In February, we launched a first-of-its-kind mobile application that allows users to measure and document body damage to negotiate repair time. In July, we added the ability to capture and view the damage as a 3D Depthmap and added depth measurements. Then in August, we released our advanced algorithms that estimate repair times for damage based on size and substrate material. We also attended our first trade shows as exhibitors and had a blast meeting many of you in person.
Our first entry comes from May 2022. To demonstrate how necessary documentation is, we did a study and developed a Return on Investment report for the app. We found that more goes a long way. “Let's consider a shop that does 75 repairs per month with an average Body Labor sales rate of $58/hour. If they were to increase their labor hours sold by only 2 hours per RO, they would add $139,200 to the shop's annual top-line sales.” In an industry where we say a repair would be “3 to 5 hours," it just takes a little documentation to get closer to the 5. You can read the full blog and get a free ROI report here.
One of our other popular posts looked at how we get repair times in the first place. This article breaks down some truths and falsehoods that make up the methods we use to calculate repair times. “Of course, the first thing we look at is the size of the damaged area. Size is the most apparent attribute of auto-body damage. A big dent gets big hours, right? So if we give the big dent the big hours, do we have to provide the little dent fewer hours? Unfortunately, if you are operating as if ‘big is big, little is little,' then odds are you are losing money." We found that just glancing at a panel and estimating based on the damage size does not tell the whole story. That is why we designed our app to consider additional panel attributes like different substrates and body lines.
Finally, in this post, we dug into CCC’s Crash Course report and reviewed the implications of some of the trends that have shown up in the last decade. We found that while average severity and repair costs are rising, the dollars for those repairs may not end up where you think! “The average labor hours per job is only up, on average 2.8 hours per job. The average labor rate has only increased by $7.85 per hour since 2011, roughly 1-2% per year, a rate that is below the inflation rate. In fact, as a percentage of the total repair, labor fell from 42.8% of the total repair to 38.1% in 2021. Lastly, Repair Percentage has fallen by 7.3% since 2011. We are replacing more often and paid less to do it.” The numbers don’t lie. The vehicles we work on and the insurance claims processes have changed a lot in a decade, but our approach to repair has not yet changed enough to compensate.
We get to work with some of the greatest repairers in the country and look forward to getting to work with even more in the coming year. We are also looking forward to sharing new improvements and features to the app to support your efforts to repair vehicles properly and profitably. We would love to partner with you in 2023 and add our app to your toolbox. You can schedule a free live demo today at https://dents.co/demo.
As our gift, if you sign up with us through the end of 2022 and use coupon code “HOLIDAY22,” you will get 20% off your subscription for the first six months. It’s a great deal for a big upcoming year, so do not miss out on being a part of it with us! Dents.co would like to offer a heartfelt 'thank you' to all of you that have gone on this journey with us.