Page 16 - Australasian Paint & Panel May-June 2020

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News • In Focus
PAINT&PANEL
MAY / JUNE 2020
WWW.PAINTANDPANEL.COM.AU
your data), software-based password management and to perform or outsource a se- curity audit regularly.
The Internet of Things and the surge of artificial intelli- gence usage will be the next cyber battleground accord- ing to Power and human er- ror and poor passwords will continue to be the maj cause of cyber attacks.
We heard some fresh thinking from John Stoke
from event sponsor PartsCheck and we were particularly impressed with his Parts- Check green trainers – so on brand. Steve O’Brien from sponsors iBodyshop showed how not using the latest tools in the mar- ketplace to run your business efficiently was the opposite of fresh thinking and that you must always try new approaches to business improvement. Sponsors BMW were unable to attend along with a couple of delegates as companies were already putting travel bans in place.
We did hear from two BMW repairers though, Glen O'Donnell from Macarthur Prestige and David Butler from Auto- haus Prestige both in Sydney. While they detailed what they had to consider setting up new workshops they had some advice for the repairers in the room. Establishing strong relationships with OEM dealers was number one. Meeting all training and equipment re- quirements was another. And if repair- ers want to be approved by manufactur-
ers or their dealers, customer experience should always be the focus and that quality repairs and protecting their brand is paramount to OEMs.
Rob Mildenhall from Capricorn also talked about the vital importance of cre- ating strategies to deal with recalibra- tion and diagnostics in repairs. The final presentation of the day was from sea- soned business coach Sarah Beth Cleaves
There were strategies for weeding out
different mindsets such as The Victim, The Rescuer and The Villain.”
of The Parramatta Business Network. Her session was all about team building. She discussed communication intelli- gence and suggested introducing a line to divide positive and negative behav- iour and thinking. She also suggested ways to combat staff negativity. There were strategies for weeding out different mindsets such as The Victim, The Res- cuer and The Villain. Asking team mem- bers if their thinking is above or below the line is a great way to get them to re- evaluate their attitude.
Thank you again to the event spon- sors PartsCheck, iBodyshop and BMW who were glad to support this group of ‘fresh thinking’ repairers.
FROM TOP: Pre-seminar lunch at the Ovolo Hotel. Sarah-Beth Cleaves discusses tactics to negate negative nellies. Glen O’Donnell (left) and
David Butler. John Stokes, Parts Check.
EVENT FEEDBACK
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MEGAN LEISHMAN,
GOLD COAST COLLISION, QLD
“As always I really take a lot away from these events and if nothing else it forces you to stop and think and reassess the way you do things and also the reasons why – from our interactions with staff and customers to the way we market ourselves.Althoughiwouldhavelovedtoseea few more women in attendance, I feel our biggest challenge moving forward is creating an environmentthatallstaffcanthriveinforthe best outcomes for the business. (less moaning is always good). I really enjoyed listening to people with first hand experience and especially enjoyed the presentation from Chad Buckley from Peter Kittle.”
DAN MAHER,
L&M SMASH REPAIRS, NSW
“Next Gen this year was a particularly good one. Hearing from the operators of factory and dealer-backed repair facilities of BMW from Chad Buckley from SA and his Toyota partnership was of particular interest. ThetipsaboutCyberSecurity and its importance were helpful after we experienced an attack first hand a few yearsago, andthepresentationfrom Kevin Spiteri and his overview of digital marketing and its importance in the modern marketplace was my number one highlight. Kevin’s marketing skills may even rival my own but the jury’s out.