Maaco Celebrates 50th Anniversary Milestone At 2022 Convention

By Abby Andrews Autobody News

Maaco looked back at 50 years in business—and forward to its next 50—at its 2022 convention, held Nov. 15-18 in Carlsbad, CA.

The second day of the gathering, Nov. 16, featured messages from Maaco’s senior leadership team, a message from keynote speaker Mike Anderson of Collision Advice and several breakout sessions for attendees. The recipient of the Tony Martino Hall of Fame and Vendor Partner of the Year awards were also announced.

The convention ran through the evening of Nov. 18, featuring a charity golf tournament, vendor trade show, fall festival and a gala.

“Let me be clear—we are proud to be celebrating the achievements of the past, but it is equally important to stay hungry, ensuring many more achievements for the future,” said Chris Dawson, president of paint and collision for Driven Brands.

Tony Martino Hall of Fame Award

The award was presented by Maaco founder Tony Martino’s son, Mark Martino, who shared memories of how his dad got the franchise started, opening the pilot location in Wilmington, DE, in 1972.

“I remember saying to Dad, ‘Are you sure anyone would want to do this for a living?’” Martino said. “He hesitated for a minute and then said emphatically, ‘Yes, I’m sure someday we are going to have hundreds of these Maaco centers all over the country.’

“His prophecy proved true and here we sit, 50 years later, celebrating his foresight and dedication,” Martino said.

The Hall of Fame award named for Tony Martino is given to an owner who personifies Maaco’s founding values of providing quality service at a fair price.

This year, it was presented to Jay Patel, who owns 11 Maaco stores in four states and, over his 30+ years with the franchise, has gotten much of his extended family involved in the business.

“I am so grateful for this honor, and I give all the credit to Tony Martino,” said Patel. “He taught me so much that I have applied to my business to be successful. The most important thing was taking care of the customer. His saying was ‘paint a car, make a friend,’ and my goal and my team’s philosophy is to treat them like family, and the goal is always to make a customer for life, whatever it takes.

“I believe in the Maaco system,” added Patel. “Maaco has the successful formula, and all I have done is applied it. I don’t try to reinvent the wheel—they already invented it, and it works.”

Keynote Message

Mike Anderson of Collision Advice spoke about how franchisees should grow their teams to grow their business.

“Everybody on the collision side in the U.S. has a five- to eight-week backlog of work,” Anderson said. “What everyone does not have is people.”

To grow a team, owners have to either help existing staff get better at what they do, or bring on new hires. And to do that, owners must create an environment where people don’t love their jobs—they love the organization.

“You want them to love working for YOU,” he said. “Culture is your commodity, the goose that lays the golden egg every single day.”

Anderson said the industry has a whole does not have a staffing shortage—it has a “we don’t pay enough” problem.

“We have got to offer better compensation,” he said.

Another key is to lay out a career path for employees, so they see how they can advance.

The lines between collision work and what Maaco does are becoming more blurred, Anderson said, thanks to increased ADAS features on cars that make recalibration necessary to complete what was once a simple paint job on a front bumper. Improper recalibrations can cause accidents, leading to liability issues. who have both partners for more than a decade.

“This is not a message of doom and gloom; it’s an area of opportunity,” Anderson said, noting Maaco owners might be able to expand their services to include ADAS calibrations for other area shops.

Anderson said Maaco owners also need to make sure their customer service is modern, not antiquated, offering conveniences like concierge service, email receipts and a 24/7 digital presence, so customers feel like they can start the repair process even outside of normal business hours.

Maaco’s Online Estimating Tool, launched pre-pandemic in 2019 and now on its fourth version, is a great way to do that, Anderson said.

“It’s difficult if not impossible to write an estimate based on a photo, but look at it as a marketing strategy to capture a hot lead outside of business hours,” when most crashes occur, he said.

Shops like Maaco also have to dominate online reviews, as voiceactivated searches for things like “best auto paint repair shop near me” only return the top result.

To do that, shops need “social proof,” like online reviews, to vouch for their ability to fix a car.

Media Roundtable

Executives, including Dawson, Maaco COO Daryl Hurst, Porcelli and Driven Brands Senior Vice President of Marketing Hannah Whitesides, participated in a media roundtable.

Dawson opened the roundtable by saying 2021 was a stellar year, as Maaco assembled an incredible leadership team, listened to franchisees and leveraged data for the first time to look at what was happening and what needed attention within the franchise.

Shops like Maaco also need to regularly communicate with vehicle owners during the repair process, even if it’s a “no update” update.

“Keeping them informed drives the customer experience,” he said. “Let them know you’re still working on it, you haven’t forgotten them.”

Vendor

Partner

of the Year

Senior Vice President of Strategy and Franchise Administration Chris Porcelli presented the Vendor Partner of the Year award to cowinners Sherwin-Williams and 3M,

“Most importantly, we listened to consumers, started using research to find out what they were asking from us and putting together a plan, and the results are beginning to show,” Dawson said.

Porcelli said Maaco, as part of Driven Brands, is using scale to support its partners.

Whitesides talked about some of the ways Maaco has acknowledged its 50th year, including celebrating a shop-level employee every week and partnerships with other companies, like one with Ray Ban to give away 50 pairs of golden sunglasses.

Going forward, Hurst said Maaco will “stay true to our core, look at the evolution of vehicles and what the consumers need, and leverage data to help franchisees to do business in the future.”

In 2023, Porcelli said, Maaco will be focused on growth, specifically strengthening fleet partnerships.

