Customer Service with GRACE

by Kurt Thompson

As you’re reading the title, you might be thinking, “OMG, another article about customer service.”

First, there aren’t that many articles in Hammer and Dolly specifically about customer service. Customer service is considered a “soft” business skill. Not a hard skill like body work, welding or painting. It’s also considered as only a “front office” skill.

I don’t think so. Providing better customer service is a skill that will have a positive impact on the bottom line of the body shop. As such, how is customer service in a body shop different from what is generally considered customer service in other businesses – and the idea of “customer service” that insurance companies want or expect as part of the insurance company’s DRP program?

First, why is GRACE in all caps in the title? We will be using GRACE as an acronym. GRACE in this context breaks down into: Grounded, Respectful, Attentive, Compassionate and Enthusiastic.

Grounded is defined as well balanced and sensible. If you are well balanced, you are not likely to be tipped over, physically or emotionally. If you are sensible, you are not likely to become erratic or “lose your senses.”

Respectful is defined as feeling or showing deference to someone else. This means you are not “lording over” your knowledge and not bowing down to the other person.

Attentive is defined in this context means attending to the comfort or wishes of others.

Compassionate is defined as feeling or showing sympathy and concern for others. If you’re being compassionate, you’re listening to the customer and giving them space to talk and express their needs.

Enthusiastic is defined as having or showing intense and eager enjoyment, interest or approval.

We’ll go into scenarios around each of these elements in a bit.

Best practices only work in ideal situations. If we were all good at customer service all the time, I wouldn’t be writing this article. However, I’m a human and there is sometimes a disconnect between the best practices of customer service and what I’m able to provide each day in real situations. What we have to do is work on applying these best practices as much as possible with our customers IN THE REAL WORLD.

If you give great customer service each and every time you meet a customer, my hat is off to you. If that’s the case,  I’d then challenge you to look more closely in the mirror or walk across a large body of water. I know I’ll sink.

You often hear the expression: “You only have one chance to make a good first impression.” As such, I want to delve into a few lesser known acronyms or phrases.

We’ll start with the “Three Need To’s…”; the three Bs; and the three Cs.

Before you open your mouth, you might wish to review what you’re going to say by answering these three questions on need:

1. Does this need to be said?;

2. Does it need to said right now?; and

3. Does it need to be said by me?

If I answer honestly “yes” to each of these, then I can proceed to open my mouth and present my information or my opinion.

The three Bs are part of my self-defense shield when dealing with highly emotional customers in the body shop. The three Bs are:

1. We didn’t build it (the customer’s car);

2. We didn’t buy it; and

3. We didn’t break it.

These are important ideas since our customers are frequently in highly emotional states and they are looking for someone to be held accountable, possibly for something they did or something over which they – and we – have no true control over. (OEM parts delays, anyone?)

The three Cs are similar in their nature to the 3 Bs above. They are:

1. We didn’t cause the problem;

2. We can’t control the problem; and

3. We can’t cure the system.

Do you see a pattern here?

Time to change tacks and discuss some other body shop information.

What is the primary purpose of a body shop? To restore the customer’s vehicle is restored to “pre-accident condition” while making a profit as a business, being fairly compensated for the work performed to pay the employees, keep the lights on, and purchase parts and equipment.

Now, what do we mean when we say “pre-accident condition?” In short terms without flowery/wordy definitions, once the repairs are completed, the vehicle will be in the same material and structural condition it was in at the mythical five-second point before “all hell broke loose,” “the customer’s day went to hell” or whatever term or phrase you care to use.

Why is this definition important? This is what we as a body shop are tasked to do. We are not tasked to restore the car to showroom condition unless the accident happened in the dealership showroom. I know that sounds ludicrous, but we have to establish realistic expectations in our customers.

In the body shop, we have many customers. The first one that comes to mind is the customer who has a need for our repair services, who wants their car restored to pre-accident condition (and on rare occasions, some restoration work).

But there are more customers in the body shop than just the ones who come through the front door. They include, but are not limited to: insurance adjusters, shop managers and owners, body men, painters and detailers. There are others who may be more peripheral to our thinking.

Why should we strive to provide better customer service? The basic answer is, the better your customer service is up front and in the beginning, the better you position yourself in the competition to earn the confidence and respect of the vehicle owner and earn the repair job.

Again, we need to talk about who is competing with us for the customer’s trust and confidence? My primary four are: estimators and front office personnel at other shops, insurance company inside representatives, insurance company virtual estimators and insurance company field inspectors or estimators.

To beat your competitors, your first impression must be better than theirs. The better your first impression, the more likely the customer will trust you as an advocate for their repairs and needs as the repair progresses through the shop.

The best way to keep their trust is to set realistic expectations with them. Our usual catchphrase for this is to “under promise and over deliver.”

Six parts to setting realistic expectations are:

1. Be realistic;

2 Be forthright and honest;

3. Explain the pitfalls of what might happen to the delay the job;

4. Explain how the insurance company may impact the job;

5 Explain the differences between OEM and alternative parts; and

6. The importance of manufacturer certifications and requirements and they may affect the repairs.

Let’s apply realistic expectations to a couple of scenarios.

