Mitchell recently published a few suggestions for automotive repair shops to utilize its Estimate Advisor in the best possible manner.  

Mitchell states in its release that having a Compliance Tool that is able to formulate flexible and detailed rules has become essential, especially with constantly evolving vehicle technology. The company is Estimate Advisor has been created and designed to perform this task. According to Mitchell, Insurance Carriers can use the rules authoring to set down rules for the required outcomes. This, in turn, will help in making sure that accurate estimates are written, operations are accounted for and proper repairs are performed.

Mitchell has suggested the following:

1. Utilize Mitchell’s Suggested Compliance Rules: Mitchell’s Estimate Advisor contains pre-loaded compliance rules that can help repair businesses and estimators begin. Pre-defined rules, including alternate part cost rules, hazardous waste rules and so on, are available to choose. The company notes that its Estimate Advisor makes it easy to select compliance rules and add them to estimating profiles, requiring the user to simply follow a self-service model.
2. Using the custom rule authoring tool: The Estimate Advisor features a rule authoring tool that allows users to create and deploy custom rules within weeks. It is easier to add new rules to the compliance profile since Estimate Advisor is a cloud solution. Almost any information in the estimate or admin data can be used to formulate the rules.
3. Steer clear from “reminders” and keep rules actionable: Mitchell explains that appraisers have to be intimated when an estimate is not meeting the Insurance carrier’s standards. When appraisers see rule failure “reminders”, they might ignore them and are less likely to see the value in Estimate Advisor. If all rulers are designated as actionable, then the appraiser will know what to do to solve compliance issues before submitting the estimate. This will consequently minimize supplements.
4. Test new rules with historic estimates with Compliance Sandbox: Mitchell explains that its Estimate Advisor allows users to test new or revised rules against historical estimates in a Sandbox environment. This will show how this rule would have performed in that situation. The company states that this tool will allow repair shops to create an effective rule or set the right rule threshold, especially in the context of estimate compliance.
5. Utilize Lookup Tables to reduce profile counts and improve maintenance: The Lookup Table is a useful feature of the Estimate Advisor. This allows for multiple thresholds to be set for different users within the same profile. This can help minimize the number of profiles required due to threshold differences between users can be decreased. It also makes profile maintenance easier.
6. Leverage Estimate Advisor Reporting to make impactful decisions: Mitchell notes that the following questions can be addressed with Estimate Advisor Reporting—How well (or not well) are estimates being written? How many times are certain rules failing? Are some rules always failing? Are some rules never failing? Are some appraisers authoring better estimates than others? Are appraisers improving their behavior from estimate to estimate? With this tool, Insurance carriers can look at the data to gather insights on appraiser performance, failure counts, and rule effectiveness, among other things. This allows them to take strategic decisions.