Puyallup, Wash.--Patty Denny laughed when asked if insurer direct repair agreements are a key source of business at her shop, Denny's Valley Autobody Inc.
"If an insurance company wants to be my 'partner,' they can buy the place," Denny said, smiling. "We are pro-consumer. We work for the consumer. I don't want to be controlled by the insurance industry. I don't mind working with insurance companies, but I don't like them telling us how we're going to do repairs."
The company, which has 16 employees and annual sales of close to $2 million, was briefly a participant in one DRP with an insurer that initially agreed to pay the shop's posted rates.
"Three months down the road, they sent me a letter saying, 'If you don't give us a discount, if you don't do this or that, then you're off our list,'" Denny said. "I just wrote on the letter, 'Goodbye,'" she said, laughing.
Denny does have words of praise for one insurer.
"The only reason why we allow State Farm to list us as one of their 'preferred' is very simple: State Farm just
wants the job done correctly," she said. "We informed State Farm what our rates are and that there are no kickbacks and that we have all the proper equipment to bring the car back as close to pre-accident condition as humanly possible, and that we guarantee all of our work. We have had no issues with State Farm. They will periodically come in and audit files, which is no problem."
Denny said she oversees the business from a house next to the two production buildings that was converted about four years ago into the company's offices. The customer area has a comfortable, livingroom-like feel, which seems appropriate given that the shop is a family-run business. Denny's husband, Mark, and father-in-law, Bill, founded the business in 1983; Bill Denny died three years ago, and Mark Denny usually is not involved on a day-to-day basis, having recently launched a construction business. But earlier this year, he was back doing repair work on vehicles when the shop was short a technician, she said.
"The diminished work force is definitely an issue facing the industry," Denny said, adding that she was advertising for a technician not only in Tacoma area newspapers but also nationally through Craig's List (www.craigslist.com) and Monster.com. "Bodymen are a dying breed. They are getting out of the business because they can get better-paying jobs that aren't as much work. It used to be painters that were hard to find. Now we have painters coming in, but we don't have the body men."
Fortunately for Denny, many of the shop's employees have been with the company for a decade or more; the customer waiting area includes photos of each of those employees along with their ASE and I-CAR certificates. A third generation of the family is also involved in the business: the Dennys' son Rick is an estimator, including handling the mobile estimating that the shop offers customers and the various dealerships in the area that refer work to the shop, she said.
The shop's production area, split between two buildings, includes two AFC Finishing Systems spraybooths (the shop is a long-time user of BASF's Glasurit paint line) and three Continental and Chief frame racks, Denny said. Each building also has an Island Clean Air Duster 3000 mobile prep station.
"That's a great piece of equipment that helps us keep the shop clean and healthy by sucking up all the sanding dust," she said.
Denny said she is also proud of the company's environmental and recycling efforts, which have earned it a 4-star rating in the regional EnviroStars program.
"Anything around here that we can reuse or recycle, we do," she said. "I even take the bubble wrap that parts come in to a mailing company that reuses it. Last week we hauled our cardboard to a recycling place that pays us for it, and that paid for a pizza party for all the guys."
Denny said that in the past year, she and EnviroStars representatives have focused on the shop's detailing department. The shop has even switched to a corn-based window cleaner.
"It really does a good job, a better job than regular glass cleaner," she said. "It doesn't leave streaks or anything, and though it probably costs a little more, it's more environmentally friendly."
Denny said she plans to purchase more digital cameras to have one in each shop building. Her goal is to make it easier for staff to provide the documentation insurers are increasingly requiring, she said.
"In the paint department, for example, insurers are wanting photos of spray-out cards and proof of blending," she said. "A few bad shops out in the industry are making it harder for the rest of us."
Denny said that among her biggest challenges is finding ways to communicate information--such as customer special requests--adequately to everyone in the shop.
"We have a morning meeting every day to discuss every single car in the shop, but there are still times when that one small little thing will fall through the cracks," she said. "And it's those small things that make the job perfect. We can put a whole front-end on a car but forget we told the customer we'd touch up the rear bumper. I hate that. That's probably the hardest thing I'm working on, the communication from one department to the next and then back to us in the office."
But Denny said her primary goal for the business in the future can be summed up in two words: Remain independent.
"I just want us to be the way we've always been as far as working for the consumer, looking out for the consumer," she said. "That's my goal. I hang on to that every day."