First off is the infamous “one day bumper repair.”  With a modern car with ADAS systems, is this even possible? I doubt it. Even if the repair is small and now in the area of a sensor (replace versus repairability), the ADAS system will have to be recalibrated to ensure the sensors are functioning properly. So no, this one’s dead on arrival. No one day bumper job anymore, if there ever was such a routine beast.

Next is adding reality to the fluffy promises that an insurance company will cheerfully tell the customer. Most often how that a job will be only so many days, without ever mentioning the possible, if not probable, reasons the job is beyond their “estimated days to repair.” Modern vehicles have recalibrations that must be done. Yes, I’m repeating myself.

The last one, which is also fun to deal with, is “my friend had the same repair done and it only took….” We all know that no two repairs are identical. Your customer’s friend probably was in a different make and model of car, or a different year. Late model Toyota versus the customer’s current model year. The repairs won’t be the same.

When does your customer service begin? It begins with the first interaction with another person, each and every day. Even if your customer is a repeat customer, you can still either “wow them” (or sour them). These interactions may be in person, by phone or by text and email. Each time, every time, every day.

What are some things that affect your ability to deliver good customer service? Here are some, including a couple I mentioned previously – the customer’s emotional state; their preconceived ideas about what’s going to happen and how; your emotional state; any conflict in emotional states; the tone and pitch of your voice; and your own assumptions about the customer, the situation and how the interaction will go.

Of these, you cannot control half of them – the customer’s emotional state, their preconceived ideas, and the conflict in emotional states between them and you. You do have the ability to control your half of the interaction.

When talking about emotional states, which would you rather see when you walk up to another person for an interaction – a scowl or a smile? Personally, I would like to see a pleasant welcoming smile on the other person. Facial expression is one of the first indicators of your emotional state. Your body posture and your voice, including your tone, pitch and volume, speak loads about your approachability and reasonableness.

Also, what can’t be seen but can be felt by the other person will be your assumptions. Pre-existing anger, frustration, haughtiness, arrogance all boil off you even if you don’t say a word.

Before you pick up the inbound phone call or step out of your cubicle or office, it will help you if you check your emotional state. If you need to take an extra minute to compose yourself or cool your emotional state, it would be time well spent instead of trying to recover from that impression you give the customer that you’re a hot-headed egomaniac.

Customer service isn’t just about writing estimates. Often we are more than just estimators. Again, making a good first impression may mean doing some extra things. It frequently means we’re part time psychologists and trauma counselors. We deal with auto damages daily. Most of our customers deal with it once every four to seven years, if ever. How we handle them on the intake call or when they walk in will set the tone for the relationship for the rest of that particular interaction (repair).

In dealing with customer service, we are dealing with other humans. After being around the automotive repair industry, you will have heard several phrases about our customers. I’ll address some of them here. Remember, humor is based in reality.

Here are a few phrases:

The Golden Rule as written by Confucius reads, “What you do not wish for yourself, do not do to others.” Two rewrites of this are: “Do unto others before they do unto you” and “Do unto others, then run.”

“Some cars have a loose nut behind the wheel.”

“All customers coming through the door bring us joy. Some when they come in; others on their way out.”

The three Bs and three Cs:

We didn’t build it, buy it or break it. And we didn’t cause it, can’t control them and can’t cure the accident or situation.

Even armed with our humor from above we will still run into some tough customers. Some are intentionally difficult; some are difficult without meaning to be. Here are five of my (not so) favorites – the estimate shopper, the customer hiding his insurance estimate, Karen and her daughter or mother, the “know it all” who has never worked in a body shop and “I could get this done for far less or I know someone.”

We may not be able to turn them around. However we can still provide them customer service. And this is where we’ll go back and talk about applying GRACE.

When GROUNDED, you know you are doing the right thing, regardless of which way the wind is blowing. When RESPECTFUL, you are acknowledging the other person as a person, whether you agree or disagree with their point of view. When ATTENTIVE, you are engaged in the interaction attending to the comfort or wishes of others without being obsequious (servile, submissive, kowtowing). When COMPASSIONATE, you are showing sympathy and concern for the other person. When ENTHUSIASTIC, you are having or showing intense and eager enjoyment, interest, or approval.

Part of providing customer service is also about negotiating. Are we negotiating? The answer is ALWAYS. The adage about negotiation is it will be a “win win” for everyone involved. Let’s take a quick look and come to a more mature answer. It’s never a “win win.” Everyone has to concede something, some give and take. Every interaction isn’t going to resolve with everyone feeling like they got what they wanted. When you can remember that, you will find yourself more comfortable with negotiating and the outcome that doesn’t meet your complete expectation.

Remember, we are talking about best practices and reality. Every customer service interaction will be different because the customer and you will not be the same people each time, even if you are dealing with the same customer from yesterday or sometime before. Not every best practice will work in each interaction. You are hopefully in control of your own emotional state. You are not in control of the other person’s emotional state (other than possibly making it worse). Every interaction is in part a negotiation.

You determine more of the outcome of the customer service interaction than you may think. You can improve the interaction by applying GRACE.

Want more? Check out the October 2026 issue of Hammer & Dolly!