Quick Clips | Doug Irish | EP 40

Quick Clips today with Doug Irish, the current Department Chair Collision Repair & Refinish Technology at Fayetteville Technical Community College  and, the President & CEO of AccuracyDriven4, Inc. 

Mr. Irish graduated from Saint Leo University with a BA in Business Management and has nearly four decades of collision industry experience.  Doug has extensive experience in management, training, vendor management, process improvement, expertise in appraisal, technical development and claims quality assurance. Doug is known for his leadership with a proven track record of delivering in varying roles in the organization. 

Doug Irish initially served in the US Army as a Specialist almost 3years. And then he began his career in the industry as a repair technician; and eventually owned a repair business, as well as managing multiple Dealer and Independent Collision Repair Centers.  

As a licensed appraiser he spent 20 years with MetLife Auto & Home, responsible for estimatics, training, vendor solutions and MetLife’s “Guaranteed Repair Program”. He also became the President of VeriFacts Automotive LLC where he is responsible of day-to-day operations of the company. Identifying new market strategy and products. Oversee all aspects of the business and assist CEO in moving company forward in promoting excellence in the collision industry.  

Having established professionally recognized expertise in operational leadership, Irish’ now oversees the strategic operations as President and CEO of AccuracyDriven4 as well as heads up Fayetteville Technical Community College’s Collision Repair & Refinish Technology Program as Department Chair. Doug is responsible for developing and delivering curriculum to students pursuing a career in the Collision Repair Industry, while also handling the day-to-day operations of the department.
 

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Website: https://claritycoat.com
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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 like to go. Being in the collision industry for so many years and then switching over to the insurance side. I, you know, I actually think that, uh, the benefit of having worked in a collision repair, um, on the collision repair side for so many years, um, helped me as an adjuster. Uh, when I was settling claims. 

I, um, I think there was only one time in 20 years that I couldn't get an agreed, uh, figure with a, a shop. And it wasn't because you, you know, he was a hardheaded or I didn't want to agree. A, a custom van and, you know, had a lot of different, uh, designs and details and, and tape stripes and, and paint on it. 

And I didn't want to agree to a number of, of paint hours and repair hours on it without knowing what it was actually gonna take. So, um, you know, he did the job and came back with, you know, um, a list of what they had done to it and eventually wrote a supplement. But, you know, in, in 20 years, that was the only time that I never reached an agreed figure with a. 

Um, I think that having the perspective of a collision repair owner, um, I'd been a manager in shop, so, you know, I dealt with insurance companies before as far as, um, writing estimates and reaching a repair figures at greed repair figures. I think that helped me in understanding what the shop was trying to accomplish when they were writing their estimate and what they wanted to get paid for. 

Uh, obviously every insurance company's got their own, um, guidelines along what they'll do and when they'll. Um, so it was easier for me to go to my supervisor and say, here's what I did, what I did. You know, when they would do the re-inspections and say, you overwrote this, or You shouldn't allowed for that, or, or whatever it happens to be. 

It made it easier for me to justify what I did and uh, nine times out of 10 they agreed with it. So, um, it was easier than being in a position where, you know, there's a lot of appraisers out there and, you know, God bless 'em for getting into this business. The reason they're in it is because they have good people skills, not because they have a lot of knowledge on the collision repair side. 

So, um, you know, it makes it difficult for them when they're training in this field. If they were a shoe salesman last week and you know, this week they're out there, settling lo losses, uh, in the field makes it a little little more difficult for them to do it than it did me. Do you think that there are insurance carriers out there that purposely make things very convoluted and very complex? 

avoid paying off for this, and I'm not trying to paint you into a corner or anything like that. Mm-hmm. , but again, I'm just trying to come from the viewpoint of, you know, the average person listening. I feel like it, it, it's unfortunate, but it's almost like we just have these two sides and they're just constantly at mm-hmm. 

at war with each other and trying to figure out what the other side is thinking or seeing is an important lesson in figuring out how to work together. Yeah. I, I do think that there is a, a few carriers out there that do that. Um, and I. , you know, during our, some of our quality inspections, we would ask, uh, a shop, well, why didn't you set this up and measure it? 

You're putting a rear body panel in it. Well, cuz the frame was, wasn't bent. And how do you know the frame wasn't bent? Well, it didn't look like it was bent. I said, well, did you measure it? No, I can't put it up on the machine and measure it because it's X company, you know, direct repair and they won't pay me to set up and measure. 

You know, the frame's bent and I'm like, we can't tell if frame's bent, if you don't set it up and measure it. So here's a thought, set it up and measure it. And if it's bent, then you can write your estimate. And, you know, uh, they didn't, they didn't see it that way. So, but, you know, they've told me a number, number of different shops have told me that it's not the same carrier all the time. 

