5 Tips for Success When Pursuing an Auto Body Estimating Career

As an aspiring auto body estimator, it’s important to remember that before a repair, every great professional takes the time to create a strong blueprint. This involves understanding everything that goes into the repair process, as well as having strong processes in place to ensure a smooth experience for each customer. With training at ATC Surrey, you can establish a strong foundation for a successful auto body estimating career with hands-on, comprehensive training and practical experience.

Collision estimators have to keep a number of things in mind when assessing and quoting a repair job, and they also will need to see the repair through to ensure that the conditions are met, and the customer is satisfied. When you choose ATC, you’ll benefit by learning from experts in the field who will equip you to juggle different aspects of your future career. Professional guidance will help you feel confident entering the workforce, and with the following five tips, you’ll feel like a professional from day one! Keep reading to learn our top tips for a successful career.

1. Stay Curious and Up to Date on New Models

Engaging in your work throughout your auto body estimating career will help you continue to provide the best service possible, no matter how many years you’ve worked in your role. As you stay curious about new trends, car models, and repair processes, you’ll be able to more easily assess each repair job. Additionally, when you stay up to date with common and current insurance policies, you’ll be able to best advise your clients on what they can expect from their collision estimates.

2. Act as the Liaison for Customers Needing Repairs

When you begin working as an auto body estimator, you should always keep in mind that you are the liaison for the customer. Often, the average client doesn’t have an extensive understanding of damage and repair processes and will rely on you to fill them in on the repairs the technician is performing on their vehicle. Providing customers with a level of insight into the process helps them feel cared for and creates trust. Collision estimators also work to communicate between their customers and insurance companies, making excellent customer service skills a necessity on the job.

3. Master a Standard Operating Procedure for Estimations

When initially approaching an estimate, it’s best practice to have a consistent, efficient, and effective standard operating procedure (SOP). Having a go-to procedure for your initial scan of the vehicle, a solid process for creating your assessment, and a plan in place for relaying the information to your customers will ensure that the entire experience runs more smoothly. With SOPs, you can spend less time figuring out what needs to be done and more time completing each task involved to a higher standard of quality.

4. Conduct Both Pre- and Post-Scans After Automotive School

Pre-scans are completed before any work is done on a vehicle, helping to identify any systems that may not be working as intended. Post-scans are the final assessment of the vehicle before it leaves the shop, working to ensure that any issues discovered in the pre-scan no longer exist and are repaired to full functionality. After automotive school, you’ll realize that both scans are essential to a complete and professional auto body estimator’s job and perform quality work on a vehicle.

5. Foster Strong Communication with All Shop Employees

It can be easy for technicians to fall out of the habit of communicating directly with one another, instead focusing only on their share of a particular repair. As an auto body estimator, you can help facilitate better communication with all involved parties by creating checkpoints throughout the repair process. Doing your part as an estimator to ensure all tasks have been addressed, as well as passing along this information to the technicians and encouraging them to continue communicating, will help make your job easier in the end. With everyone on the same page, your estimations will end up more accurate and reflective of the work done by technicians.

Interested in starting a program to enter an auto career?

Contact ATC Surrey for more information!