News Releases:

2008-January 14 - WMABA Commends State Farm For Answering the Tough Questions
2007-October 18 - Businesses are "Gaining Control" with Workshop Hosted by WMABA
2007-September 12 - WMABA Follows Richmond Awareness Meeting with Gaining Control Workshop
2007-March 28 - Maryland House Bill 1084 Goes to Summer Study in House Economic Matters Committee

For More Information:

Jordan Hendler, Executive Director

Ph: 804-789-9649

Email: jordanhendler@wmaba.com

WMABA Commends State Farm for Answering the

Tough Questions

January 14, 2008 – Richmond, Virginia – It was a great night in Columbia, Maryland for repairers to hear their actual concerns hit the air at the Insurer Round Table meeting put on by the Washington Metropolitan Auto Body Association (WMABA) January 10th. In the WMABA region of Virginia, Maryland, and DC, insurer relations with collision repairers are at the same high tension felt around the country. After months of preparation, real questions depicting issues faced everyday by collision repairers provided directly from our membership were sent out to those insurers who had accepted the invitation to attend the round table. In the end, State Farm stepped up to answer them.

“We didn’t see the point in asking questions that everyone knows the answer to; that’s the reason we used the questions our membership sent; to get answers for those who have the problems in their business every day,” stated WMABA President and fellow shop owner Torchy Chandler. “If WMABA is to go through the efforts to have insurers in the room with us, why not have real conversations with them that may yield a better understanding in the future? That’s what we’re here to do. If a company like Nationwide elects to dismiss repairers by cancelling their attendance the day prior to an event because they do not want to answer real questions that address our marketplace concerns that is their prerogative. Sometimes what one does not say speaks much louder than what they do and I think our membership recognizes that.”

State Farm consultant George Avery, accompanied by regional estimatics section managers Jack Cullen and Dominick Losquadro, took the heat in stride and offered well-thought responses to many of the questions repairers asked. Overall, the message that was reiterated loud and clear was that repairers hold the keys to their industry. Avery elaborated by saying, “If the majority of the collision repairers in the market are doing ‘x’, then State Farm will do it or pay it. But, in order to protect our policyholders, we must wait for the majority of the market to change before we can act in accordance.” Avery stressed to shops, whether they are on the Select Service program or not , to go to the State Farm business to business website at www.b2b.statefarm.com and update your rates and current information regularly. He also assured all that participation in Select Service is based on performance; if you change your rates that DOES NOT mean you are removed from the program.

Because of lack of participation from other industry insurers, WMABA intends to meet with the insurance commissioners in Maryland and Virginia to try and get the questions answered in another manner. “We owe it to our membership to get an answer,” said Executive Director Jordan Hendler. “They asked the questions, and it is our responsibility to make sure that something is done to try and alleviate their concerns. Our attempt is aimed not to create conflict, but to initiate resolution in a positive manner.”

The WMABA is a regional collision industry association, currently covering the areas of Maryland, Virginia, and Washington DC. If you would like to find out more information about the Maryland House Bill 1084, or information about WMABA and its activities, you can contact Executive Director Jordan Hendler (Phone: 804-789-9649 or Email: jordanhendler@wmaba.com) or visit our website at: http://www.wmaba.com

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For More Information:

Jordan Hendler, Executive Director

Ph: 804-789-9649

Email: jordanhendler@wmaba.com

Businesses are “Gaining Control” with

Workshop Hosted by WMABA

October 18, 2007 – Richmond, Virginia – The “Gaining Control” weekend seminar proved its title throughout the weekend as attendees gained insight into business management practices from instructors Chuck Sulkala, Jeff Hendler, and Lou DiLisio. The longtime collision industry associates instructed on basics of management of production, sales, and negotiation, as well as using examples from past experiences to show the group how their businesses can dramatically improve over time.

“Gaining Control”, the premise behind the weekend workshop hosted by the Washington Metropolitan Auto Body Association (WMABA) was held at the Fredericksburg Expo Center in Fredericksburg, VA on October 13^th and 14^th. Jeff Hendler and Chuck Sulkala, former ARMS instructors, along with industry consultant Lou DiLisio, were the instructors for this breakthrough workshop. The audience enjoyed humorous insight as the instructors gave them knowledge in how to manage toward profit.