It's, you know, multiple carriers that, you know, we don't pay for that. We're on the direct repair program and, and we can't put that in our estimate, you know, or they try to bury it somewhere else to get paid for it. I'm like, You know, shouldn't be doing that. But you know, there, there's carriers out there if you're, if you want the volume, um, you know, you'll see a lot of the folks on social media about Bo independent body shops talking about all these bigger shops that are on direct repair programs, cuz they get a lot of volume, but the quality of, of the repairs are, are probably not as good as the guy down the street that is struggling for every job he gets. 

And he makes sure that it's done right first to to last. Um, you know, we saw. And a number of shops that we went into, um, where we were hired to go in and do, you know, in process review, not, not after the fact. And we would do the, uh, in process review and stop, you know, technicians in the middle of the repair to make sure they were doing it properly, welding properly, using the right techniques and those kinds of things. 

Uh, we also ran into a lot of shops that had the same opinion, that they did everything right and they didn't need our services. , next thing you know, they've got, you know, some rec check, um, outfit out there taking 'em to court and, and they wind up paying out big money or buying the car back. So, um, too many people don't want to hear their baby is ugly, so they just don't wanna hire anybody to come in and put some independent eyes on what they're doing and they're not spending any time in the back half of their store to see what's going on. 

Anyway. You know, it's, I mean, it's a two-way lane. Insurance companies have their problems, but the shops have created their own problems as well. So, jumping back a little bit to the technical college now, you know, these conversations and this navigation between insured, um, insurance companies in the collision industry, is there anything that you're teaching in your class to kind of help these. 

Um, navigate that kind of stuff or, um, what, like what are you doing for them on that? Well, we, we teach an estimating class here and, and since I have such a, you know, deep background in, in the insurance side of things, um, I do, it's eight weeks of estimating. They get a lot of, uh, you know, insurance terminology. 

They get, you know, um, negotiating how, how we negotiate a claim, those kinds of. . Um, and I try to give it to 'em from both sides, the shop and the insurance sites that they understand if they're gonna leave here and go to work in a shop, um, they may be expected to write an estimate in a certain way, you know, as far as, uh, what they're gonna include in items, uh, to get paid for, for the shop. 

If you're gonna go on the insurance side of the business, you may be told, you know, we don't pay for X and Y until we get a receipt for it, or something like that. Um, we try to give them a pretty well-rounded view of, you know, that portion of it. So, um, they, we go through the North Carolina insurance regs and those kinds of things, so, um, I'm not sure that they're gonna go out and retain a lot of that right off the bat. 

Um, but at least they've been exposed to it. So if they get into that situation or they get a job offer from an insurance carrier, you know, at least now they have a little bit of foundational knowledge on what they're gonna need to know and, and what they can and can't do legally.  when they're out there. 

Um, writing losses. Yeah. 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 show? 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. 

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 wanting. 

If you are looking to expand your shop services, go to clarity coat.com and fill out our Become an Installer form. All right, let's get back to the show. What was. What was that transition like going from, you know, um, being a consultant to going to teacher? Like, it's a, it's a little different. Yeah. It, uh, and you would think, uh, part of my, part of my work at, uh, the carrier that I worked for was a trainer, you know, for, for field, uh, adjusters and stuff. 

Um, you know, I've spent some time training and doing presentations and looks totally different than teaching. Totally different. Um, and probably because the folks. I was dealing with it, the carrier had a background and had some, you know, a lot more foundational knowledge than, uh, the students that we're getting here. 

If we have, if we have 25 students in a, in a room, there's maybe two of them that, you know, have a, an interest in cars and have been working on them. The themselves, the majority of our students are all brand new to the industry. They're brand new to, you know, getting involved in this thing. It's not like when, when I grew. 

You know, back before, um, rocks were hard and sheep were scared, but, uh, you know, it's, uh, I could actually go out in the garage and work with my father, you know, I, I, you could work on a car back then in a garage. Um, you can't do that today. And kids don't have that opportunity to get exposed to, um, that kind of, even the mechanical side of it, you know, the days of doing your own brakes or, um, changing plugs in half these cars. 

Now you gotta jack the motor up. You get the, the last plug out. So, um, Young people today don't have that, uh, same opportunity. They do have the opportunity for the computer, uh, piece of it. So, you know, when I said earlier that the technology was the biggest challenge, I think that's where we're gonna see the biggest interest in the, in the near future with students coming into this industry. 

We just, uh, put a $25,000 a, a system in, um, you know, and we're gonna. Going back to the state to build a, um, a, a s certification for our students. So when they leave here, they may not go as a body tech. They may go in as a, as an a, a s technician for diagnostics and repair, um, calibration, that kind of thing. 

