ASE in a Collision Shop: Lessons, Numbers, & Next Steps

During our new follow-up roundtable on The Collision Vision, Cole Strandberg chats with permanent panelists, Erin Solis and Sheryl Driggers, and in this episode, our recent guest John Melendez is back. They unpack John’s decision to add ASE mechanical inside a collision-first shop — what it did for sublet, cycle time, pricing power, and customer experience — and how independent operators can pilot the same playbook.

Cole Strandberg: Looking forward to an awesome conversation. This is kind of the first rendition of this new great format and it should be a lot of fun. John Everyone just heard from you here on the last episode, a lot of which is what we’re going to dive a little bit deeper into today. Everyone listening or watching is also going to be familiar with our panelists, Sheryl Driggers and Erin Solis. Let’s start with some quick introductions though, as a refresher. Cheryl, who are you and what are you doing in your own words?

Sheryl Driggers: Hi. Well, thank you so much for having me, Cole. It’s great to be with everyone. Sheryl Driggers, I’ve been in the industry since 2001 where I had three collision repair shops in Tallahassee, Florida. I sold and transitioned to coaching and speaking with collision advice in 2021. And that’s what I get to do. I get to travel around and meet virtually with collision repair shop owners.

Cole Strandberg: Fantastic. Thank you. And at some point we’ll have to plug the book and all the great content you put out there as well. Erin, how about you?

Erin Solis: I’m Erin Solis with Square One Systems and I run 20 groups and performance groups for the industry, both on the ADAS side and on the collision side. I’ve been in the industry for gosh, this year will be going on 29 years on kind of all sides of the fences, shop operations, a little bit on the carrier side when I was younger and been with square scoring systems. Now for about three years.

Cole Strandberg: So fantastic.

Erin Solis: Happy to be here and I’m excited to be presenting with Cheryl. I was saying when we first got on, I have like, you know, a little bit of starstruck here with Cheryl, so I’m excited to do this.

Sheryl Driggers: No way. I was excited when I saw your name on the email.

Cole Strandberg: Man, this is a heck of a cruise. So really excited to have everyone here for an awesome conversation and, and Erin and Cheryl, going to be some familiar faces here as we progress throughout an awesome 2026 here on the Collision Vision. John, we’re here today because you and I had a conversation a couple weeks ago in podcast time at least talking about some of the great things that you’re doing within your shop. We also talked about some of the great things that you’re doing with the within the industry. A highlight though is bringing the ASE mechanical certifications and a lot of mechanical within your shop. I want to kind of set the stage and ask Sheryl and Erin, why does this matter right now?

John Melendez: Well, we have a lot of voids that we got to get filled and right now each of us, or I should say all the shops that are out in the area are suffering from the technician shortages that we, we have. So the best thing is, is to help try to fill these voids, to help identify damage better is to take an existing technician and get them well rounded and move, move them up into the ASE segment and being able to get suspension, alignment, drivability and other issues or other segments that are available to help make that person well rounded within the organization itself today.

Cole Strandberg: No, I love it. Cheryl, Erin, you both get a lot of exposure to a lot of the best shops and organizations across the country. From your perspective, what jumps off the page based on John and I’s conversation?

Sheryl Driggers: Yeah. So I would say with today’s vehicles, with the addition of ADAS safety inspection, there’s so many more mechanical operations that are on repair plans today than there were, let’s say five, 10 years ago. So bringing that in house gives the shops an opportunity to have more control over cycle time, over the process and over profitability.

Erin Solis: I agree 100%. I think the other side of that too is that we find a lot of times when you bring it to a third party to have some sort of mechanical or something done to it, but they didn’t do the collision repair. So they’re not as familiar with everything that you’ve done to the vehicle, especially if it’s a diagnostic issue or if you had replaced suspension and alignments. And it’s just. It’s so much easier if you’re handling the whole thing, you know, everything that happened to the car rather than sending it to somebody who never touched it.

Sheryl Driggers: Absolutely.

Cole Strandberg: Go ahead. Sure.

Sheryl Driggers: Well, Erin, that just made me think of another point of, you know, the shop has a liability that. That is done correctly. Right. Anything that they sublet out. And I remember at our shops when we would sublet certain operations to the dealership because we didn’t have the necess equipment at one point and having. And taking the repair off the repair operations guidelines with us there, because they didn’t know how to do it correctly. And so the shop is responsible. The shop has that liability, whether it’s in house or sublet.

Cole Strandberg: Absolutely. Liability is something that I think is a recurring theme anytime we talk about sublet, whether that’s ADAS calibration, whether that’s mechanical. Anytime that leaves your control does not mean it leaves your liability. You’re ultimately responsible for the vehicle and what happens with it. Now, this move and bringing a lot of these sublets in house and increasing capability and capacity, pursuing certifications like this are not going to be for everybody. But John mentioned 30% sublet down to 5%, most of which is glass. That’s a massive, massive increase in certainly margin capture and revenue capture. Cheryl, what is kind of the first KPI you should look for when you’re a shop out there considering bringing some of these services in house, who’s ready and who’s not?

