Paint shops to be geared up to face the future

Appropriate expertise is required in order to give a bodyshop sound advice and provide the support needed. This is a particular challenge, which Glasurit has met by staging a consultant training programme of its own. Consultancy services in the bodyshops are provided almost solely by Glasurit employees who have gone through a special three-stage training programme for this purpose. This in-service training programme lasts more than three years altogether. Each stage – leading up to qualification, firstly, as a Process Expert, then as a Consultant and finally as a Senior Consultant – is concluded with an examination and a certificate. This enables Glasurit to guarantee uniform standards and a high level of expertise.

The training and qualification of consultants was an essential prerequisite for the launch of the RATIO-CONCEPT-plus programme. For the topics dealt with require specialised know-how as they go far beyond the actual paint product: topics relating to marketing and sales, alterations to bodyshops and the construction of new bodyshops, the assessment of capital projects, optimised bodyshop management and support for marketing and for the acquisition of new customers, to name only a few. Many qualified consultants are currently working for Glasurit throughout Europe and other employees are now undergoing training.

Basically, the offers made to bodyshops have two different goals: firstly to boost efficiency - for example by means of the Profit-Manager, a Bodyshop Audit or assistance with Bodyshop Design, via the optimisation of refinishing processes, or via Business Seminars - and secondly to generate additional business for bodyshops. In this respect, a solution for carrying out cosmetic damage repairs is available (RATIO Repair Shop) and, in addition, Glasurit has developed a special paintwork warranty which bodyshops can use to actively advertise their services to consumers.

The aim of this approach is to make the actual added value achieved by the consultancy service, in the form of greater efficiency or extra profit, transparent to the bodyshop right from the start. In the very first dialogue, a specially-developed Value Calculator is deployed; this calculates the potential savings or extra business that the bodyshop can generate with the activities planned.

Greater operating efficiency, enhanced quality of the work done, the opening up of new areas of business, differentiation of the bodyshop from its competitors – bodyshops are actively supported in these activities, which have become absolutely essential in the present-day competitive situation. For Glasurit, this business consultancy service means a huge effort – but it is not put in in a completely disinterested fashion. For RATIO-CONCEPT-plus entails objectives such as enhanced customer loyalty and, not least, the acquisition of new customers too. These customers include both independent bodyshops and ones linked to manufacturers, and in some cases projects have also been initiated in direct collaboration with the car manufacturers.

The success of a consultancy service is measured according to the number of concrete activities actually implemented on the basis of a given project. That is why Glasurit’s goal is also to monitor the bodyshop after the event. These follow-up measures include the Value Added Services Monitor with which Glasurit obtains feedback on customer satisfaction.

A professional concept has been developed for this in collaboration with Dortmund University of Technology. A detailed customer survey is to be used to determine the various factors contributing to the successful implementation of the individual services, the aim being to subsequently optimise the range of services offered whenever necessary. Using the Value Added Services Monitor, questions are to be asked about four different phases involved in the launching of a service, together with their potential success factors. Points to be determined include the quality of the selling and launching process, the quality of the service content and that of the follow-up process. This will enable valuable conclusions to be drawn regarding the quality of relations between the customer and the paint supplier.

The VAS Monitor is also an instrument for gauging what impact continuous improvement measures, advanced staff training and the optimisation of the range of services offered have in the market. It thus permits a lasting improvement in the quality of relations with the customer and the level of customer loyalty.

Almost three years after the launch of the programme, a definite trend is perceptible: the bodyshops’ expectations in terms of the support and consultancy services to be provided by the paint manufacturers are being raised. It is also perceived that the acceptability of company consultancy services, even going as far as the preparation of business plans, has increased considerably.

In-depth knowledge of the industry on the part of Glasurit is indispensable if services are to be developed that are tailored exactly to customer requirements. The range of services has already been greatly enlarged and there are plans to enlarge it even further in the years to come. Various services that focus on the bodyshop even more comprehensively are currently being prepared. Hence, there is to be an even greater shift from engineering topics to business and marketing subjects.