Page 62 - Australasian Paint & Panel Magazine Sep-Oct 2019

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REPAIR MARKET CONDITIONS
PAINT&PANEL SEPTEMBER / OCTOBER 2019
THRIVING IN THE NEW WORLD
SMART, HARDWORKING, CUSTOMER-FOCUSSED, INNOVATIVE, THESE ARE JUST SOME OF THE ATTRIBUTES OUR WINNERS HAVE IN COMMON SAYS SAM STREET.
H ERE’S THE MARKET REALITY, according to IBISWorld re- search company the re- pairs from insurance work market is worth $3.3billion. AMA has 22% of that and Capital S.M.A.R.T has 11%. Conservatively that is 33% of the market and climb- ing. Throw in IAG’s fledgling Repair Hub and we could be looking at 50% of all repairs going through three repair
entities within a couple of years. What do our winning shops have in common? They have all accepted the new world order and are quietly going about their business having worked out what their point of difference is, diversifying into offering other servic-
es and marketing themselves effec- tively in their locales.
What is clear is that while, whatever they say, cost of repair is the number one priority with the majority of insur- ers, number two is key to key times, number three is customer experience.
It seems, for those not in exclusive con- tacts, that excelling in quality, timely re- pairs and offering next level customer ser- vice is keeping them plenty busy without having to work on a fixed price model.
The market conditions in each state are very different. One issue that is com- mon across the country is the increas- ingly severe shortage of automotive body repair technicians. This was espe- cially obvious in New South Wales
where many had upped tools and fol- lowed the profitable pied pipers that are the hail repair outfits in the aftermath of the two whopping summer storms.
Queensland was one of the first states to be affected by the consolidation model and those who didn’t adapt sadly aren’t here to tell the tale. Nearly every shop we visited had diversified in some way: rental cars, paint protection, restoration, ute lin- ing, fleet work, motorhomes, tow trucks, mechanical, the list goes on. Finding their local niche means they aren’t solely de- pendent on insurance work.
South Australian repairers have real- ly upped their game. They were rela- tively sheltered without a dominant in- surer until IAG bought Wesfarmers.