When the COVID-19 pandemic hit, our corporate team shifted focus from daily operations to supporting our Maaco Franchise Owners in other ways. We quickly implemented a 3-stage strategy to help our Franchise Owners focus on what needed to be done to be safe and keep business coming in. Our Franchise Owners truly rallied together to make their centers even stronger, despite the challenges of the pandemic.
Our 3-stage strategy is still going strong and includes:
STAGE 1. Revving up Rally Point
Rally Point is our learning and communications portal that provides interactive training, best practices and social engagement while connecting our Maaco Franchise Owners and Technicians to each other and our Corporate Support Center. All in all, this was a collaborative process that reflects the true partnership between us and our valued Franchise Owners.
“The corporate teams did a great job of coming together and, with our collective input, creating programs to support the Maaco Franchise Owners while recommending safety procedures needed to keep our customers and employees safe,” said Joe Houghton, 31-year Maaco Franchise Owner in West Springfield, MA.
STAGE 2. Launching R.A.M.P.
R.A.M.P., which stands for Readiness-Attitude-Management-People, is our new touchless, social distancing operating procedure that all our locations follow across the country. The program also included a six-week series of webinars on topics such as:
• Maintaining social distancing on the production line
• Implementing a touchless intake process
• Proper disinfecting procedures
• Proper use of personal protective equipment
“The R.A.M.P program was a collaborative effort among the operations, training and marketing teams, along with Franchise Owners, to share learnings and best practices,” said Dave Gross, Regional Vice President of Operations for Maaco. “Our franchise operators are on the front lines and have a lot to share.”
Stage 3: Stepping up I-CAR® training
Despite being classified as an essential business, business had slowed down during COVID-19, giving our Maaco Franchise Owners and Technicians more time to train and improve. In fact, more Maaco automotive centers than ever have completed I-CAR® training and made the enhancements to their operations needed to become Platinum and Diamond Certified. This means they are qualified to perform national fleet repairs — and, that translates to more revenue opportunities.
“Achieving Diamond Certification is very important to us and our objectives for continued growth,” added Jim and Jamie Powell, Maaco Franchise Owners in Commerce City, CO. “The automotive repair environment is changing rapidly, and you have to keep up if you want to continue to be successful and grow. The Maaco certification program is a great program to help us stay current, keep learning and growing.”
Open for business
More than 400 locations are now open for business and implementing the practices they learned to not only make proper and safe auto repairs but also keep customers and employees safe in the process. New centers will be put on the fast track to get the highest level of certification.
The road ahead looks bright
Year after year, industry reports show that drivers are hanging on to their cars longer. That means they will pay to get them repaired to keep driving them. According to The Energy Information Administration, the aging of the vehicle fleet shows that many households have delayed purchasing a new vehicle or have instead purchased a used vehicle. And, that shines brightly on our franchise business and our continued growth in the future.
Now’s the time to franchise with America’s #1 body shop in a recession-resilient automotive industry. Just fill out the form below, and a Maaco Franchise Development Director will be in touch.