Quick Clips | Jeanette Frazier | EP 20

Quick Clips today with Jeanette Frazier!

Jeanette is the National Director Of Dealer Franchise Development of CARSTAR Auto Body Repair Experts. She's working with the CARSTAR for more than 2 years now.  Jeanette became the Collision Center Manager of  Hendrick Automotive Group
for 5 years.

Let's hear more of her thoughts and stories about the industry!

Click the link below to listen for the full episode 20:
https://www.buzzsprout.com/1895628/11036756

If you are interested in learning more about ClarityCoat, you can visit us here-

Website: https://claritycoat.com
Facebook: https://facebook.com/claritycoatofficial
Instagram: https://instagram.com/claritycoat_official

Transcript

 Hey guys, this is Adam from the podcast and you are listening to Quick Clips. Quick Clips are condensed versions from one of our previous podcast episodes featuring some of the interesting things our guests had to say. If you want to hear the full episode, we'll have it in the show notes below. And with that, let's start the show. 

What was, it seems like the being in the shop as part of like being the, a part of the solution to fix the cars and everything like. , that seems like that was the most enjoyable part of the industry so far. Well, up to Carstar for you. Like you didn't really care too much for like the insurance side or anything like that. 

Yeah, so the insurance side isn't terrible if you, um, so some insurance companies really do generally care about the customer and making sure that it's taken care of when you get folks. On the insurance side of things that are really just worried about numbers and about saving money, then that piece can get very, very frustrating. 

But it is rewarding if you work for a company that generally cares about the customer and wants you to take care of them, gives you the opportunity to do that. Um, but being on the shop side and really like working with the technicians and getting to know them and being able to help them like support their families. 

Show them what they can do, right? When you're looking at tech efficiencies and you're like, well, I've got somebody who is a hundred percent efficient versus somebody who's 200% efficient, and you can show them that, Hey, I, I can help you become more efficient if you work with me on the front end. Let's get a good estimate, do a full tear down. 

Let's make sure we identify the correct parts, and then they start to see their paychecks go up and they realize, Wow. Like she really does care about me and my family, and me being able to support them and take care of them. Um, then they respect you that much more and they'll give you that much more back. 

Right. Like, yeah. And with Hendrick, you know, we were taught to be servant leaders. That was a big thing is as a manager, I'm not there to boss you around. Sometimes I have to be a jerk, but really my job is to help you make. Right. If, if I give you the tools that you need to be able to fix the cars in a timely manner and, and you have everything you need, your job is easier, you're going to make more money. 

And if you are making more money, then the shop is making more money and then I've done my job. You know, uh, something that's really interesting about what you just said is, I don't know why this hasn't occurred to me until now because we've talked about this a bunch on this podcast. , but the servant leadership part of it, I have met and talked with a lot of business owners and people at the high, at a high level who are looking over lots of different people and so on and so forth. 

And something that's just occurred to me is that the people that are most successful, and I'm going to, um, let's, let's hone in on that part most successful, um, when compared to their. . I don't know if I've ever met someone that has said, you know, every day I just roll in there, roll up my sleeves, get my sticks in both hands, and just beat the crap out of every one of my guys  and point fingers and I'm just there showing 'em up. 

Right? I, it's, it's actually now that I think about it, a lot of the most successful people, again, when compared against their.  don't have that attitude of servant leadership. Um, yeah. What's your what? Do you have a thought on that at all? Well, so I have learned over time, like it doesn't matter what industry you're in, like you're only as good as your team. 

and as a leader you're there to pull the team together and to help get things done right? You can motivate them or you can beat 'em down. And for me, I'd rather motivate them and get them like have fun at work and it's not always going to be fun. It is a dirty job. It's you get hot and sweaty and you get irritated and frustrated, but you can still find a way to like help make it better. 

And so for me it has always. I'm a fixer. Like I'm, I'm the type of person, it's like, if there's a problem, let's figure out how to solve that problem. And a lot of times it is literally just listening and, you know, and, and helping people work through the problem instead of just seeing it as a problem. 

It's like, well then there's gotta be a solution. Let's figure out what that is. So I think it's really important just to know that at the end of the day, no matter what position you are within a company, You're all still human and, and at the end of the day, we all still have to go home to our family and take care of them. 