“You can’t just make it (profit) up on the next one,” cautioned Chuck Sulkala during a discussion on parts discounting. “Today, if you say you want to undercharge one vehicle and ‘add it to another’ that is fraud. Knowing what you need to make on parts will help you make a knowledgeable business decision about giving a discount. Most shops don’t know how much it affects their bottom line profit.”

During the discussions on negotiation, Phil Rice of R&R Auto Body in Woodbridge, Virginia expressed his concerns about the current temperature of the market. Following the seminar, he commented, “This seminar reminded me that my opinion matters. I want to know exactly what is going on in my business so I can implement some changes and gain back more control. I would highly recommend anyone who wants to get reenergized or more knowledgeable about collision repair management attend one of these seminars.”

“The two topics that excited me were Scheduling and Measuring,” states Bobby Wright of Burkeville Body Shop in Burkeville, Virginia. “During the measurement instruction, I was given hundreds of suggestions for ways to measure my employees. I struggled with knowing how to measure my office people and I was given many ideas, including how they offer services to customers. It helps to know what to measure. Just as knowing how much your employees are capable of producing can help to have a better schedule for work.”

One attendee, Chris Francis of Dorn’s Body & Paint in Mechanicsville, Virginia, commented on how much this course refreshed and energized the instruction he had received from the past ARMS Workshops. “As a Production Manager, I was reminded to look at the loss of revenue due to employees’ wasted time, which has caused me to re-evaluate our productivity. The other interesting part of the seminar was a look into the next generation of employees and what kinds of traits that group of people has versus fifteen years ago.”

“It was a successful weekend,” commented WMABA President Torchy Chandler, “Each attendee gained insight into different and creative ways to grow their business. ‘Profit’ is not a bad word, and it should be the reason you’re in this business. I know that this workshop gave each person many reasons to be excited to be a collision repairer.”

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For More Information:

Jordan Hendler, Executive Director

Ph: 804-789-9649

Email: jordanhendler@wmaba.com

WMABA Follows Richmond Awareness Meeting

with “Gaining Control” Workshop

September 12, 2007 – Richmond, Virginia – On August 23, 2007 the Washington Metropolitan Auto Body Association held one of the largest collision industry meetings in Richmond-area history. Speakers Bernie Blickenstaff, Jeff Hendler and Chuck Sulkala rallied over 75 attendees by asking them what their issues were and discussing how they could be overcome. The audience responded with topics ranging from exotic metals and parts procurement to material caps and minimizing supplements.

Highlighting a segment on finding qualified technicians, Blickenstaff pointed to two local college professors in the room and said, “Talk to them, they hold the future of our industry.”

Talk they did. Concluding the 3-hour long meeting, excitement could still be felt in the air as the attendees introduced themselves to one another while enjoying a buffet provided by Hertz Local Edition.

Executive Director Jordan Hendler said, “The attendance and excitement of this meeting proves that Richmond and surrounding areas are ready to step up and meet the challenges of the future. The Gaining Control Workshop will give managers and estimators an opportunity to continue their education and solve problems they are facing every day. Negotiating, production, scheduling, and financials are just a few of the subjects that will be instructed upon.”

Jeff Hendler and Chuck Sulkala, former ARMS instructors, along with longtime industry consultant Lou DiLisio, will return to the area on October 13^th and 14^th for the Gaining Control workshop hosted by WMABA. This two-day workshop, held at the Fredericksburg Expo Center in Fredericksburg, Virginia, will focus on management practices for today’s collision repair industry.

“In a lot of cases, you have to go back to the basics to maybe relearn and rethink the way you run your business,” DiLisio says. “What we are bringing to the table is experience, but beyond owning and operating shops, we also have had the opportunity to work with a multitude of different market segments in our consulting roles. This has given us different perspectives on things that a typical shop owner has to do day in and day out to put food on the table at the end of the week.”

In Sulkala’s mind, being a successful shop manager doesn’t just depend on having the right information; it also means using this knowledge the right way. “Today, more people have information,” he says. “I’m talking about the repairers, the insurers, everybody. They are able to slice it and dice it and sort it in different ways than they ever had in the past. As a result, everybody has been working in trying to tighten up their businesses… Hopefully, most of these shops are running management systems and getting reports and seeing things because somebody told them a long time ago, ‘You’ve got to watch that number there.’ All we want to do is let them know what it’s doing and know what it means.”

