Picture perfect

AutoWatch service allows Central Collision customers view repairs online

Wednesday, May 12, 2004

By Mike Nolan
Business writer

They're going online to view digital pictures of their vehicles. The shots are updated each day.

The service, called AutoWatch, has reduced the number of calls Central gets from customers wanting an update on their vehicles. It's also helping streamline to a degree the process of getting insurance approval for repairs.

"We've gotten a lot of positive feedback," Mike Caruso, Central's owner, said.

The company has shops in Crete, Mokena, New Lenox and Peotone.

Customers get a vehicle identification number, which allows them to view digital photos at Central's Web site.

For some squeamish customers, the sight of their beloved car or truck going under the knife is too much.

"Most of the time, people do like it," Todd Jenkins, Central Collision's marketing director, said. "But some don't like to see their baby torn apart."

Photos of each location's shop manager and office manager also are on the Web site. Clicking on a photo opens an e-mail message to that person so customers can send questions or comments. A copy of each e-mail message Central receives also goes to Caruso.

"It keeps office and shop managers on their toes if they know a copy goes to the owner," Jenkins said.

AutoWatch was developed by See Progress Inc., a Michigan firm founded about four years ago by a former body shop technician.

See Progress designed and maintains Central's Web site, www.centralcollision.com. Central pays $600 a month for the AutoWatch service.

Central began offering the service to customers about three years ago and was one of the first repair companies in the Chicago area to offer it.

Others include Car Care Centers, which has shops locally in Crest Hill, Joliet, Lockport and Plainfield, and Collision Damage Experts, or CDE, which has three shops in Chicago and one in Lynwood.

CDE signed up for AutoWatch just three months ago, owner Chuck Freiberg said. He met with Caruso to see the system in operation and was impressed with it.

Like at Central, the online system has reduced the customer call load at CDE's shops, Freiberg said.

Caruso said that, prior to launching the Web site and AutoWatch service, Central's shops were deluged with calls from customers checking on the progress of repairs.

"We were trying to get control over our incoming calls," Caruso said.

A particular shop may have gotten as many as 80 calls a day from customers and insurance companies wanting updates, he said. Since offering AutoWatch, calls have dropped about 20 percent, Caruso said.

Most of the customer activity on Central's Web site is between 6 and 8 p.m. The repair shops close at 5 p.m.

Caruso said that, without the Web site, his company probably would have had to hire more people just to handle incoming calls.

AutoWatch also has become popular with insurance companies that want to keep tabs on vehicles Central is repairing, Caruso said.

Insurers are not only monitoring the quality of repairs but seeing how quickly Central completes the work.

"The insurance companies are very focused on cycle times," Caruso said.

The online service also has speeded up the process for getting supplemental approval for repair work from insurance companies, Caruso said.

In the past, additional repair work not uncovered during the initial estimate meant having an insurance adjuster come to the shop to look at the vehicle. That was a process that could take two or three days, Caruso said. Now, the insurance company representative can see a digital image of the vehicle and agree to the work, he said.

Mike Nolan may be reached at mnolan@dailysouthtown.com or (708) 633-5952.