Sheryl Driggers: Yeah. So a couple things that I would look at. Number one is, okay, what is that sublet as a percentage of sales? Right. When it gets to a certain point, we really want to look at bringing that in house, like I said, not just for revenue reasons, but for cycle time and control. And so there’s several things I want to look at is what is my sublet as a percentage of sales? What is my sublet profit margin versus what is my mechanical labor profit margin? And then what is my cycle time? How could we improve cycle time if we were to bring some of those things in house also?

Cole Strandberg: Fantastic. Erin, from your perspective, what kind of thresholds do we want to look at when considering bringing mechanical or other sublet services in house, for that matter?

Erin Solis: I don’t know if it’s necessarily a specific threshold, but I think you have to look at the business as a whole. Right. So like Sheryl said, how much of your sublet, you know, how much of your sales are you doing? Sublet. It’s almost hard to look at it. I think from just a strictly sales standpoint, because there’s a lot of things that are changing in sales right now. Like we saw what parts prices went up 6%. So just because your sales went up 6% doesn’t necessarily mean that you grew 6%. Right. So I think you have to kind of look maybe a little bit more in your financial system even, and pull the vendors that you are typically, you know, your alignment shop or your dealerships that you’re using and try to look at it. I think it’s important to do what Sheryl said, but also look at it from a couple of different angles as well, and then see how much is out there and what you have the capacity to do. You certainly don’t want to start taking on more stuff if you don’t have the training and equipment and all and. And the capacity to do it. So, sorry, Cole, I didn’t exactly answer your question, but I think it needs to be looked at from a broader spectrum than just, oh, well, you know, 45 of my sales is sublet. I should start doing it in house. You got to kind of look at the whole picture.

Cole Strandberg: You nailed it, John. Go ahead.

John Melendez: Well, you know, I agree with Erin, but what. What I’m seeing also out in the industry today, Erin, is the people that we are subletting work out to are falling behind at times. Their equipment’s not updated. They’re having not the ability to go ahead and do some of these advanced alignments that are required from different, you know, from weight, seats, steering angle, sensors, recalibration on that. They’re so far behind, including dealers, that I found out here in the last year when I did a study before I decided to scale my shop in that direction.

Erin Solis: Absolutely. I actually got a call from an ADAS company today just looking for some guidance, and he had a vehicle that he had actually purchased as a company vehicle for himself. And the adaptive cruise, I think it was, wasn’t working. And he brought it back to the dealership that he bought it from, and, you know, he ran the scans and stuff on it, and the dealership was like, well, it doesn’t have adaptive cruise. And he had a, you know, a build sheet and. And all of this stuff to show that it did have adaptive cruise. So, like, you know, even the dealerships and the service writers and that kind of thing, there’s so much technology in these vehicles now, and it’s coming at us so fast, we know from a collision side that we’re having a hard time staying up with the technology. The dealers are having the same struggle so it’s not just dealers, it’s the dealers, it’s the independents, it’s all of them. So, yeah, definitely looking at it from. Maybe we should look at doing this stuff ourselves. Because we fixed the car, we know what happened to it. We have the OEM repair procedures. We know it needs an alignment before you can calibrate it or whatever the specific situation may be that a lot of times these others don’t know.

Cole Strandberg: It’s a crazy, perfect example of that. I think us in the collision repair industry, if it goes to the dealer, we oftentimes will just blindly trust. If it’s the dealer, it has to be done right. It’s a great point, guys. We’re obviously talking about increasing capability and bringing some of this in house. For anyone listening where that’s not a right fit or not in the cards, I think the idea of auditing some of your sublet vendors makes a ton of sense because it goes back to that liability conversation. Just because you’re putting it in someone else’s court to get done, ultimately it’s. It’s not. Not your responsibility. You got to make sure it’s coming out correct. Now, I love this forum because normally we’re not always going to have the guest from the previous episode here in a roundtable. So a lot of these questions are funny because we’re talking about John here while John’s here patiently listening and taking whatever we say with a grain of salt. I appreciate that. Obviously, a lot of our. I have some background on me that’s not good. We’ll get that cleared up. A lot of our conversation with John here is about OE certifications and specializations, but not everyone’s going to have that. I’m an advocate for specialization and making sure that what you’re fixing is something that you’re really good at fixing and that your OE certifications. I’m a big believer here. When we think about bringing mechanical in house and some of these other sublet service, do you think that niching down or having a specific specialty is a requirement or just an added bonus? Cheryl, I’ll start with you as I get my background figured out.

Sheryl Driggers: Yeah, I would say that I don’t think it has to be a specialty. I think what’s most important is that before you decide to bring any of that in house, you have the capability in order to perform this operation. So that means that, okay, I have my repair planning is dialed in. I’ve got a strong process for repair planning, my scheduling. It’s important that scheduling is really dialed in in a way where that is not causing repairs to go longer and impacting cycle time in a negative way and really making sure that I have the production space in order to bring these operations in house before I make those decisions of, hey, I’m going to add something else to our sales mix.