And so that job is there to help you be able to take care of your family. And we're all kind of working towards the same goal, right? So, For me, it's like just going in and beating people down to get results is not the way to get the results. If you can motivate them and you can have fun and at least make it an enjoyable place to be, then it doesn't seem as much like work. 

Right. It's, yeah. You know, I loved going to work and I still talk to my. Um, past employees and coworkers today, like all the time. Um, just because I really genuinely cared about them. It wasn't just a job for me. Anywhere I have worked, I have tried to make connections so that it doesn't seem like just a job. 

I'd rather have it be a, a happy part of my life and not like miserable. Hey guys. Adam from the podcast. I hope you are enjoying today's episode. Just wanted to ask you a quick favor. If the show has brought you value in some way, would you mind giving us a review and sharing the. It really helps the show get out there. 

Also, if you are looking to expand the services that your shop offers and you want to do more than collision work, you should really check out our company Clarity Coat. Clarity Coat is a peelable paint that allows body shops to offer color changes cheaper than a repaint, while still looking like real paint. 

You can also offer clear protection that has no edges and is sprayed instead of laid. Unlike vinyl and ppf clarity coat can be sanded and polished so you can give your customer the exact look that they are. If you are looking to expand your shop services, go to clarity coat.com and fill out our Become an installer form. 

Alright, let's get back to the show. What was it like being a female in a male dominated industry and trying to earn that respect and everything like that now, you know? Yeah. Guys have to earn respect too, like in the shop environment, but I fe it's different. It's a little bit more, it's different. Yeah. 

Yeah, yeah. What was that like for. . So, you know, at first you get the GOs and the funny, you know, the stairs because when I started in the collision center, um, funny enough, when I was, when I left Progressive, I was 10 weeks pregnant. Mm-hmm. . So when I initially started writing estimates, Um, you know, the stomach starts sticking out and I'm, you know, wearing dresses in the shop and they're all kinda like, wow, this is crazy. 

But I feel like everybody actually went above and beyond to try to help me. Um, and then realized like, I actually did know more than what they thought. Cuz they just thought, oh, the boss hired like cute young.  and . And so when I, when I got into the shop and was writing estimates and would come out and they're like, wow, you know, this is a really good sheet. 

This is great. And I'm like, okay, well thanks. I appreciate it and you not can actually do my job. Great, great. Right? But I, I think that initial expectation is like, oh, what'd she do to get here? Kind of deal. And so once you actually. You know, prove to the guys in the shop that you do know what you're talking about, but that you're also willing to listen and to learn, right? 

Because I feel like I learned something new every day, no matter how long I've been in the shop. Things are changing constantly. So I think, you know, just communicating with them, talking to them, letting them know, Hey, I'm, I don't know everything, but I do know enough to be dangerous and I am here to help you. 

Um, and I can make your life really, really easy and I can make you a lot of money or, You can work with somebody else. These younger guys are looking to kind of diversify their operations a little bit. They're looking to not be so dependent on insurance work or collision repair. Sure. They're looking to kind of branch out a little bit and you know, they've tried ppf or Clear Bra before. 

They've tried vinyl wrap before, but it doesn't work, um, for the body shop industry. Um, now for reasons I won't go into, clarity coats are really good for solution, really good for solution for. In those specific contexts, is that something that you're seeing with younger body shop owners as well? Or what's, what kind of, what kind of gauge have you got there? 

Yeah, so the detailing side of things and the paint protection has become huge, right? You hear about the ceramic coatings and all these things that are out there. That's just become really, really important in that you. You protecting your investment. These cars aren't cheap, right? So yeah, you don't wanna be four or five years down the road and, you know, paint, peeling, oxidizing, checking, whatever it is. 

And so we've have a lot of folks that, you know, they've brought their car in. It's been wrecked. It's been repaired. Now their concern is, Hey, what do I do to protect this fresh paint? It's like, well, you need to. , you know, protect your investment period. And so a lot of these younger folks, um, and it's mainly the younger generation because this is all new, right? 

