Get Out! “Getting Schooled” is Your Shop’s Best Strategy
by Jordan Hendler, WMABA Executive Director
In the fast-paced and easily distracted world of collision repair, the most dangerous phrase a business owner can utter is, “This is how we’ve always done it.” As the industry navigates a marketplace downturn in 2025 and 2026, the gap between shops that are merely surviving and those that are thriving is defined by two things: Community and Education.
One of my favorite phrases: If you’re not growing, you’re dying. Being a professional in this field today means embracing the identity of the “everlasting student.” We are part of a highly skilled profession that requires constant adaptation to technological and structural advancements. When you stop learning, you don’t just stand still; you fall behind an industry that is retooling and retraining at a breakneck pace.
The Danger of the “Shut-In” Mentality
Many shop owners and managers are currently suffering from what I call “perpetual COVID shut-in syndrome”. By staying confined within your four walls and relying solely on doorstep or online training, you miss the critical nuances of the modern business climate.
True education isn’t just about reading a manual; it’s about:
• Gaining Perspective: Seeing how your business model compares to those who are successfully making headway.
• Building Community: Engaging with peers who provide a sense of purpose and a rally point against industry pressures.
• Professionalizing Tactics: Learning to stand in a place of authority when justifying your repair procedures and investments. Hearing from other repairers who have already applied their learned tactic is a perfect share-point.
Your Next Classroom: The February Membership Meeting
To help you pivot your tactics, WMABA is hosting a vital learning session on February 26 in Alexandria: “The Costs of Not Getting Paid: Changing Tactics in the Changing Marketplace.” This isn’t just a meeting; it is a defensive strategy session designed to arm you with knowledge needed to protect your margins.
The “Cost of Not Getting Paid” goes beyond the estimate – it represents a loss of your future readiness. If you cannot fund apprenticeships or new equipment and technology because of suppressed reimbursements, your shop faces an existential threat.
At this meeting, you will learn fundamentals on how to:
• Combat the “Slow Shop” Trap: Understand how insurers are hardening their stances during the current claim volume cooling, and what others in the marketplace are doing.
• Justify Your Worth: Hear from industry experts on how to validate your tooling and training investments.
• Break the Cycle: Stop the “defensive cutting” that happens when repairs don’t generate a true ROI.
Investing time in your education is the best weapon you have against the “onslaught” of marketplace challenges. Surrounding yourself with other repair professionals in your area creates a network of camaraderie you can lean into, and ask for help from.
Get the horse back in front of the cart, and put the first thing first. Your education is the first step in gaining the perspective and tools needed to understand, pivot, and attack the issues and challenges you’re facing every day.
Hit pause, and Get Out and go to school on February 26!
Want more? Check out the February 2026 issue of Hammer & Dolly!