By Elizabeth Sargeant
Toronto, Ontario — August 8, 2019 – Today, Collision Repair sits down with Dave Luehr, owner of Elite Bodyshop Solutions and author of The Secrets of America’s Greatest Body Shops to discuss the highly-anticipated upcoming event, Building Your Future of Success ’19.
With more than a year of preparation going into the conference, Luehr and his team are excited for repairers across North America to collaborate, network, and acquire learning tools to build a great facility.
In today’s discussion, Luehr fills us in on what sets Elite’s first event apart from the rest and what it means to run an independent business.
Collision Repair: You said this will be a collision event people have never experienced before, what makes this event different from the rest?
Dave Luehr: I do a lot of online education, I’ve gone to other people’s seminars, done training, but one of the areas [my business partner Bruce King] and I saw an opportunity in was the fact that many people go back to their shops after an event, and don’t know how to implement what they’ve learned. They either forget a lot of it or don’t have the tools and training to overcome resistance from their staff. A big part of our event will be to prepare repairers to be able to implement the things they learned when they do get back to their shops.
CR: What do you think will be the most impactful message that repairers can learn from the event?
DL: We wanted to bring a well-rounded approach to business development based on what we call the Elite Five Pillars of Success. We’re going to make sure that when people go back they have a good holistic approach to the financial side of the business, the cultural side, etc. One of the things I’m personally passionate about is process development as well. I talk to shops all over the world to try and bring the most modern thinking and development processes home with me to teach people how the best shops in the world operate. I’m really excited about that.
CR: A lot of work goes behind one of these events, what made you choose to host one?
DL: Elite Bodyshops goes much deeper than just the event. Our mission is ‘guiding collision repairers into limitless potential.’ Through everything we do, we never place limits on ourselves. When I ask a Canadian if they’re an independent shop, they’ll say ‘No I’m part of Fix Auto’. Just because they’re part of Fix Auto does not mean they aren’t independent. We really develop all of our businesses to help interdependent businesses figure out ways to overcome self-doubt and to be able to compete with the big guys. That’s what we’re all about.
Luehr is expecting more than 90 people to attend Building Your Future of Success, taking place from Oct. 9 – 11. There are still spots open for the main event and the VIP event (Oct. 12) where members will be independently trained on how to develop their business plan.
For more information on the conference, visit elitebodyshopsolutions.com
