{"id":509,"date":"2022-07-08T14:18:50","date_gmt":"2022-07-08T04:18:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/planningplus.com.au\/blog\/?p=509"},"modified":"2022-07-25T15:59:08","modified_gmt":"2022-07-25T05:59:08","slug":"profit-series-part-17-with-greg-lobsiger","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/planningplus.com.au\/blog\/2022\/07\/08\/profit-series-part-17-with-greg-lobsiger\/","title":{"rendered":"Profit Series Part 17 with Greg Lobsiger"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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One thing I missed discussing during the estimating part, was taking good photos.<\/strong> Rarely can we put a line item on the estimate for, \u2018Take photos \/ one hour labor\u2019 for a car we are going to repair. We wish we didn\u2019t have to do this of course, but it\u2019s just part of being in our industry. Many times, photos from our shops look like they were taken literally by five-year old\u2019s. We must do better. If your shop doesn\u2019t own a good PDR light, then buy one!! <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Also, please take photos of a clean car by the way or take a photo of a dirty car. Then, add a line to \u2018Pre-wash\u2019 the car on the estimate then wash it, then photo the damage with a PDR light. I inserted some photos of how damage can be seen so much better with proper lighting. If your shop uses CCC, please use the CCC phone app for all photos, time is so expensive to do anything different then this!!!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Just before you send in an estimate or supplement, you must look at it as you are the desk review person on the other end. Does the estimate even make sense? Do your photos make sense? Are the OEM procedures applicable to the job? As it was explained to me, \u201cThe estimate must tell a story\u201d<\/strong>. One of the best ways to ensure this, is to have someone else inside your shop review your estimate. It may take this person 15-20 minutes to look at the estimate lines, all the photos, the car and parts carts. I just bet you, that they will find something we have missed!!! Most often, in my shop we can find $50-200 of missed operations when we just have a 2nd set of eyes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Don\u2019t forget, about the time you have \u2018Clean & Retape a molding\u2019 on your estimate and the car doesn\u2019t have any moldings or photos to support the line item on the estimate, you\u2019re done. The desk reviewer has just lost any respect for you and will hammer your estimate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When it comes to R&I\u2019s, there is great $ here if the R&I\u2019s are merited of course. Take photos of every item you have removed. Don\u2019t enter to R&I something on an estimate when the part is still on the car. Now the desk reviewer is questioning, if you are really going to take the part off or not? As I was taught, \u2018you tell and don\u2019t ask when it comes to R&I\u2019s.\u2019 This isn\u2019t, \u201cLets confirm they will pay for it first.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In our shop, once the car is in the repair process, our body techs get photos of a repaired panel, just before the vehicle goes to prime. In prep the painters will get a photo of the sprayout cards and then get photos in the booth just prior to spraying. During reassembly, if any Denib & Buff is required the techs take photos also by using their phones. Having too many photos is almost never a problem, a missed photo can cost you several $100\u2019s!!<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n