By Jim Welker, Customer Engagement Manager
The only constant in life is change. You've probably heard that more than once in your life and if you're like me, you say it about once a week!
Over 36 years in collision repair, I've seen more change than I can even explain. I've worked in collision shops as a technician and body shop manager, as well as an independent appraiser, or insurance adjuster.
From AI to ADAS and from EVs to DRPs, the changes in our industry are not only not going away, they're accelerating!
In my nine years at CCC, I have worked with hundreds of shops like yours on how they adapt to change. Recently, we helped a client put some processes into place around diagnostic scans due to the changes in the vehicles they were repairing. With this renewed focus, they expected their repair quality to go up, but they also saw some unintended consequences to their business:
Performing pre-repair scans more consistently helped this repairer and its staff recognize more affected components EARLIER in the process so that the correct parts could be ordered and a more complete repair plan was created. The result? A 5% increase in on-time deliveries, which was already north of 80%.
For a lot of shops, promise date can be a "squishy". But best practices say, and many insurers require, a promise date to be entered when the repair begins. Meeting that promise date is crucial for customer satisfaction as well as shops' ranking with their DRP partners. The repairer I worked with saw a 70% drop in the difference between their promise date and vehicle out date when they focused on scans. They credit the better understanding of the repair and fewer supplements to slowing down the process to explain how they got so much better in this regard.
When shops have a better idea about what is needed for the repair, and when customers get their vehicle back when they expect, it's a better experience all around. When this client focused on scanning, it also presented the opportunity to talk with customers more about how their vehicle was impacted by a collision. They have seen a nearly 9% increase in their Net Promoter Score rating, a key measure of customer satisfaction.
Be the change you want to see in the world. If you want to change your business for the better, focusing on diagnostic scans is a good place to start. "To scan or not to scan" shouldn't even be a question anymore. In addition to being a key part of a proper repair, it can also help to propel your business forward.
To learn more about how CCC can support your efforts around scanning, visit cccis.com/diagnostics.
