We continue to see the BSI Kitemark scheme for Vehicle Damage Repair grow with new clients looking to demonstrate excellence in their repair processes, and existing clients looking to extend best practice across all sites.
If you are interested in joining us for our next certificate presentation currently planned to be held at our Milton Keynes in November, please contact us for details, or speak to your BSI Kitemark assessor during their next visit.
Andrew Walsh, Managing Director, AW Repair Group and Steve Hoe, Branch Manager, AW Accident Repair Centres, Lincolnshire, with Richard Meadowcroft, PAS 125 Product Technical Manager, BSI.
Martin Burgoyne, Bodyshop Manager, Vehicle Bodycare Centre with Richard Meadowcroft, PAS 125 Product Technical Manager, BSI.
Come and visit us at our stand at the ABP Conference and Night of Knights, on 22nd October at Hinckley Island Hotel. We'll be on hand to talk to all visitors and answer any technical or marketing questions you may have. Plus we're delighted to be presenting an award again this year on behalf of insurance companies.
Using the research we conducted earlier in the year to understand how the motorist chooses their repairer, here is a simple checklist to help you promote your BSI Kitemark.
Almost everyone now uses the internet to 'check out' a potential service provider; before deciding whether to do business with them or not. That includes the people you market your services to. So, what is your website 'telling' them about your business?
From the research we undertook earlier in the year it's no surprise motorists who choose not to go via their insurance company also do their homework online through directories or search engines. It's highly likely that accident management companies and manufacturers do the same.
The quality and content of your website has to encourage people to completely trust you and see you in a wholly professional light.
So if you haven't already, once they reach you, tell them about your BSI Kitemark. It's something to be proud of and is an extra marketing tool to give your customers complete peace of mind. If you're not displaying it prominently, you might be missing out.
In your publicity toolkit you'll find persuasive messaging around what the BSI Kitemark means, with powerful statistics to support the BSI Kitemark. Feel free to use this messaging on your website, or weave it into your own messages about your services.
One of the key statistics we uncovered is below. Use this as part of your messaging about the BSI Kitemark.
*An independent study conducted in Great Britain via OnLine Bus, an internet omnibus survey, October 2012.
Memory – people tend to remember logos better than they do names. A good logo will often be easier to remember than the name of a product. It also provides an additional benefit – a familiar logo on a new product can help boost sales of the new item, because customers will associate its quality with the quality of other products with the same logo. This is where the BSI Kitemark logo gives you a true competitive advantage. We've just celebrated its 110th birthday. It's been used on 1000's of products and services over the years and its value shouldn't be underestimated. If it's not showing prominently on your website and all touch points where you make contact with your customers then you may not be taking advantage of its true value.
The ability to be distinct, to be remembered by customers, and proper representation of the product and company are all critical tasks of a good branding strategy. These are also functions that a good logo can be used for.
The BSI Kitemark logo was rebranded a year ago. Make sure you've got the up to date BSI Kitemark logo on your website.
It's available in lots of formats too, including a keyline and reverse versions, where you might be looking to reproduce it on a dark background or printed quite small on letterhead, for example. Visit Just for customers to download the logo.
You can download your logo in different formats by visiting our just for customers (j4c) website. We have also created the logo in reverse for use on dark backgrounds, and as a keyline option for printing on headed paper and stationery so that all the wording is easy to read.
Tip three: Kitemark.com – we've been driving traffic to the online directory. Don't miss out on new business opportunities.
Since December 2012, we've been driving online traffic to Kitemark.com through paid search advertising using Google adwords. We've been trialling different keywords to try and help link consumers who are in the market for vehicle repairs with our reputable BSI Kitemark repairers.
Since then we've achieved over 6,000 clicks straight to the Kitemark.com directory.Are your details up to date?
Ask your customers to post reviews of their experiences on your directory page.
Simply contact us with any changes or new information.
You'll have received your customer survey from us in the last couple of weeks. We've sent this survey to hear your views on the support you've received this year, and for your feedback on the publicity toolkit. We'll be sharing the results in our next newsletter and announcing the winner of the prize draw. Thank you to all who took the time to complete the survey.
PAS 125 and the future move to a British Standard. What does this mean for you?
You may have heard earlier in the year that there are plans to review PAS 125, the specification upon which the BSI Kitemark scheme is built.
The British Standards arm of BSI has decided to make PAS 125 into a full British Standard as a result of the Publically Available Specification (PAS) clearly meeting the industry needs and now being a very mature document. PAS documents are developed as interim standards to meet industry needs in a quicker timeframe than full British Standards, they are reviewed every two years and usually develop into a full British Standard within four years or are no longer considered to be relevant by industry. PAS 125 has now been in existence for six years and is due for review in 2013. Therefore during the technical review it will achieve the status of a full British Standard. All British Standards can be used by any organization for self assessment or by any certification body as the basis for certification in exactly the same manner as a PAS.
One benefit is that there will now be a standing committee made up of industry representatives who will monitor the standard and meet as and when necessary to update or advise on interpretations of the standard. This is not so in the case of a PAS where each time the document needs review a new committee has to be formed to conduct the work.
An initial meeting of interested parties took place on 23rd September to discuss the process and to provide all parties to ask questions. The outcome of the meeting is that nominations for committee representation and the chairmanship of the new committee have been requested with the expectation that the committee will be formed in the coming weeks. BSI's role in the development of the British Standard is purely to facilitate the development of the standard.
How does this affect certification?
From a body shop perspective there will be little difference in the audit process because the new standard will still only have the same requirements as a reviewed PAS document would have. The review and development of the standard is being driven by industry to meet industry needs. The fact that the standard is now a British Standard instead of a PAS will support end consumer recognition. We'll keep you updated at the key stages of development.