Although I was on the cover fairly recently, there have still been some significant changes in my shop.

Right now we are preparing for the change over to a waterborne paint system. The conversion will probably take place in early spring, so by the time that you’re reading this the change over should already be well underway.

Our paint company has chosen us to be one of the first to convert to the new system. By converting some shops now, they are hoping to iron out any glitches in the conversion process.

This year we will also be implementing a new customer service process that we are currently in the process of designing.

The idea is to continue to communicate with customers after they pick up their car. A customer who leaves happy is obviously more likely to become a repeat customer. It is my belief that my staying in communication with those happy customers that we can boost repeat business even further.

As for changes in the industry as a whole, we’ve seen big changes in many insurers’ Direct Repair Program recently and I don’t think we’ve seen the end of it. Tied in with accreditation, it makes collision repair a very exciting business to be in right now. 

It’s interesting to observe the waterborne industry in order to be prepared for the future. Because globally, environmental regulations will be changed to stricter ones to have the newest technology on board. The technicians didn’t have any problem making the transition to waterborne and they like it very much. There’s no smell with the solvents anymore. Customers are getting more and more aware now on what we’re doing with the environment. Most of the customers want to contribute to environmental protection. The problem we’re facing now is the awareness of what we’re doing here with waterborne. Because how do we spread out the word out to them on waterborne technology? But once we do get the word out, they’re all excited about this.

The paint supplier gave us some training for the painters of about 2 weeks to train our staff really effectively when we were first introducing waterborne.

Technology wise, we needed to adjust our spray booth so we could get extra warm air in order to keep the productivity at the rate that it was at before.

It was by coincidence that one of the senior editors of one of the biggest newspapers in Vancouver got his car fixed here and he wrote an article in the Vancouver Sun on us and waterborne. He helped us spread the word on what we’re doing. I’m also a member of a bigger group called Collision Plus and we’re 13 shops in that group.

Everybody’s watching me and what’s going on here. We’re like pioneers since everyone’s looking up to us. We have a meeting in 3 weeks and I’ll give a statement on waterborne technology. The message that I’ll be giving is that it’s worthwhile to do it (make the switch to waterborne) right now because Canada’s changing its environmental regulations. It would be worthwhile to introduce these paints right now and to get the transitions done before everyone else wants to have it. I’ll tell them not to hesitate and to make a reasonable plan and I’m sure they will have lots of questions about what needs to be done. I’m being prepared for everyone’s interests on this.

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