ARE YOU GOING TO THE ASA MEETING ON MARCH 11^TH!

It has been said a million times – collision repair shops are their own worst enemy.  Some agree to ridiculously discounted rates or will “save” deductibles just to get another job in the door.  A lot of shop owners feel there is nothing they can do to improve these things.  They think the insurance industry is too big and powerful and that trying to change anything is just a waste of time.  Well, that is certainly one way of looking at it. 

So if things are this bad, why go to the ASA meeting on March 11^th?

There are a lot of reasons to go.  But the main one is that if you don’t go, you are basically giving up.  Will you then just stand on the sidelines and complain about everything from rates to aftermarket structural parts? 

Tell me, how has that worked out for you in the past?

If there is any hope of improving things, it will take your involvement.  And your ideas.  And maybe just a little bit of your time. 

It is a proven fact that states with active auto body associations (like Minnesota, Rhode Island and Connecticut to name a few) are better off than those states with little or no participation by shops.  Some states have actually made a lot of progress.  In fact, one of them has even passed a law making it illegal for an insurance company to use only a portion of the procedure pages – they must use all of the P pages in the database the estimate is written in.  I guess these states haven’t gotten the message that “nothing will ever change” in this industry.

We need as many people at this meeting as possible.  Time to show up not give up!  If you are planning on coming, call another shop and get them to come also.  Accepting the way things are is just not an option. 

Lets hear from you  - what is your opinion?