Page 29 - Australian Paint & Panel March-April 2020

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ABOVE: Fix Auto Wollongong was one of the first to join the network:.LEFT: Stuart Faid
IN IT FOR THE LONG HAUL
“We’re not out there just trying to sign peo- ple up to get to a certain network size, that is not our mission – we have to be philo- sophically aligned, our franchisees have to join us for the right reasons. We aren’t un- der pressure to grow the network quickly, it’s more important to have the right people rather than lots of people. We don’t have to be an overnight success, we’re here for the long haul. So long as our franchisees con- tinue to be better off as part of our network than they were before and we continue to help them be as successful as they can be, I consider us doing right by them and our growth will continue”.
“When we launched in Australia I don’t think the message about consolida- tion resonated in the industry. It’s human nature to wait for reality to slap you in the face before you accept it. I think many repairers have been paralysed by the market events over the last 18 months. We’ve had a lot of repairers holding their breath and are now making decisions about what they are going to do. Now people are knocking on our door.
“Someone has to protect the inde- pendent bodyshops or, much like post offices and local greengrocers, they will disappear. Those shop owners who are still committed to the industry are real- ising that they will need to change, they need to do things differently and they are coming to us to understand what that new future could look like. These committed owners are our ideal demo- graphic,” Faid says.
“Our first priority as a business is to make our franchisees better off. When you join Fix Auto you join the Fix Auto family - and you don’t let family down.”
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