So, uh, you know, from that perspective, I think it's going to get more students interested and then they may find a, a niche in the refinish or the Body Department that they like. , they again, they leave here with, uh, the opportunity to get both their steel and aluminum certifications and welding as well, which is very attractive to employers cuz it costs a lot of money for these students to, um, once they leave here to go through all the ICAR training. 

So when I talked earlier about the ICAR collaboration, that we have partnership with them, uh, our students earn, I wanna say it's pro level three, refinish and non. Pro level one estimating, pro level one structural. And again, they have their aluminum and steel certs, um, available for them. So, uh, you know, they can, they can leave here with a lot of money and training that the, you know, in a prospective employer doesn't have to foot the bill for in the future. 

Um, and we twice a year have an event here. We just had one last week where we invite employers in from all over the. , uh, to watch the students work for four hours and then the next day they, uh, they're invited back to do interviews and, you know, every one of the students that go through that get multiple interviews and, and most of the time they get multiple job offers. 

So, um, we've been pretty fortunate with that. Uh, COVID put a little crimp in our style for a couple years, but came right back this year and, um, you know, good and strong. We had a lot of offers. Uh, multiple employers that want to bring in, you know, our students. So, um, we've been fortunate in that, that respect. 

You might have answered this previously, but what are you seeing the reason why these kids are even joining the program in the first place? Is it because they're curious how that stuff works? Or is there some sort of, is there a commonality, uh, as to why students join? I. Think it's more, uh, an outreach, um, you know, from, from the outreach that we've done with high school counselors, um, you know, getting in front of some of the businesses, trying to get in front of the students themselves to educate them on the opportunities in this industry. 

Um, you know, a lot of the industry players are starting to talk more about, you know, needing, obviously they need new technicians. . I think the average age of technicians is crept up now from 47 to in the fifties at, at some point, I think. Um, so they need to bring in new talent and whether it's, you know, new job training for people that have lost their, their career, uh, and they are gonna look for something different or younger students coming outta high school. 

Um, I think it's a mechanism of that. My next question. . You know, there's a, there's a, there's quite a few people that have come on in. My personal experience in technical school as a diesel mechanic was that it didn't actually translate to real life. Mm-hmm. , you know, I, I went to tech school for diesel mechanics and you learned a lot of theory. 

You learned a, and we spent probably 50 50 time in shop and in class, right? Mm-hmm. .  when , when I got into the real world, the very first thing I got, and this could either come from a bad management standpoint, you know, whatever. There's lots of ways to skin that fish. Um, but it was like the first thing was they just tossed me on an engine rebuild and said, rebuild it. 

Yeah. And I was like, uh, okay. , you know, it was just, it was just immediately put you into the fire type of thing. So what would you say to the guys listening that, you know, I've had problems in the past with hiring kids straight outta. And they're like, God, it's, we literally just have to train them all over again. 

Yeah. Well, and I, and I think that originally that was a challenge for Ftcc because when they opened the, the program up, they set the expectation that they were gonna be delivering aex to the, to the industry. And, um, I don't, you could maybe go to a four year school if it were immersive and totally hands on and do that. 

Um, first of all, I don't know any four year schools in the country for collision. Uh, secondly, you know, to your point, we're giving these students a foundation, uh, foundational knowledge in all the facets of collision repair in a two year period. So there is no way they're gonna master any one concept in that two years because they only get, you know, a maximum of 16 weeks. 

We do eight week sections. So if you do, you know, level one and level two refinish, that's only 16. You're not gonna go in and start painting tri stage colors by yourself in a booth without any help. So the employers and I, I made sure that we reset that expectation here. Um, for the folks coming in, looking at our students, you need to have some kind of a mentoring program within your four walls, um, for a couple different reasons. 

First of all, you're gonna have to train, uh, entry level techs. You, there aren't enough technicians leaving one shop to go to another. To fill that gap. That's, you know, that's there for technicians. So you're gonna have to have some kind of a training program, whether that's a mentoring program, a shadowing program, something like that. 

Um, you can't just take an entry level technician and throw 'em to the wolves for a couple reasons. You'll wind up, you know, getting rid of 'em. They'll wind up messing up a job, or they'll get discouraged and leave the industry. And that doesn't help anybody. So, um, a lot of the.  major players in the, in the industry today. 

You know, the, the major bigger shops have recognized that they need some kind of a talent pool. Um, and it's, it's hard to get an atec to agree to have, you know, a couple of helpers because it could slow them down. If they're on flat rate and you give 'em a couple helpers and say, listen, I need you to train these guys up in, you know, over a course of a year or so, they, they lose some money. 

You know, at some point it may not be attractive to 'em. So it's a balancing act. You have to have the right. , uh, you know, bringing these new folks in, getting them a, um, acclim accu acclimated to your culture in the, in the shop, uh, understanding how you do things in the shop. Um, you know, and in that way I think you could build success and you can. 

I hope these students along. 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.