The Good and Bad of Internet Estimating Sparks NV

The most recent trend in Internet application is online estimating or the execution of estimates through a Web service. Is this new trend right for your shop? Consider these pros and cons before signing up.

By Brian Michnowski
2/1/2001

Whether you're attending a collision repair conference or flipping through the latest industry magazine, it's hard to miss the increasing number of advertisements glorifying the all-new, easy-to-use solutions that allow you to run your shop more efficiently on the Internet. This powerful new vehicle for communication is continuing to change our world - much of it for the better.

Like most businesses and industries today, collision repair shops of all sizes are using the Internet in a number of ways. Applications include everything from marketing to parts ordering to banking transactions online. Without a doubt, more and more operational tasks are becoming more efficient with this medium.

Because of this success, moving additional daily business operations to the Internet seems to be the next logical step. But where do you start to sort through all the possibilities? The most recent trend in Internet application is the move toward online estimating or the execution of repair estimates through a Web service. This option would be in lieu of stand-alone estimating software that runs on a shop's computers.

But this isn't a decision to be taken lightly. Before signing up for Web-based estimating, shop owners need to review a number of ...