“We just went through one of the most trying times as a nation,” Dawson said. “We didn’t just thrive, but Maaco was there for franchisees every step of the way. We came out in a better place. Existing franchisees want to open more stores, and we couldn’t be more excited for that growth.”

OKABA Renews SCRS Affiliation As Part of Revitalized Commitment To Oklahoma Repairers

The Society of Collision Repair Specialists (SCRS) is pleased to announce a renewed commitment from the Oklahoma Auto Body Association (OKABA) to reestablish its affiliate association membership, as part of the national network.

OKABA originally joined SCRS as an affiliate association in 2002. Twenty years later, the Oklahomabased association officially relaunched on Dec. 9, after a several-year hiatus and months of rebuilding efforts to create a reinvigorated association and board of directors.

OKABA’s objectives are to serve the small businesses and the motoring public in Oklahoma through leadership, education and initiatives that uplift the professionalism and business conditions of those engaged in our state’s collision industry.

“I’ve had the opportunity to work with other auto body associations during their formation,” shared OKABA Executive Director Ementi Coary. “With every one of those efforts, the focus was on bringing much-needed education and training to the market. By affiliating with SCRS we’ve restored an important part of the history of the association that came before us, but also believe it places us in a better position to bring quality information to more repair facilities.

“We want to help inform our members on important industry topics with the goal of bettering their businesses and increasing their visibility of safe and proper repair considerations,” Coary said. “We look forward to building a solid foundation with body shop owners, managers and technicians during our 2023 kickoff campaign.”

An important part of the OKABA mission is to provide an opportunity for those in the Oklahoma repair industry to meet and network with shop owners, technicians, business leaders, tool providers and industry affiliates to benefit the repair industry as an alliance.

“Our vision is to see OKABA help our shops focus on performing safe OE repairs,” added OKABA President Bryan Burdette. “We want to encourage continuous education and recruitment and being able to partner with tenured

NABC Announces Deborah Robinson As New Executive Director

The National Auto Body Council® (NABC) announced Jan. 11 it has named Deborah Robinson as the executive director for the organization.

Robinson, who has served the NABC as head of marketing and public relations as president of Victory Management Group the momentum of the NABC in changing and saving lives every day.” associations like SCRS helps us achieve that common goal.”

Robinson brings deep experience in the automotive industry, leading clients such as Driven Brands with its portfolio of companies including CARSTAR, Fix Auto USA, ABRA, Maaco, Auto Glass Now, Take 5 Oil Change and Meineke; VeriFacts Automotive; Goodyear Brakes; Lowe’s Racing; Dodge Motorsports; Ray Evernham Enterprises; Charlotte Motor Speedway and NASCAR Racing Experience, among others.

“The collaboration that occurs between the state, national and international associations within the SCRS Affiliate Network is really a special thing,” shared SCRS Executive Director Aaron Schulenburg. “It’s a sense of community, it’s a give and take, but most importantly I think it is a place for growth and development. We are grateful that we’ve been able to include so many associations, and in cases like this, to be able to include generational developments that earmark different phases of an association.

“You’ve got entities that were once tenured but losing momentum finding new leadership and rebuilding with this sense of youthful enthusiasm that can be exactly what is necessary to get people excited,” Schulenburg said. “We are looking forward to supporting OKABA and their members as they work to achieve their goals.”

The OKABA kickoff event will take place from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Feb. 11, 2023, at Meridian

Technology Center-South Campus in Guthrie, OK.

The event is sponsored by AkzoNobel and features industryrenowned speakers Mike Anderson of Collision Advice speaking on “Grow your Team, Grow Your Business and Change the way you Compete,” and Tony Adams of AkzoNobel on “The Roadmap to Becoming the Employer of Choice.”

“I’m so excited to see OKABA get started again and rejoin SCRS as an affiliate,” added Adams, who also serves as an SCRS national director. “I’m looking forward to joining them in support of their first education day in February.”

Those wishing to attend may register at no cost prior to Feb. 1 by visiting https://brushfire.com/ oklahomaautobodyassociation/ okabakickoffevent2023/545537. After Feb. 1, registration is $35. OKABA membership is not required to attend the event.

For more information about SCRS, or to join as a member, visit www.scrs.com, call 1-877-8410660 or email info@scrs.com.

Source: SCRS since 2017, was selected in a unanimous decision by the NABC Board of Directors and Executive Committee for the role after an extensive search process.

“I am honored to continue serving the National Auto Body Council and its members in a new role as the executive director,” said Robinson. “I admire the members and the work they do in giving back to their communities, and look forward to continuing

“We’re proud to welcome Debby, with her background and experience, as our next leader for the National Auto Body Council, said Scott Sampley, chairman of the NABC Board of Directors. “She has provided unwavering support, valuable counsel and impactful results to the NABC over the past five years. We are excited about the future for our organization and our members.”

Source: NABC

Classic Collision announced new acquisitions in Las Vegas and suburban Houston, bringing its total number of locations to 209 in 15 states.

Las Vegas Collision Center is now the third Classic Collision location in Las Vegas, while Dennis Collision Center in Conroe, TX, expands the company’s footprint in the Lone Star State.

Las Vegas Collision Center opened in 2000.

“Our system of operation is streamlined to make it as convenient as possible for our customers and know that Classic Collision will operate in that exact manner,” said Anna Daniellyan, former owner of Las Vegas Collision.

Dennis Collision Center opened in 2002 approximately 40 miles north of Houston.

“We have always provided turnkey jobs—from start to finish, knowing