Page 57 - Australasian Paint & Panel Mar-Apr 2019

BUT NEXT QUARTER TO ROCK
CARA LEA LEWIS AND MARK DEBONO HAVE BEEN MAKING STEADY PROGRESS.
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derstand, it helps of course that she has ex- perience of running a bodyshop as well as her Valspar experience and training.
"She has given us a great resource of templates for each of the processes. We have to prioritise what’s important to us and aim to implement two per week.
“With each one we will produce a large visual sheet to put up on the wall if it’s a workshop process.”
The first KPIs the couple have concen- trated on is their quote to invoice ratio, av- erage job cost and separating costs be- tween paint and panel.
BOOKING ORGANISATION
Spink also showed ECPP how to be more or- ganised in taking bookings to ensure a steady workflow instead of just saying yes to everything and then having to work around the clock to get it finished. Meanwhile Debono and Lewis have been having train- ing on iBodyshop. Debono's training has been on quoting which has already opened his eyes in a number of ways. Between the iBodyshop quoting training and working with Spink they are now realising that they haven’t been breaking down their costs enough – just logging labour, materials and parts. Now they have spreadsheets in place to compare their costs from paint and panel to see if these are balanced. They have now instructed all of their suppliers to invoice separately for paint and panel consumables. They have also realised that their shop rate was too low and so have adjusted this.
Everything hinges on starting with iBodyshop on 1 April and they are excited. It's the new accounting program they've been longing for and through it they, and coach Fewtrell, will be able to analyse and monitor every aspect of the business at a keystroke. The whole team expects the transformation to kick up a gear once iBodyshop is up and running. "It does everything except payroll," Lewis said.
Spink has also got ECPP to analyse where their customers are coming from, as the
first step to deciding how they will grow the business. It transpires that most of their business is from word of mouth which isn't exactly surprising since they don't have a proper website (although they are on Facebook) and weren't listed on Google. Lewis has addressed the Google listing and they have already had enquiries from this. There also isn't a landline at the shop. One of the biggest priorities is creating a much more profes- sional virtual shop front.
A website is underway, however it will be properly constructed by a professional who will ensure that it raises their digital profile and can track leads and so won't happen overnight. Meanwhile Lewis will be getting a land line installed with a 1300
number. Fewtrell points out that 1300 num- bers are portable which is great if the cou- ple outgrow this premises.
Working with Spink, Lewis also real- ised that it was time to review her parts and consumables suppliers. She had al- ways bought locally but given Cairns' place on the map most of these supplies come from further afield anyway. Lewis is determined to shop around more and has just joined Capricorn.
“The work we've done with Melanie all dovetails with the work we are doing with our business coach Ben. We have realised how important implementing these processes are for our efficiency and how breaking down all our costs down will benefit our profits.”
ABOVE: Valspar’s Quality First program has developed many useful spreadsheets and templates to help customers run their business more effectively.
LEFT: Ben Fewtrell coaches face to face remotely through a camera based meeting app.
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