Press Release:

PPG to acquire AkzoNobel North American architectural coatings business

PITTSBURGH, Dec. 14, 2012 - PPG Industries (NYSE: PPG) today announced that it has reached a definitive agreement to acquire the North American architectural coatings business of AkzoNobel, N.V., Amsterdam, in a deal valued at $1.05…

Review of a seminar designed for collision repairers who interact with insurers on a regular basis: http://bit.ly/Te0uQ1

What Causes Orange Peel?

Hopefully you’ve already watched the video above. If not, I’ll try my best to quote it below…

There are 3 main reasons or a combination of…

How To Repair Plastic Bumpers From Home.

Let’s quickly talk about plastic bumper repair. In the video above we show you the basics of how to properly heat up and push out a large dent that was caused by backing into a fire hydrant. Their are 4…

How To Mix Automotive Paint in simple detail…

When a lot of newbie enthusiasts get into automotive painting there is something that usually confuses them.

Automotive paint mixing ratios.…

What Size Air Compressor To Paint a Car?

Hey,

We got a new question from a loyal subscriber of learnautobdyandpaint.com

 …

Your business is adored by its customers - but be careful with sharing their Google reviews.

Picture this...

Your auto body shop receives a glowing review from one of your adoring customers, so good in fact that as you sit…

Last week we spoke about getting a PPC ad campaign launched for your marketing efforts.  A very important aspect to that is bidding on good keywords.  Selecting the right keywords is essential if you wish to see any return on your investment. So many people waste thousands on PPC (Pay Per Click) marketing because they misunderstand the concept. The aim of PPC marketing is to drive as much TARGETED traffic to your landing page as possible. The keywords you pick should be based on deep…

We at Web-Est are always trying to help auto body shops learn more about marketing on the Internet. The Internet is such an important part of the way we do business, both in how we look for purchases, but also in terms of our operations. Its one of the reasons we decided to put our auto estimating program on the Internet. We're beginning to see auto body shops move in that direction. The Internet is also a powerful place to market an auto repair shop. There are a number of…

Top 4 Reasons Businesses Don't Get Backlinks

By …

Feb 2012

Buddha without a soul

Mr. Oba, a lifelong Toyota Sensei and student of Mr. Ohno was quoted as saying – Lean is like Buddha missing a soul (paraphrasing). At first blush, this probably doesn't mean much to most. But after deeper inspection one would realize what he was referring to, was and is the core problem of “lean” as it has become widely referred to today. This is especially true for us in the collision repair industry. Let me…

But the bigger questions: What do your employees do with these calls? How often do these ‘price shoppers’ buy from you?

The Facts

After recording and scoring thousands of customer phone calls at shops all over North America, ContactPoint…

I saw this statistic the other day and found it very interesting

 - 68% of consumers say they will pay more for a product/service if they feel like they are getting a better customer service experience. - Harris Interactive, Consumer Experience Impact Report, 2011

This is…

When we train we preach and teach, rant and rave, discuss and demonstrate the following: customer service is king!  

And yet many times companies don't take the gravity of customer service seriously.

Here is a list of extremely pertinent…

The August issue of ABRN How2, an electronic publication featuring how-to videos, blogs, magazine articles and other helpful information, is available online. http://bit.ly/oTGQ74

It's super-important that ContactPoint's clients in the industry understand that customer service is paramount. So, to illustrate that, there are two famous customer service legends about Zappos.com, the largest online shoe store in the world, that I want to share.

1. Several years ago the CEO of Zappos, Tony Hsieh, was…

What comes to mind when someone talks about budgeting? Corporate mumbo-jumbo, complicated, unnecessary, and I'm sure there are plenty of other colorful adverbs to add to the list. I'm also pretty sure that when most people think of budgeting, they view it in terms of managing expenses. I like to view budgeting from a revenue and profit perspective, with the purpose…

Nearly every business has dealt with customers that are upset. You may have heard something like, “You said my car would be ready 2 hours ago! Now you’re telling me you don’t have it done!” Or the concern could be a billing issue; or an incorrect price quote. Whatever the problem; front-line employees are confronted with situations like these every week, maybe even every day. 

When you are in front of an angry customer it is supremely important to focus on your goal: to provide…