Did you know that AutoBody-Review.com was created by Collision Industry Professionals? To understand the why, let’s roll back a few years.......
In the early part of the 2000's an inventive body shop owner that I still today call the Mad Scientist of Collision Repair had a wild idea. He was always looking for ways to improve his body shop operations and provide customer service that would set his business apart from his local competitors.
One of the biggest areas of opportunity that he identified was how poor we as an industry were at keeping customers informed on the status of their vehicle. Many of us didn't communicate enough, some over communicated, and all of us would give the customer way more information than they need when we DID communicate.
After not being able to find a solution in the marketplace, he decided to create his own. A system that would intuitively update customers on their vehicle repair status automatically, without any interaction from the estimator, CSR, or shop manager. Since the system was automated, the messages had to be simple enough to instill confidence, worded in a manner that builds trust, all while making the customer feel that they made the right body shop choice and that their baby was going to be ready when promised. After teaming up with an equally mad scientist developer, UpdatePromise.com was born.
Fast forward to 2016, UpdatePromise.com is in more than 14,000 Automotive businesses across the country and has been adopted by 8 of the top 10 national Auto Insurance Companies in the United States.
So what does all this have to do with AutoBody-Review.com you ask? After seeing how successful our industry is at providing exceptional service to consumers who have had the unfortunate experience of having a car accident, the team at UpdatePromise.com saw an opportunity to put to rest all the misinformed opinions that the public has about our industry. Are we all perfect? Not at all. Are we performing better than any other industry when it comes to service? Absolutely. Are we outperforming almost every industry when it comes to Net Promoter Scores? Yes, we are! But how could we tell the public our story? How could we overcome T.V. "Special" reports that only show a glimpse of what we do?
The culmination of these questions had a simple answer, which was thrown on the table by one of the youngest members of our team, "Why not create a review site that ONLY has Verified Reviews by Real Customers?" The answer was simple. We have the voice of more than 50% of the customer base from over 14,000 businesses. Why not broadcast that voice so the public can see who we truly are? Today there are literally thousands of shops promoting their great reputations on AutoBody-Review.com.
You see, when a customer gets in an accident, he or she does not go online and look for "The best body shop in my city". They search specifically for the body shop that was referred to them by their Insurance Claims Department, their local Dealership or their Friends and Family.
So what about all the other review sites? Take a look at your favorite "Review" site. 9 out of 10 of them are designed to encourage the customer to continue researching other local body shops. In fact, they will serve on average 3 to 9 competitive shops around the area for the customer to look at. They are more like “Local Listings” that have reviews. In fact, the number of reviews on many of these sites barely represent 2% of your actual customer base, and that’s being generous.
Google AutoBody-Review.com today to see how we're helping our Industry educate the public on what great operators, and more importantly, what great PEOPLE we are. If you don’t find a shop promoting their reviews in your area, register your shop and start educating the people in your home town!
Richard Pannazzo
Chief Operating Officer, AutoBody-Review.com
Richard is a US Air Force Veteran, and a vital member of the auto body repair industry. As a company team leader, Richard has an excellent grasp of business analytics and how to leverage them to drive performance. Follow Richard on Twitter, Facebook,, and LinkedIn