Cole Strandberg: Well put. Erin, how about you? And again, I go back, I’m a shameless advocate for specialization. When you’re in the right market, you’re the right shop. How do you view that as it relates to bringing in outside kind of capabilities in house?

Erin Solis: Yeah, I mean obviously, right. You have to have the right training and the right person in the right spot. And, and to Cheryl’s point, you have to have the space and the capability. And I, I didn’t even think about it until she said it. But I love her point about the scheduling. You know, it’s kind of like how you don’t want everything to hit the paint shop on Wednesday. Well, you don’t want everything hitting your mechanic on Friday afternoon when you’re trying to. So having that stuff dialed in. But as far as as like a being specialized, being more specialized, I think we’re seeing a lot more of that. There is a lot more training, obviously with the technology. There’s a lot more training coming at us from the OEM side, from the certifications. You’re going to be certified, you know, you have to take these specific training classes. And I love that because, you know, no two cars are the same and you may have two OEMs, you know, with two cars that are the same OEM and they function completely differently. The ADAS systems work totally differently. The cameras work totally differently. So when you’re, you can’t just take two and assume that just because you calibrated something this way that you’re going to be able to do it that way as well. So having that kind of specialized knowledge and understanding and very specific training is going to be hugely important to ensure that you are fixing the car per the OEM requirements.

Cole Strandberg: Now we mentioned earlier in our conversation the impact of bringing some of these services in house very much includes decreasing cycle time. John, you mentioned that happened. Talk to me and try to quantify that decrease in cycle time for us by increasing your in house capabilities.

John Melendez: Yeah. So one thing I want to revert back to in reference to Sheryl on the niche and a little bit with Erin, which she had stated, what we have done here, it wasn’t about becoming a mechanical shop. It was about eliminating the blind spots in the repair plan that’s why I decided these certifications were so important to go that route. Number three, being that niche business and being on the same level, representing that brand with the brand certifications will give you a return on your investment. And that’s another part of the segment that we could talk about as far as the rates and everything else that couple with it. But in reference to reducing our cycle times by having this in house, it’s with the repair plan itself. By having the right technician in place, having the ability not only to do a 3D measurement but send it for a pre alignment check, wheels, tires, balancing, all that is done ahead of time and checked and we know that what is required required to complete this job within a reasonable time frame. By alleviating that third party, we have increased the cycle time substantially. Guys. And I’m having a rocket takeoff for the month of January because I finally have the right staff in place. I was a little place at 4,800 square feet. Today I’m at 13,000 square feet and I’m already seeing in my weekly progress which it should be at the end of the month I’m going to double my business Now.

Cole Strandberg: John, what all formerly sublet services are you now doing in house and what are you still outsourcing?

John Melendez: We’re doing alignments, our calibration, tire mounting and balancing. And then of course we have a little bit more advanced when if it comes to drivability issues. But if as long as it’s related to the loss, we’re taking care of that in house. Our outside sublet right now is basically just the glass.

Cole Strandberg: Love it. Erin, from your perspective, when you’re a shop looking to, you know, following a tough 2025 for many rec capture some of this margin, some of these revenue dollars, how do you view kind of what services to look at bringing in house? First.

Erin Solis: I think you have to go back like I said and look at your vendors. If you’re, if you use one specific or two specific glass companies. Right. How much money did you spend with them last year? Does it make sense to bring that in house? I think glass is something that’s a little typically a little easier to bring in house because you know there’s, there’s some training and tooling required but it’s certainly not to the extent of the mechanical and adas stuff. So I would look at that. How much are we, are we spending with somebody else that we could bring in here and what kind of profit margins would we have on that? I think it’s important too to look at that Cycle time aspect, am I really going to make a huge improvement in, in my cycle time and my, you know, customers are going to be happier, right, if their cars are getting fixed quicker and you’re a little bit more settled in the fact that it got fixed the right way because you did it and you oversaw it. So I think there’s a couple of different ways to look at it. I think especially over this last year, we saw a lot of shops start to do their own glasswork, but I think we really saw a lot of shops branch out and start handling their own calibration work and their own, you know, calibration requirements. And, and there’s a couple different companies that you can use now to help get the tooling and the training and stuff required. So it’s getting a little bit easier to make sure you know what you’re doing. But I think that’s probably the largest space that’s growing right now. And going forward in the next couple of years, with the requirements from, you know, highway safety and the government on, on safety systems and how they’re going to be working and how many cars need to have pedestrian, auto stopping and all that kind of stuff coming up in the next couple of years, the calibration stuff is just going to continue to be a need or a requirement, in my opinion.

Cole Strandberg: Makes total sense. Cheryl, you’re a few years out of shop ownership and obviously things have changed in that time from a. To an extent, ADAS calibration certainly comes to mind and its prevalence. What of these capabilities did you have in house and what of these capabilities would you strongly consider having in house today? Were you to be a shop owner?

Sheryl Driggers: Yeah. So, you know, we worked closely back in the day with Aztec for our scanning and calibration needs. And then we would also get certain tooling from directly from the manufacturer. For example, like, we got all of the Nissan calibration. So we could do Nissan in house, but for like our Hondas and our Acuras, we would sublet those to the dealers. But what we’d also do is my husband, we had a great relationship with a dealership and my husband would go and he would do like a lunch and learn, except it would be at breakfast and educate their teams on what a proper calibration was. Right. Because they had the equipment, but we wanted to ensure that they were doing it the right way. And I know we’ve already talked about it before we make these assumptions that the dealers know what needs to be calibrated or what those operations look like. And a Lot of times they don’t. And that’s one of the reasons, you know, I love what Nissan and Infiniti did of creating this course that’s required for their service riders to understand what’s required after a collision. Because I don’t know if you guys have ever experienced this where a bill payer calls down to the dealership and the dealership said, oh no, they don’t need to do that. Well, actually, yes we do. It’s in the OEM repair procedures. And so just making sure that you have a good relationship with your local dealerships, especially if you’re outsourcing that. If I was still in business, I would be looking to see, okay, what could I bring in house, Especially related to all of the calibrations. Obviously you’ve got to have the right space. You have to not only have the space requirements but, you know, the level, the lighting. There’s so much involved, no question.

Cole Strandberg: And a great point and a great segue into a question for John. Man, we talk about the benefits of bringing these services in house. Were there any operational challenges or lifts that you experienced that you didn’t expect coming into it and any warnings you’d give to somebody looking to embark on something similar?

John Melendez: Yeah, I would say Cole would be. Is having the right staff in place as you’re doing your scaling is to at least get people well rounded and understand that this is coming down and this is what we’re going to require here in the future. That’s where I had a little bit of a problem. And then I just decided to take another individual that was within the house and bring him up to date and certified to reference the calibration and reference the alignments. That’s the advice, strong advice I give there in reference to. To having the right staff in place. Then as far as the building itself, Fortunate being involved with ICAR seeing the CT center, I knew exactly what I had to do as far as the floors. When I did a building at the bottom, a brownfield when I did the renovations, I took in consideration that this is the direction we’re going to go in the future and I plan for that ahead in which that’s where we’re at today.

Cole Strandberg: Fantastic. Cheryl, I’m going to start with you as a coach out there. How would you coach an owner to kind of talk about mechanical within collision repair to adjusters and customers without it becoming a big battle? I think that’s a key component to our conversation with John from last episode.

Sheryl Driggers: Yeah, So I would say education is key. Right. Both Adjusters and so making sure that we’re educating the customer on safe and proper repair and how we are repairing their vehicle back to the way that the manufacturer designed for it to be repaired. With adjusters, the same thing. I’m changing my talking points slightly with adjusters. I’m talking about the implications if we don’t do certain operations. What happens if we don’t repair this vehicle correctly. I always go back to, I love what Chris Voss. He’s a well known expert in the negotiation space and he talks about keeping negotiations and facts and logic right, staying away from the emotional negotiation where we’re truly focused on here’s the facts, here’s the logic, and that’s my conversation with the adjuster.

Cole Strandberg: Fantastic. Erin, how about you?

Erin Solis: So I mean, this is probably definitely more up Cheryl’s alley than mine because I don’t coach a whole lot on, on this specific thing. But you know, her point in removing the emotion from it I think is sometimes something that everybody, right. Has like the hardest time with. You get into that and you’re. And we’re passionate people, right. In this industry. We’re passionate about making sure that I’m putting my customers back in a vehicle that is safe. And when you want to argue with me about it and I have the education to support my argument and you don’t, we get angry and we get emotional and then that throws the whole thing sideways. So I think I would just reiterate Cheryl’s point. Like keep the emotion out of it, have the facts. And it can’t be a 15 page document. Right. Because they’re not going to sit down and read a 15 page document. You need to have the bullet points and you need to have it pointed out in the document. Here’s what the OEM says we have to do. Here’s why. Here’s what I’m afraid of as a business owner, fixing this car and potentially putting your and my customer back in an unsafe vehicle and just sticking to the facts.

Cole Strandberg: The documentation piece is absolutely key. Cheryl, were you going to say something?

Sheryl Driggers: Yeah. And because Erin, I love what you, you were saying there and I also think it’s important that we are looping the customers in on those conversations also. Right. That the customer, they understand the conversation we’re having with their bill payer. And then that way there’s just transparency all across the board.

Cole Strandberg: John, jump in.

John Melendez: Definitely agree with Cheryl. When you have that type of transparency and you get to the actual customer involved from the time of the repair plan, throughout the entire process, copy them on emails showing exactly what the shop is going to be doing to properly repair the car. Then if they see any shortfalls, they could see what we as individuals are suffering by not being compensated accordingly. And that opens up that door of opportunity where the consumer truly has a final voice and say which they should before the insurance company is going to continue to do the dictating and what we’re going to pay out in reference to the final repair bill. Those are some of the things that I feel that in reference to, not to reiterate, but having that customer involved from the time the car comes into the shop to the time it delivers makes it so much easier. And girls, that’s a very valid point.

Cole Strandberg: Documentation and education, two words that certainly jumped off the page at me and I want to double click on those. Before we do though, I’d be remiss. One of my favorite topics is the passion of folks within this industry. I think about other entrepreneurs specifically use the, the H VAC industry, the plumbing industry, whatever it is. Automotive and specifically collision repair is one of those industries where we do what we do for work and then we do the same stuff on the weekends, right? Like we’re going to car shows, we’re doing this, we take this stuff so personally. Add to this that in a lot of cases these safe repairs are a matter of life and death for your customers. I mean it’s, it’s, it is personal and it’s tough to keep that out of it. But it’s a great ability to have talk John, about the documentation. So to revisit our last conversation we talked about this ASE certification meeting. I car certification allows you in many cases, certainly within your niche to charge dealer level mechanical rates. And I want to get some feedback from Sheryl and Erin on that fact. Just in a moment. Before I do though, to do that, what kind of documentation is expected?

John Melendez: Well, you have to look at it as being the same certification over the years with having asc. That wasn’t suffice with the insurance company. But when you couple the brand and you truly have the brand certification under your belt now it’s no different when that person goes to that insurance company or that payer goes to the dealership or now he’s dealing with the shop, doesn’t necessarily mean I have that sign on there that says that I’m a Chevy dealership, but I carry the credentials that that same technician has within that dealer and they’ve been paying them them rates without any issues over the years. Now they will pay us the same because There is no difference. Makes sense.

Cole Strandberg: Makes sense. Cheryl, any commentary on that? I mean, that feels like a bit of a cheat code to get these dealer rates that we always talk about in the collision repair industry.

Sheryl Driggers: Yeah. And I think John is right. And I would always be looking at, okay, what is my effective mechanical labor rate? I always am looking at labor rate by category to see what am I truly getting paid because I might have a door rate, but am I actually getting paid that? So, you know, whether it’s working, collecting it from the consumer or the bill payer. Absolutely. Our mechanical rate should be competitive.

Cole Strandberg: Erin, anything to add there on that labor rate?

Erin Solis: No, I think John and Sheryl definitely nailed it. Looking at that effective labor rate and making sure that you understand what you’re actually getting versus your door rate. But it does. To John’s point, it gets really hard to argue when you say, you know, again in this negotiation piece when you’re being very calm. Here are this the qualifications and equipment, everything the dealership has to pay. Agreed. This or that the dealership has to have in order to do this. And so here I have all the same things. So how can you really debate the argument on that? Their labor rate is almost twice mine. Why would I not get the same thing when I’m showing you we are the same? Having that kind of documentation and training and tooling and equipment is important.

Cole Strandberg: Builds a heck of a case. No question. And Erin, I, I left you in, in third person to answer a couple times in a row, which is the toughest place to be. I’m going to do better for you moving forward. However, you’ve managed to find a lot of juice left in the answer. So thank you for that. That’s a great addition there, guys. John, I want to pivot here a little bit and talk about something that John’s very passionate about. I think we all are here and that, of course, is talented. In the industry. We talk about the talent shortage regardless of whatever we start talking about. Ultimately every conversation in the industry goes toward talent. John told a story in our conversation of growing a tow driver into a master tech over John, was it what, eight years?

John Melendez: It’s been with us eight years. Yes.

Cole Strandberg: When do you view upskilling versus hiring someone ready to rock and roll, Whether that’s mechanical or, you know, any. Anything in collision repair. How do you kind of separate that and view that based on your business’s needs? Erin, I’ll start with you.

Erin Solis: Gosh. See, this is why I don’t like starting with me because there’s so again, it’s one of those things that’s so, so in depth and there’s so much to it. I think the labor shortage is something we’ve all been talking about for several years now. And I think most people, anyways, that I work with, most of the shops that I talk to, have come to the realization that they do have to put the time and money and effort kind of growing their own. Right? You have to find somebody who maybe has a passion for cars or, you know, has a passion for that kind of engineering type brain, but doesn’t want to go to six years of school. Right. You find those people that have passion for it and, and you bring them in and you train them and you send them to things like ASE and to ICAR and to all the OEM trainings. It’s expensive. And I know that that’s scary for a lot of business owners because it’s like you’re buying this big giant piece of equipment that’s very expensive and at can just roll itself right out the door and, and you get nothing out of it. But I think that that’s just where we are as an industry. We have to put that kind of time and money and effort into the newer people coming in. And you know, I’ve seen some organizations now, some shops that have some really amazing mentorship programs. I think our industry is adapting as a whole to those programs just really, really well. It’s pretty cool to see some of the programs that these guys have built from the ground up to be able to train and bring in new technicians and new talent into the space. It’s pretty cool.

Cole Strandberg: Some amazing stories along those lines out there. And I want to revisit your culture comment here in just a minute, but before I do, Cheryl, how do you view upskilling versus kind of poaching exactly what you need today?

