Page 13 - Australasian Paint & Panel Jan-Feb 2023

PAINT&PANEL JANUARY / FEBRUARY 2023
WWW.PAINTANDPANEL.COM.AU
News • In Focus
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LEFT : We loved
the tropical Fix team shirts made for this special occasion.
BELOW : Left Gerry Raverty of Remote Estimating Solutions and Robin Taylor of Axalta limbering up for their spots at
the conference.
FIX AUTO FAMILY CONFERENCE
SUN, SUMS AND LOTS OF FUN AT THE FIX AUTO CONFERENCE IN PORT DOUGLAS, QUEENSLAND. WORKING AT WEEKEND ISN’T ALWAYS A CHORE.
T
HE FIX 'FAMILY' HAVEN'T HAD
a get together since before you-know-when and boy did they make up for it. The Fix
Auto conference was held at the Sheraton Grand Mirage Resort in Port Douglas. The vast majority of the network was able to attend and proceed- ings kicked off with a tropical themed welcome drinks and nibbles soiree on
Friday 18 November.
Saturday's conference, Strength in
Numbers, kicked off with a welcome from Fix Auto’s regional vice president Asia, Australia, NZ Stuart Faid. He touched on how the model has not only stood the test of time - it’s celebrating its 30th anniversary globally - but also that franchisees navigated the pandemic successfully. While the network, which will soon consist of 19 franchisees, is relatively small, he said that it punches well above its weight and part of the rea- son is the Business Excellence Program.
There was some serious number crunching next with Robin Taylor from Axalta with benchmark percentages on profit for different parts of the business touched on. Taylor explained how drill- ing down into the numbers will expose areas that need improvement.
Scott Wiseman, Axalta’s national key accounts and OEM manager presented a session on technologies that are, and will continue to be, reshaping the indus- try such as artificial intelligence, aug- mented reality and blockchain.
Fix Auto’s marketing co-ordinator Chloe Bignell and Scott Croaker, head of operations talked about brand pres- ervation, managing reviews on a new platform and how Fix Auto could sup- port franchisees creating posts for them. Kirsten Dodd from BASF exam- ined the bodyshop of the future and Gerry Raverty of Remote Estimating So- lutions explained how to make the most of an estimate. The last speaker
was Darrell Evans of 3M discussing special offers for Fix Auto businesses. The event was sponsored by Axalta, BASF and 3M.
Dinner was alfresco at one of Port Doug- las’ leading restaurants where awards were presented to a number of franchisees for excelling in different fields.
Sunday morning saw the group divid- ing for snorkelling or fishing in glorious weather on calm seas with excellent vis- ibility. It was an exceptionally well or- ganised event which allowed maximum networking time among the Fix ‘family’ who were clearly enjoying each other’s company and benefitting from shared experiences.
Talking to the business owners reaf- firmed that being part of a collaborative network, especially in a market that only becomes more and more challeng- ing, holds huge value for individual shop owners. The theme, Strength in Num- bers seemed highly appropriate.