"When we started 10 years ago, Pat was painting cars and doing the books at night and I was running the front end of the house," says Quinn. "We were optimistic from day one and had our signs read Centers - plural - and we were right because we’re in three markets now (Tucson, Phoenix and Las Vegas) and we’ll open up our ninth location in a couple of months."
The two men are long-time veterans of the auto body industry, O’Neill worked in California and Quinn in Philadelphia, before they recognized Tucson as an opportunity for the future.
  
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The company founders wanted to do things differently in their operation. They read volumes of business publications and periodicals about great businesses and noted that the companies that were successful tried to serve four stakeholders - customers, employees, vendors, and the communities in which they operated.
"But a lot of businesses don’t hit on all four of those cylinders," Quinn says noting their business concept model called for inclusion of and adherence to all four of the items. "We have 150 families that count on us being successful and that’s a huge responsibility we don’t take lightly."
O’Neill says, "Right from the start, we’ve stuck to a simple philosophy of being honest in our dealings and treating people with respect."
As the largest collision repair operator in Southern Arizona - and in the Southwest, if you add in the Phoenix and Las Vegas operations - 9-1-1 Collision Centers expects to close about $18 million this year.
"Fixing the vehicle is a given. It’s not what we do that makes us unique, it’s how we do what we do, how we go about taking care of a customer. Anybody can service a customer once. It takes a business that strives for total customer satisfaction to earn their business for life," says Quinn.
When it comes to customer satisfaction, 9-1-1 Collision Centers are listed among the top five percent of collision repair providers in the United States.
Because women, ages 30 and older, make up 62 percent of all buying decisions, Quinn and O’Neill decided early where some of their focus would go.
"Women have felt taken advantage of in repair experiences, felt they were not getting a clear understanding of what was taking place, and we wanted to remove that stigma by being straightforward in all our dealings," Quinn says.
Among the many customer service and satisfaction award plaques that hang on the walls of 9-1-1 Collision Centers is a Business Ethics Award from the Better Business Bureau.
"That distinction was huge for someone in our industry that is cloaked with misconception and gray areas," says Quinn, noting the company went on to be a runner-up in the international award competition in that category. Accolades have also been received from AAA Arizona, National Auto Body Council, DuPont, Geico Insurance and others.
Another source of pride for the company is the recognition received for being a good corporate citizen in the community. The National Auto Body Council has given its "Pride Award" for commitment to community service.
"We’re an enthusiastic community citizen and our company supports many organizations, events, and activities with special emphasis on those that benefit and enhance the lives of Tucson’s youth," says O’Neill.
The latest example would be raising more than $60,000 at an October golf tournament that will go to Tucson Children’s Charities Foundation.
"Helping kids in need is an investment in our future and will pay big dividends for our society as a whole," O’Neill says.
"All this fundraising is good but I felt there was a disconnect here," says Quinn, a board member of the National Auto Body Council. "We fix cars and I felt it logical we should be doing some sort of vehicle repair program, hence the arrival of Recycled Rides (www.recycledrides.com) where members of the council repair and donate repaired vehicles to families in need. Simultaneous donations will be made across the country Nov. 24, the Monday preceding Thanksgiving.
"This year we’ll give away about 60 cars," says Quinn, "but my ultimate goal is to give out 500 cars every year gifted to working poor families."
Today’s economic conditions have cast uncertainty over many businesses and volume has been impacted at 9-1-1 Collision Centers.
"The economy will dictate some of our future growth and it’s difficult to change things you don’t have much control over," Quinn says. "I’m convinced that consumer confidence will come back shortly. In the interim, we’ve become a bit leaner and look closely at how we operate. Businesses need to look outside the scope of their normal offerings to see how they can expand what they already do to help them through these difficult times. But we’ve always been an innovative company and we’ll adapt to the situation and the changes put before us."
9-1-1 Collision Centers
Corporate office: 140 S. Euclid Ave.
www.911collision.com
(520) 791-9119
Tucson locations:
• 721 E. 12th St. (520) 903-9119
• 2050 W. Price St. (520) 696-9119
• 8120 E. Research Court (520) 388-9119
• 5150 N. Casa Grande Highway (520) 628-9119
• 635 E. Vuelta Caminata del Rio, Oro Valley (520) 742-9119
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Scott wrote on Nov 17, 2008 8:00 PM: