that involves that new technology,” said Hinton. “Because we had already seen an article about the new technique or new equipment in the Report, we were able to research it and be ready for that repair. And we have gone on Google or YouTube to investigate problems that certain vehicles have turned up with, and sure enough, there will be a pattern that emerges.
“Whatever we have to do, from whatever source, we do it to stay on top of trends and new technology,” he said.
Hinton concedes that there are occasional issues that are proprietary to the manufacturer, and when that arises the vehicle has to go to the dealership.
“We don’t like the downtime when that happens, but it can’t be helped sometimes,” he said. “But that is when our great relationship with our insurance agents and repeat customers really makes a difference. Our customers don’t like a delay any more than we do, but because they know us and trust us they are patient with us. Most of the time,” he added with a grin.
Being known and respected in the community at large is important to Hinton and Dye, they say, and toward that end they take every opportunity to keep the shop’s profile high.
“We try to sponsor school teams, golf tournaments, yearbooks, and participate in local parades as often as possible, and we think that pays off,” said Dye. “There have been times I’ve been in a parade and I would hear someone in the crowd say, ‘Hey, that’s Gold Team, they fixed my car!’”
Hinton said that being an I-CAR Gold Class certified shop “keeps us on our toes.”
“We have to maintain so many points per year to keep that certification,” he said. “The smaller, so-called ‘mom and pop’ shops, don’t have to do that, so most of them don’t get the benefit of these I-CAR classes, but we feel like it is a necessity, not just a luxury,” Hinton said.
Even though Hinton said their shop, at 25,000 square feet, is one of the largest in the area, they would like to have even more, particularly a room big enough to more comfortably hold I-CAR training classes.
“But right now the only structural changes we plan are for cosmetic purposes, maybe add to the front of the building for appearances,” he said. “But if we are able to add more on, it would be nice to have a larger section for parts, as well as the big room for training classes.”
Wish list aside, Hinton said the shop is already big enough to do all their own work, in-house.
“We do all our own air-conditioning, airbag, upholstery work, you name it. And of course we have a mechanical repair shop, but we don’t take in work that isn’t related to the reason the vehicle is here, the collision repair I mean,” he added. “To accomplish all this, we have two service writers, six body technicians, two painters, two painter preppers, two detailers, and two mechanics. And our office is staffed with three appraisers, utilizing the CCC Pathways Estimating System.
“We actually ‘set the bar’ around here for frame work,” Hinton asserted. “Some of the [collision repair] shops around here didn’t always have frame machines, and many of them would bring their vehicles here when they needed frame work.”
Hinton said their Chief Goliath frame machine is still a rarity in his service area, because it is too pricey for a small shop to afford.
“We can handle a truck the size of a Ford F-550 on that machine, and not many machines can do that,” he said.
Hinton also expressed pride in the shop’s two laser-guided alignment machines, computerized tire balancer, and its two downdraft Global Finish Solutions (GFS) paint booths. But even Hinton concedes that the best equipment money can buy is useless unless qualified technicians are using it.
“We are constantly keeping our techs updated with the technology, and we are happy to hire some of those techs right out of technical schools in the area,” he said. “That’s how I got started, and I believe in giving a young man or woman a chance to learn and grow with us.”
If there is one area where Hinton and Dye believe the industry has taken a problematic turn, it is in the area of what he characterizes as a dogged, sometimes bureaucratic, fixation on “numbers.”
“So much of what we are being driven to concerns ‘numbers,’ customer service numbers, days, cycle-time numbers, that sort of thing,” said Hinton. “I realize insurance company supervisors have to keep track of these numbers, but sometimes that runs cross purposes from what our needs are to make a proper repair.
“If we have to keep a car an extra day, for whatever reason, it doesn’t matter that the customer may be ecstatic over the quality of the repair, the insurance company may have a problem with, say, keeping a rental car an extra day,” he said.
“There’s no question it is a balancing act, because our primary concern is that the customer gets the best possible repair,” Hinton asserted. “But, again, that is where our having such a good rapport with our agents and our customers comes into play.”
So, from the moment a customer calls or comes by with a vehicle for repair to the time he or she drives away from the shop with, hopefully, a big smile on his or her face, Hinton and Dye say they never stop striving for the highest quality of repair. And the guiding principle that keeps them on track: teamwork. •
