LIFE IN COLOUR
PAINT—THE CURE TO A HAPPY CUSTOMER
It is an uncomfortable truth that—for many members of the public—the go-to way of measuring how well an auto repair facility repaired their vehicle has nothing to do with the post-repair crashworthiness, or how close to pre-accident condition it is. In most cases, a collision facility is judged based on how convincing a job its painter did of blended the site of the repairs into the rest of the vehicle.
While it seems ridiculous, it is easy to understand why a fresh coat of paint can make all the difference. While most customers know nothing about auto repair, they can see when two colours don’t match. Understanding this quirk of customer psychology is an integral part of making any major decisions about which paint companies your business should partner with.
While the decision to partner with one major chemical firm or another may, at first, appear a distinction without a difference, a closer look at the facts makes it clear that, beyond paint and paint-related products, different companies offer very different things to their clients. When it comes to the major players in auto paint, many go to exceptional lengths to add value to their offerings. Some provide partner businesses management suites and customizable scheduling software— which, they believe, will allow partnering businesses to both increase the number of vehicles they can service, and the amount of paint that gets used. Others offer access to proprietary colour matching technology.
At the end of the day, though, auto painting comes down to four things: the quality of the pigments available, the ease-of-use of the thinning and binding agents, the exactness of the colour matching, and the skill of the automotive painter. It’s not that nothing else matters; it is just that, when push comes to shove, a procurement specialist can’t afford to get distracted by the bells and whistles.
To make sure you match your business with the right provider, read through these pages to brush up on your understanding of the state-of-the-art products and materials on offer to collision businesses in 2020.
