View Single Post
      02-08-2017, 02:13 PM   #6
Maynard
Colonel
United_States
3848
Rep
2,873
Posts

Drives: 228iX & M2C
Join Date: Mar 2016
Location: Upstate NY

iTrader: (1)

You've already hit the big one for me - the use of OEM parts (and advocacy on the customer's behalf for this). It has been a while, but during my last repair I was told that many insurance companies (including mine at the time) were requiring aftermarket, unless there were demonstrable fit issues. The shop was up front about this - saying they had to try them, but when the typical fit issues arose, they would advocate for me and get the right parts. They lived up to this - bumper cover was about a half inch small, and they pushed to get the real OEM. Hoping that they finally got the message industry-wide, that it is cheaper in the long run to stick with good parts.

Having examples of your work, and references for past customers is also a big plus - wouldn't consider a full repaint or major job w/o seeing past work.

For marketing, it may help to have some on-hand examples of the wrong way to do it, or the cheapo approach. I've had enough experience that I can draw on, so I appreciate the time and skill needed to get a really good result. Many younger owners are coming up in an era where the overall message is "if we certified it as good enough, it is". Most anybody can paint a panel to the '10-foot level', but when it isn't well matched, full of orange peel, and then starts to flake off after 18months, they can readily see the diff.
Appreciate 0