Sheryl Driggers: Well, I think it depends where you are as an organization. Right? Are you looking to start mechanical tomorrow? And you don’t have anyone on your team who has that mechanical expertise? So then the, the answer would be, okay, we probably have to go and hire someone outside of the organization that can bring in that. That expertise. But also at the same time, I’m looking for somebody internally who wants to apprentice under that mechanical expertise. Right. But always looking for, okay, like Erin said and John also of, we’ve got to be investing in our people. We’ve got to be looking internally and giving them the resources that they can to grow. We’ve got to give them care paths. Right? You go to so many different Industries and there’s clear career paths. We have to be doing that for our team members, our technicians and our admin team members of giving them clear career paths and training and resources to help them grow, not just come in at that ground level, but giving them the opportunities to take that training and go to the next level.

Cole Strandberg: Training is key and it’s a big part of the culture piece. Erin, I love your kind of reference to that investment, equating to the investment of buying a big new fancy piece of equipment. But it’s one that has free will and can go and take their talents elsewhere. I want to go around the horn because I think everyone has different perspectives on culture. But. And, and it’s a conversation we could spend five episodes talking about just on culture alone. But from that perspectives, from that perspective, how do you keep someone interested in continuing to develop and grow within your organization? John, we most recently chatted about it. I’ll start with you.

John Melendez: Well, when you take in consideration you’ve got somebody that’s been with you for eight years and looking at a business standpoint, there’s going to be a limitation on what we’re able to pay this individual. So why not help them grow within the organization? So therefore, monetarily, he is rewarded year after year because if it’s in just in one position, once again, as a business owner, you could only pay so much for that position. But within. To have that individual excel is very rewarding for both parties. And in our case here, just recently, with our technician’s recent certification as a master tech referencing on a mechanical side, he literally got a 30% increase in pay for the first of the year. And that’s huge. He’s taking care of his family. He’s got two young kids. It’s such a good feeling knowing that he had that ability to grow within our organization and to maintain and get paid properly is. I, I just. Guys, it’s. It’s fantastic. And knowing that he’s been with us eight years, I see him being with us another eight years with no problem at all.

Cole Strandberg: Now, it’s a great point from that perspective too. I mean, just kind of quantifying those levels based on a technician or any employee’s progression. Was this specific technician aware of. All right, if I check this box and this box, I’ll get here. Or was some of this qualitative. Walk me through that.

John Melendez: How do you actually, Cole, I did do that and I set up separate parameters for him and AC progressed, his pay progressed. When he first started with eight years ago, I Mean, he was a tow truck driver. He was making like 17 an hour. Today, he’s more than double that.

Cole Strandberg: Awesome, awesome, awesome. Cheryl, from your perspective in growing these technicians, how do you keep them around? How do you have that culture and how do you present. Here’s a real, you know, thing to chase as you grow yourself there. There are rooms to grow here within our organization.

Sheryl Driggers: Yeah. So culture is such an important piece of the equation, Right. We’ve got to create healthy organizational cultures where people want to show up to work. Right. Nobody wants to go to an environment where it’s just negative and draining. But one of the best examples I’ve seen of a great training path is from my friend Maria Quintero at Bodybuilders in Rolling Meadows. She created this very clear training path where technicians test out a specific operation, and each new capability that they earn directly increases their pay. And so when technicians can see exactly how skill translate into growth and compensation, they stay motivated to keep moving. But it’s not simply about pay. Right. We’ve got to get to know our team members and really understand what is their motivation, how can we make them feel appreciated? What is it that we can do to create healthy work environment, healthy working relationships? Because when people come to work and they have friends at work, they’re more hesitant to leave because they don’t want to leave their friends. So what can we do to make this the best place to work?

Cole Strandberg: Love it. Erin, anything to add there?

Erin Solis: Yeah, I think having that clear path and people need to know when they’re doing something right. They need to know that they’re on the right path. They need to see that they have a future with you or your organization. So both, you know, John and Cheryl’s points, extremely valid. I’m going to kind of go down a little bit of the other side of the path in creating a culture is that you have to create kind of, to Cheryl’s point, you have to create an environment that people want to be in. And I keep seeing time and time again, and I think this is across our industry, is that people really, they value the trust and the transparency from. From their bosses or from. From business owners. They can’t feel like you’re hiding things from them all the time. And I think trust and transparency is something, you know, an integrity. Right. Like, I want to show up to work every day, and I may be taking a dollar less than I would be if I went to the guy next door, but I know that if I show up here, they’re gonna do the right thing. Every time. And I can feel better about myself and my work product, knowing that my bosses and my coworkers and whatever hold that same value system that I do. And I think that is something that, that is just completely invaluable when you’re trying to drive a healthy culture.

