Momentum continues to build for growing platform
It wasn’t long ago that non-DRP (Direct Repair Program) shops were unable to electronically exchange estimates, supplements, and digital images with the insurance carrier. And while Direct Repair Programs have traditionally worked, it did not come without limitations. Many consumers opted for outside shops based on things like brand recognition, location preference, or personal referral. All in all, the collision repair industry has been calling for a solution… and CCC ONE™ Workflow -Open Shop provides just that.
Open Shop is the industry’s first integrated tool to provide insurance carriers with the ability to electronically send assignments to repair shops outside of their DRP networks. For repairers, Open Shop assignments are received and processed like a DRP assignment.
Open Shop will be celebrating its one-year birthday in September, but its growth and adoption have been anything but immature. Simply put, the success of Open Shop has been overwhelming. Since its inception of September 2012 Open Shop has:
— Been used by nearly 10,000 repair facilities
— Experienced an 85% return/response rate vs. the industry average of between 30-40%
The feedback around the industry speaks for itself. After the release of Open Shop, industry expert and founder of CollisionAdvice.com Mike Anderson declared it “an awesome thing.” “Open Shop is a win-win situation for shops and insurers.” Since then, Anderson has received more great feedback from shops, stating, “I get huge, raving reviews each and every time I do a seminar. People just love the product!”
Open Shop allows more customer choice and greater flexibility to insurance carriers. And that theme was on display recently as Jimmy Spears, Assistant Vice President of Claims Service at USAA joined CCC’s Susanna Gotsch at the 2013 ACE Conference to discuss how USAA uses Open Shop to improve collaboration with repair facilities and create a better customer experience.
It’s apparent the industry is beginning to embrace all that it means to be truly ‘open’ and new advances in technology that are enabling insurance carriers to take advantage of this trend, offering them the ability to:
— Provide their customers with more choices and potentially more convenient options
— Electronically communicate seamlessly with shops outside their traditional MOIs
— Make efficient estimating channel decisions at FNOL
Overall, the most telling sentiment may have come from John Dalton of Dalton Motors, a repair facility that has worked with the solution. According to Dalton, “Open Shop is a great tool to help our shop capture more business.”
So far, Open Shop users have seen a 2-3 day decrease in cycle time from when an assignment is sent to the time an estimate is complete. Results like that have made the one-year celebration of Open Shop a truly happy birthday, indeed.
Learn how to become an Open Shop provider and better cater to consumer choice at cccutilities.wpengine.com/openshop