This isn't stuff that existed 20, 30 years ago. So I think that, like I say, this younger generation, they, they have seen so many changes come about over the last few years, but they also realized, you know, there's a lot of. , um, profitability that's built into these type of things, right? Yeah. So working with insurance companies and margins decreasing over time have caused a lot of shops to try to figure out what are some things they can do to increase those margins. 

So offering detailed service, paint protection, um, those type of things have started to become really, really popular and very profitable for the shops. Right. Yeah. So, um, yeah, it's huge. Right? Um, what's a, what's another thing that you see shops kind of like failing on, or not failing, but like that could be improved on? 

Sure. Um, one thing that we did a lot at this shop is anytime there was a vehicle that required any type of suspension or mechanical damage, um, or repair, we would. Get that to the service department right away. Right. So I was always in dealer body shops and we had a service department and typically you would have a technician assigned. 

If you have the service department look at it first and you have the obvious parts that you need ordered, right? You can get that vehicle mobile at least. Um, and then if you do an alignment or try to do an alignment and you find something bent or damage that you couldn't see, you can order that, but the car is still mobile. 

and you're able to do that body repair in between, you know, waiting on parts to arrive. But if you just worry about the body work first, you may have spent two, three weeks waiting on body components, got that vehicle done, thinking it's going to deliver tomorrow, and then you send it up to the service department and find out it needs a strut or a knuckle, and now you're waiting a day or two, and now you have a really ticked off customer, and now you have to wait on insurance to come and approve it. 

It's like, Take that and put that on the forefront and get that out of the way. And sometimes you find out, you send it up, you do an alignment, great. There's no other suspension damage. That alignment took. Now as my body work is done, all I have to do is clean it and call the customer. If you wait until the end. 

You don't know what can of worms, you're gonna open the day the car's supposed to deliver, right? And so that's one thing that I think is the most important is trying to get the sublet work knocked out, um, before the body work, if you can, or while you're waiting on parts or whatever. So, um, that really, really helps to kind of get the process moving on the vehicle, identify any hidden damage. 

and, and just kind of go from there. So always involve your sublet folks and mechanical folks on the front if you can. What's the biggest resistance piece that you run into? Um, when someone's interested, but the, you know, they think it's like, I don't know, cult or scam or whatever. Like, well, what are, what are some of the most common reasons as to why people, so many, somebody doesn't want to. 

So typically the, the biggest thing that I see is the guy who says, I've worked my tail off to build this business. I'm gonna not gonna let you guys get a part of that. And what I say to them is like, We want your business to continue to grow and to prosper. We're not here to take the credit for anything that you've done. 

We're here to be a resource and to actually kind of add to your business, right? We we're helping you get bigger, stronger, faster, and you've done a fabulous job of, of doing that on your own. But what could you do if you had a national partner, right? What could you do if you had the exact same type of D R P relationship that caliber? 

and Gerber and Service King and crash champions. , but you're a one store guy, right? So getting them to understand that we're not here to try to take a piece of your pie. We're here to try to help make your pie bigger and better. . Um, and so that is the, the most difficult thing is to get people to understand, you know, you do have to have, it is a franchise, right? 

So Carstar does have to be in the name. Um, because nationally the insurance companies re. Carstar. Whereas if they're sitting in Ohio and they're taking a first notice of a loss call from somebody who's in Virginia, they don't know Bob's body shop in Virginia, but they would know Carstar as a national provider. 

So Carstar, Bob's body shop, they are gonna say, Hey, we, we've got a national provider in your territory, it's Car Star Bob's, so the local guys still know who you are and that person who wrecked their car is gonna go, oh yeah, I know of Bob's. But the person sitting in Ohio now is recognizing that you're part of a national group and, and there's a nationwide warranty that's attached to that. 

So it does put you on that, that bigger stage. Right. So we're kind of like the true value hardware of like, You know, we're competing against the Home Depots and the Lowe's. Right? Um, in your calibers, in your Service Kings and your Gerbers. But we're the, we're the true value guys. We're the guys that are helping the little guy become a big guy, you know? 

Got it. Um, so it's pretty sweet. Alright, that does it for today's Quick Clips. If this episode has brought you value, would you mind giving us a review? Also, if you would like to learn more about Clarity Coat and what it can do for your business, please visit us@claritycoat.com. See you on the next one.