Excited by what this two day course will offer Hendler feels that “Gaining Control” will appeal to anyone who wants to freshen up on being a strong business person in an often complex industry. “We have an overcapacity of collision repair shops to the amount of work available,” he says. “There’s enough capacity in the industry right now to do $80 billion in collision repairs, and it’s a $35 billion industry. If you’re going to be successful, you have to figure out how you’re going to cut your market share out of an overabundance of shops and distinguish yourself for the next guy.”

For more information about the Gaining Control workshop, contact WMABA Executive Director Jordan Hendler at 804-789-9649 or email jordanhendler@wmaba.com. The flyers are available for download on the website: www.wmaba.com.

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Maryland House Bill 1084 Goes to Summer Study

in House Economic Matters Committee

For More Information:
Jordan Hendler, Executive Director
Ph: 804-396-0195
Email: jordanhendler@wmaba.com

March 28, 2007 – Richmond, Virginia - The Washington Metropolitan Auto Body Association (WMABA) is pleased to announce that Maryland House Bill 1084, which was introduced by Delegate Rick Impallaria on behalf of Maryland collision repairers, was voted to be withdrawn from this session in favor of an amendment to hold a summer study under the Economic Matters Committee. The purpose of the initial bill was to require the Maryland Insurance Commissioner to appoint an independent auditor to establish, on an annual basis, an average market rate for labor, parts, paint and materials through a statistical, confidential survey of all repair facilities in established geographic markets in Maryland.

“This is a positive step forward for the Maryland repair community,” Stated Aaron Schulenburg, WMABA Treasurer and Estimatics Manager for Bill Denny’s Body Repair. “The proposed bill allowed for us to bring the issue of labor rate reimbursement to the forefront of people’s attention, and the summer study will allow us to further document this issue, and examine other pertinent industry issues in depth. We look forward to addressing these issues of concern with the committee and utilizing the study to support future legislation next session.”

Delegate Rick Impallaria agreed, identifying that, “The summer study will have the effect of uncovering the necessary changes in the relationship between the insurance provider, the insured or claimant, and the body shop. Addressing these issues should support the need to establish changes that will create a level playing field for the body shops, will produce better disclosure for the customer, and ensure a higher quality of customer service and repair for the customer from both the insurance carrier and the body shops.”

On March 21st, several Maryland collision professionals, as well as four WMABA board members, attended the hearing for the House Bill at the House of Delegates in Annapolis, Maryland. These repairers had the opportunity to testify before the delegates on the Economic Matters Committee, urging for support of the bill. “I feel that the collision repair representatives who testified at the bill hearing came across very professional, sincere, and very honest,” continued Delegate Impallaria. “That was the impression they left with the Committee, which was much more favorable than the evasive and misleading impression the insurance lobbyists conveyed.”

The testimonies aired issues surrounding the insurance industries current practices in identifying the “prevailing competitive price”, used to reimburse the customer for collision repair labor. This led to other questions from committee members regarding the existence of steering and Insurer requirements to use parts that are inferior to OEM quality.

Kris Shannon, WMABA Board member and owner of Shannon Auto Body also felt positive about the testimony’s impact on the committee; “I was happy to see them show signs of interest towards our bill, which was apparent in the questions they asked. It showed that this bill, and our industry’s issues, is clearly something worth their consideration.”

The summer study will be a panel of representatives from both the repair and insurance industry who will discuss and debate the issues outlined in the amendment which include:
- Steering
- Insurance company criteria for “DRP” or ”preferred” body shops
- Contractual agreements between body shops and insurance companies
- Labor rates
- Other Maryland collision industry concerns.

This is a major step towards resolving industry problems at the legislative level. Once the agenda has been planned, and the study begins, the subjects will be reviewed by industry professionals. This creates an opportunity for repairers’ issues to be heard by key legislative individuals, who can determine the course of future resulting House Bills in the next legislative session.

WMABA is optimistic about the final results of this study, and believes that it will positively affect the collision repair industry in Maryland. Look for future announcements regarding the status of this bill.

The WMABA is a regional collision industry association, currently covering the areas of Maryland, Virginia, and Washington DC. If you would like to find out more information about the Maryland House Bill 1084, or information about WMABA and its activities, you can contact Executive Director Jordan Hendler (Phone: 804-396-0195 or Email: jordanhendler@wmaba.com) or visit our website at: http://www.wmaba.com

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