PROFILE
Aligning Strengths
T
he AutoHous e stor y parallels the progression, and sometimes rough ride, of the adoption of information technology to the collision repair industry. When AutoHouse’s founder, Mike Gilliland, sketched a drawing of a business model on the back of a paper napkin at YVR for a potential client, the industry was much simpler but a seismic shift was already underway. That potential client was Eric Danberg from the Boyd Group, one of North America’s first collision repair consolidators. Depicted on the napkin was the concept of data consolidation; the collision repair industry was becoming more sophisticated and Gilliland saw that there was a need for businesses to collect and use information to promote better management. At the time, one of the challenges was that insurers typically had more information about repairer’s performance, than the repairers had about themselves. Repairers needed to level the playing field if they ever wanted to have more balanced conversations with their insurance partners. AutoHouse intended to build a financially viable software platform where collision repairers had the same reporting capabilities as major insurers. A short time later, the Generis software platform was released, it enabled repairers to effortlessly view information from across multiple locations and management systems. Repairers
Autohouse founder Mike Gilliland.
“In the end, we have a talented and committed team and we love this industry.” - Mike Gilliland now could instantly access key performance indicators (KPIs), sales, and profitability of an individual shop, or a group of locations, and further segment by customer such as insurance company. Though financially viable for a repairer, the return on investment for AutoHouse to build the software was questionable. Undeterred by what could easily be called limited success, AutoHouse continued to invest and push its vision. It refocused its efforts from solely analyzing historical data to a more proactive platform with predictive power. As they saw it, competitive pressures were mounting and repairers needed to improve operational performance in order to meet their own profitability
80 BUYER’S GUIDE COLLISIONREPAIRMAG.COM
goals and adhere to the targets set by insurance partners.AutoHouse added a set of operational dashboards that monitored administrative, financial, and production processes within a location. The core concept was to frame the information in a way that allowed repairers to address problems or performance short-comings before they were written into history. The recent release of the Generis Pulse dashboard is targeted at influencing the
behavior of staff to align their actions with the organizations goals. By reframing data into highly visual digital dashboards teams are aligned and can see their progress against set goals. The tag line used by AutoHouse in this generis component is “99 percent alignment, one percent execution”. AutoHouse’s clients now represent single store locations, some of North America’s largest MSOs and several OEMs. When asked what has made AutoHouse successful, Gilliland says “A relentless commitment to deliver value to the collision repairer. We’ve put mechanisms in place to align our team to that goal, such as month to month renewals, we need to stay focused to retain our customers.” Perhaps it sounds like it hasn’t been an easy journey, but asked if he has any regrets, Gilliland says, “Anything worth doing isn’t easy. In the end ,we have a talented and committed team and we love this industry. Where we are now is worth more than any challenges we’ve had to overcome. My only regret is that I don’t have the napkin from YVR. Eric keeps telling me he has it but won’t show it to me!”
AutoHouse Technologies 201 – 1551 Johnston St, Vancouver, BC V6H 3R9 1-800-790-6899 autohousetechnologies.com