Paint & Panel Bodyshop Awards now open

Entries are now open for the 2016 Paint & Panel Bodyshop Awards 2016 which celebrate the many achievements of body repair businesses across Australia.

 Click here to enter or nominate.

 2016 sees a new sponsor line up and a bigger, more inclusive, even better awards presentation event.As well as our two main sponsors Compass Claims and Axalta Coating Systems we thank the industry associations that are supporting these important awards: Car Craft; AAAA and AARN.

 Judging for these awards will take place in July. All the winners will gather for a glamorous awards dinner in Sydney in October where the national winners will be announced.

 Shops or individuals can be nominated by suppliers or staff or you can self-nominate. Please don't nominate for every award category unless you really think that business this. Each award will ask the nominee to spend time telling us about their business on Survey Monkey. The country repairers and rising star awards will be judge by video entries.

Awards line up

As well as the traditional awards for best boutique, medium, large and new shop in each state – except for SA and WA where there is no medium category – we also invite nominations for an industry Rising Star and a Community hero. The full list of awards that you can nominate a shop for or enter your own shop are:

•       Best boutique shop
•       Best medium shop (QLD, NSW, VIC)
•       Best large shop
•       Best new shop
•       Axalta sustainability award
•       Best customer experience
•       Best country repair shop
•       Community Hero
•       Rising Star
•       Most innovative bodyshop
•       Operational excellence

Best boutique, medium, large shop categories are divided by turnover.

Boutique: up to $3m

Medium

(QLD, VIC, NSW)

Between $3m - $5m

Large: $5m+

Here are the basics that a shop must comply with in order to be considered.

•       Comfortable customer facilities
•       A clean, tidy reception
•       Good signage
•       Dedicated estimating space
•       Clean toilets
•       Equipment
•       Investment in the latest repair technology
•       Organised equipment storage
•       Organised parts area
•       Robust training schedule for correct use of equipment to achieve repairs to manufacturers’ specifications
•       Staff welfare
•       A clean, healthy work environment
•       Good OH&S procedure
•       Staff training
•       Acceptable staff facilities
•       Green initiatives
•       Solid recycling program including thinners
•       Extra credit for water recycling, energy efficient equipment and other green initiatives
•       A website

What scores extra points?

•       Having a coherent vision for the future of your businesses
•       Demonstrating how you have adapted your business to meet current challenges
•       Innovation in business practice
•       Involvement in the industry - trade associations or industry business groups
•       Positive attitude towards the industry
•       Marketing program which connects with customers and work providers, social media involvement

What do I have to do to be considered?
When you have nominated yourself or have been nominated for any of the awards you will be asked to complete a questionnaire on Survey Monkey. This helps the judges, Sam Street, editor at Paint & Panel, and Neil Powell to select which shops will be judged. The information you provide is completely confidential and will not be shared with anyone outside of the judges. If you win a regional award which entails an article in the magazine, you will have the opportunity to see what is written prior to print. The spirit of these awards, for the industry by the industry, is to celebrate the best bodyshops and personnel, not to give away any trade secrets.

One of the signs of a well run shop is that no one looks stressed or hurried. How is this magic created – by operational excellence. Is your shop or a customer's shop a great example of operational excellence with efficient procedures, great staff communication and with a system and culture everyone buys into? Then nominate now.

Best customer experience
What is the award for? Consistently exceptional customer service. Think carefully before nominating. Does this business really go the extra mile? Do they measure customer satisfaction? What sets them apart from a run-of-the-mill repairer?

Best country repair shop
It's impossible for the judges to visit all the entrants given the vast distances involved so we will be judging video entries. Please check out the last two year’s winning entries which you can find in the awards section of the Paint & Panel website.
What do I have to do to be considered?
Enter or be nominated online. Make a movie of up to 10 minutes long which showcases your shop and key staff members. 2014's winner, Craig Carey, made the smart move of getting one of the youngsters in the shop to make the video and edit it. If you haven’t got a clue where to start and there’s someone under 25 working in your shop you can almost guarantee that they will have the necessary skills to shoot a movie entry for you. If you can’t supply a movie on a memory stick, cd rom or via websites such as Hightail or Dropbox, then a well presented powerpoint will be considered with plenty of reasonable quality photographs.
The video should show your shop inside and out including customer reception area, offices, estimating area, parts storage and workshop - demonstrating workflow if possible. Please look at the judging criteria above and consider how you can cover these in your video. You can make this film with a smartphone, iPad or camcorder, or you could take the opportunity to go a bit more upmarket and end up with promo video which you can put on your website.
You are a regional repairer if your shop is not located within 80km of:
Sydney
Melbourne
Brisbane
Perth
Adelaide
Gold Coast-Tweed
Newcastle-Maitland
Canberra-Queanbeyan
Wollongong
Hobart
Geelong
Townsville-Thuringowa
Cairns
Darwin
Toowoomba

Rising star
This award is to recognise younger people in the industry, under the age of 35, that are on the path to becoming leaders or innovators. We're looking for positive, energetic people who have contributed to the success of a smash repair shop or chain of shops.
What do I have to do to be considered?
Be nominated or nominate yourself. We are hoping that suppliers who have been impressed with their dealings with an under 35-year-old in a smash repair shop will also nominate. We will ask the person who nominates this individual to fill out a form detailing why they believe the nominee is worthy of the title Rising Star.
Axalta sustainability award
Sustainability is more than just about being green. It is also about building a better future for your business and creating a better environment for your staff to ensure that your business stands the test of time. Click here for more details. You don't need to tick every box but here are some of the criteria the judges will be looking for:
Strong vision for business and plan for future
Staff training, especially encouraging the next generation, e.g. apprentices
Marketing program
Efficient operating procedures
Environmentally responsible
Community involvement
Specialisation or diversification strategies

Most innovative bodyshop
We're looking for someone who really thinks out of the box. It might be the way that staff are incentivised, processes used, marketing programmes to name a couple of example – the judges are ready to be dazzled.
What do I have to do to be considered?
Nominees will outline in a Survey Monkey form what they believe makes their shop an innovation leader.
Community Hero
We want to recognise shops that are involved with their community, which is another indicator of good business practice.
What do I have to do to be considered?
This business will be involved in community initiatives such as supporting local sports teams, seniors clubs, raising money for charity, making a contribution to local business community initiatives or being involved with schools and colleges. The nominated business will need to fill out a form detailing their community involvement.
A word about judging
The judges have only two days in each state and cram as many eligible shops as they can into each day. You will be contacted to let you know when we are coming to your state. If you can't be there, please arrange for someone else to conduct the tour. There is no other opportunity to be judged outside of the days scheduled for your state.
What happens if win?
You will be flown to the Paint & Panel Bodyshop Awards dinner to receive your award. Each winner will have a profile of their business in the September edition of the magazine, with the national winners profiled in the November issue. As well as the physical award to display in your reception area, you will receive a winner's logo to display on your website and in your marketing material.
Any financial data will be kept confidential and only viewed by the judges Sam Street and Neil Powell.