Page 27 - Australasian Paint & Panel Nov-Dec 2022

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FARLEFT: Lynette Rochford, Paint & Panel, Marlea Bent, Rebecca Witte.
LEFT:
Aaron Scagliotta, Sam Street, Brad Kolich.
TOP: While everyone spoke on each topic there was time for questions too
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Joe Woodriff Woodriff Preferred Auto, Maroochydore QLD John & Sarah Karavasilias MPSR Sydney NSW
Patrick Killen Killen’s Smash Repairs Armidale NSW
Brad Kolich Weststar Prestige Paint & Panel, Melbourne, VIC Aaron Scagliotta Gino’s Panel & Paint Perth WA
Jon Christodoulou Bodytech Automotive, Sydney NSW
Marlea Bent, Bellarine Smash Repairs (AMA Group) VIC Geelong VIC Also attending: Steve O’Brien, Rebecca Witt iBodyshop
training, he was doing that all as well. So I definitely win the younger generation over with the new technology, 100%.”
Aaron made the good point that it isn’t just about the business owner and their teams being trained and educated. “So the people that we’re in partnership with generally and the people who drive the car – they need to have an understanding that it’s not as easy as it used to be and that there’s significant investment in- volved in repairing cars and we all need to get a return on that investment.”
He believes that the way of the future will be specialising in specific marques: “That also creates that level of exclusiv- ity within your business and I think that you’ll be able to charge what you need to charge to get an outcome from it.”
While Killens’s in Armidale are Subaru, Tesla and GM approved and Patrick agrees that it’s ideal to specialise it is a challenge for rural repairers who can’t survive on just fixing three brands, they need to have a wider portfolio. Joe at Woodriff has been ploughing the volume repair model but has invested heavily in bringing his shop up to dealership status with a view to forming relationships with OEMs.
Brad Kolich’s business has been going for 50 years and was one of the first Mer- cedes-Benz approved independent shops, so he’s no stranger to being at the pointy end of cutting edge technology and the investment it takes to be able to repair high end vehicles. It has slowly paid off in that they get sent many vehi- cles that other repairers have put in the ‘too hard basket’ because they have the training and equipment in place. He be- lieves you have to market your skills and really sell your brand to stand out. “Stick to what you’re good at. If you’re doing four-wheel drives, if you’re doing elec- tric, if you’re doing prestige, just stick to what you’re good at and sell that.”
While Johnny and Sarah at MPSR are volume repairers (and how) they are also Tesla approved. “Tesla are new so I decid- ed to focus on them and build with them, going forward we’re not going to be able to repair every vehicle. Once you’ve made the investment in being equipped for one
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