Cole Strandberg: Culture. I love it. It’s something. Again, we could have a very, very lengthy conversation on. We’re just going to touch on it today, but at the end of the day, it bleeds into everything else that we do. You mentioned that trust, that integrity, so hard to build and establish with your team. Really easy to break. So it’s kind of a brick, brick by brick by brick goal of building that within your organization. As I think about bringing some of these services in house, I kind of equate it to the organic version of growing via acquisition. Right. It’s a new business you’re in. It’s investment you’re making. Erin, I’ll start with you. How should you kind of. If you’re a shop, what are the scenarios where you’d say, hey, don’t do this yet. I see where you’re coming from. I see where you’re subletting. You’re not ready to add this capability.

Erin Solis: You know, your, your business structure, for one. Are you structured in a way that you can handle the additional capacity, the additional parts, ordering the additional, you know, all the additional tasks that are going to be needed? I think you have to sit down and have a really solid business plan. Am I just going to handle the mechanical work that runs through my shop or because of collisions, or am I going to start doing a full mechanical business? Am I going to offer maintenance? Am I going to offer alignments or tire swaps? You have to sit down and have that plan drawn out first, and then you have to see if it makes sense. Do you have the space, do you have the capabilities and do you have the financial backing to get the equipment and the OEM softwares if needed and all of that kind of thing to ensure that you’re trained properly and prepared to do that kind of work? I don’t think it’s something that you can just flip a switch.

Cole Strandberg: It makes total sense. Cheryl, anything to add there?

Sheryl Driggers: Yeah, I agree. You know, I would say if you, if you, if you don’t have solid processes and a, a solid structure of how you are handling repair, planning, scheduling, what’s your financial stability like? Those are all things that I would be taking a look at you. Obviously, we’ve already talked about, you know, production space. I wouldn’t say if any of those are weak, I would say, hey, let’s hold off and let’s get this fixed first before we add something else. I mean, when we add something else, it’s not going to automatically fix what’s wrong. Right. That’s just going to bring more issues to the surface. So just making sure that there’s stability in the other parts of the business.

Cole Strandberg: Yeah, absolutely. Growing and building will just highlight cracks in the foundation 100%. It won’t fix them. It’ll. It’ll break them. John, it’s sort of a similar question, but from a very different perspective. When did you realize that you, your organization and you as an entrepreneur were ready to kind of embark on this complete shift in your business model?

John Melendez: Referencing back to what we talked about earlier, the subletting that we were doing, these places were not up to date and I got tired of that having to be an issue. And then now getting into the ADAS systems and making sure the alignments are done properly was the icing on a cake for us to move forward. So those two areas were very vital for us to do a proper, safer, excuse me, safe repair in which I didn’t want to rely on an outside source anymore because of that. I mean, because guys down the road, you know how with ADOs and if something’s not done right, it’s a door that’s going to be tapped by litigation in the future if things aren’t done correctly. So just like the girl said earlier, regardless if you send it out to that third party, ultimately that shop’s responsible for that on a liability. And even if they had a COI on file, that doesn’t mean that they’re going to be able to cover the expenses of doing an improper repair. So those are probably the strongest points and why I decided to go that direction. And number two, to hit on just with the girls just a minute ago, the B2B. A lot of single shops that I have networked with within our area are looking forward on dealing with a single shop operator and not a MSOS calibration company in which in my area that is something that they’re trying to all frown away from and not supporting that. So that, that there alone I’m going to be very careful on that market that I’m going to actually go after this way here I could at least I could pick and choose in reference to that. But I see that as a valid point to grow the business with the B2B within and also the upselling to customers with having these type of services in there that may. They may need to have that done. We’re able to at least upsell that and have the customer get that taken care of while they’re still taking advantage of having that rental car. Not. I just wanted to toss that in there, guys. But, you know, you got to look at. I want to make sure that I’m going to get a return on this investment. And it was a large investment. And just by having the right avenue and direction. And like the girls also said, you have to have a process. You have to have your SOPs in place. Can you handle the volume? Can you make sure that you could do that? And I am doing it step by step by step. Have. Out of respect to how they said.

Cole Strandberg: It, man, you know yourself better than anyone here, I would imagine. Were you ever concerned about kind of getting distracted from the foundation and the core of your business by adding these kind of new avenues?

John Melendez: Yes, Cole. And. And that’s where we stem. By promoting within. Because being with ICAR for seven years now and, and working with them directly and working with the schools, the south side of Chicago, the talent is extremely low. And also their scholastics are also low. And it makes it that much more difficult on the collegiate level. They have stronger programs that are out there to help fill these voids, but the talent has been the biggest portion of it. And scared that if I didn’t have the right people in place, am I going to be able to continue running this business in this direction?

Cole Strandberg: You know, present company excluded, of course. Entrepreneurs are known to often fall victim to chasing the shiny new opportunity object. Right. I’m sure you guys see it all across the country and certainly in this industry. Cheryl, how would you suggest that your clients and your industry partners avoid distraction while adding new capabilities for their business?

Sheryl Driggers: Sure. Well, I would ask the question, you know, what we’re wanting to add, does it support our core business? Right. So if our core business is collisioned, it’s adding this capability. So support that. And then it also means, okay, we assign clear responsibility and ownership of who’s going to be responsible for what and measuring success based on our collision flow. Is it helping move cars through production? Are we having a greater control over the process and making sure that things are done according to the manufacturer guidelines? Are we seeing, you know, an increase in profitability? So those are the things that I would be looking at.

Cole Strandberg: Erin, anything to add?

Erin Solis: Yeah, I think if you’re, if you’re a single, you know, shop owner or if you’re a multi shop owner, I Think you should find somebody else to work on the project with you. Because I’ve seen single shop owners that have gone, oh, yeah, this is a great idea. I’m going to chase this shiny object. And then later, they’re like, man, I wish I would have talked to 10 other people that have already chased that shiny object Because I went the wrong direction and I should have it. So I think, you know, having somebody else, whether it’s, you know, somebody else from within your business or if you’ve got a buddy who has a shop, you know, down the road, maybe you get their opinion or again, 20 groups, right? Or you’re. Or a peer group. Any kind of peer group, Even if It’s just a B2B that’s not in. Even in the same industry, like, run it by somebody else so that you’re not trying to make these decisions all by yourself. And it can kind of help you avoid that bunny trail of shiny object.

Cole Strandberg: Love it. Absolutely. John, go ahead.

Erin Solis: Yes.

John Melendez: Totally agree with Erin. And to add to this is when I did, Before I did pull the trigger, I checked demographically, and we did see that we did have issues with surrounding areas. And it was four different tire places that also provide alignments, excluding the dealers, which they’re limited as well. And I took that into consideration before I opened the doors. And once the alignment center was situated, the municipalities in the area were also neglected. I have that guaranteed business before I even put anything out. B2B with any other shops or the general public. And that’s what’s helped this little shop going. Get to the next level, guys.

Cole Strandberg: Makes total sense. Awesome, guys. Really appreciate it. You’ve all been very generous with your time. A big day as we were talking about, for me personally, at least here, the day of this recording, it’s the day of the college football semifinals. So I’m gonna let everyone go here and get wrapped up here momentarily. John, as we begin to wrap up, man, you’ve embarked on an awesome journey. Based on our conversation from last episode. It’s yielding results already and really excited to see what you do in 2026. Looking back, is there one thing that you would do differently if you were to start over from scratch here and embark on this endeavor?

John Melendez: Absolutely. I got three different areas I like to answer on that, guys. First of all, I would invest in the education and certifications immediately and not years down the road like I have in the past. Because I looked at ASC and I car as basically something I can get later and didn’t realize that I should Been as I should have had a solid foundation knowing that this is going to be the direction of how complex these cars are going to be in the future. Second, I would definitely at least establish a process for shops that are in condition and believe the insurance companies dictates the repair. In reality, when it’s combined with doing procedures and proper equipment, that documentation and the credentials, I should. I wish I would have had it years ago because it’s actually helping us in our ROI today and being able to do a proper, safe repair. And finally, I would build a business around a niche just like I am now. But I would definitely specialize in that immediately and I would start. I would stop chasing the volume and get myself solid. So therefore, if I would have had that years ago on what I’m doing today, I would probably have about three or four more shops on the right, but help.

Cole Strandberg: Powerful stuff, man. Really appreciate it, Erin and Cheryl, and I’ll start with you, Erin. One piece of advice for folks kind of on the fence about bringing some of these capabilities in house.

Erin Solis: Don’t chase this shiny object, as you put it. Do your research, do your, you know, do your due diligence. Make sure you’re making a smart decision. I’m gonna keep it short because I am not standing in between y’ all and football.

Cole Strandberg: Oh, you know what? I appreciate that tremendously. Hottie Toddy. Cheryl, how about you?

Sheryl Driggers: Yeah, I agree. You know, I love Erin, what you were talking about, all of us are smarter than one of us. And so getting different perspectives. Also looking at the KPIs right, data tells a story. So is it time for us to bring these certain things in house and what will be, you know, what does it take for us to get our return on investment?

Cole Strandberg: All of us is smarter than one of us. Or some rendition of that. Love it. Shout out again to 20 groups, to peer groups, to coaches, to mentors. It’s amazing what we can learn from people who have been there and done that. Guys, really appreciate all of your time. I’m going to go ahead and put contact information in the show notes for anybody who wants to get in touch with any of you and dive a little bit deeper. Please feel free to do so. Erin, Sheryl, John, thank you for joining us on the Collision Vision.

Erin Solis: Thank you so much. Help.

Sheryl Driggers: Yeah, thanks for having us.

John Melendez: All right, thank you, Cole.

Cole Strandberg: That is all for today’s episode of the Collision Vision. A big thanks to Erin, Sheryl and John for a sharp, practical breakdown and a great roundtable. If this sparked any ideas for you and your organization, Be sure to share it with your team and pick one item from this and go ahead and implement it in your business. The theme for 2026 is to find the important topics that you care about, double click and create some actionable insights to take advantage of starting tomorrow. As always, on behalf of the Auto Body News team and myself, thank you for coming along for the ride.