Best Auto Body Shop: Trudel Auto Body

The success of Trudel Auto Body Collision Centre in Prince Albert speaks for itself.

Trudel Auto Body has been voted as Best Auto Body Shop in Prince Albert for the fourth time, having also won the BOB Awards honour in 2020, 2018 and 2016.

Despite the success in the awards, manager Ivan Trudel said he doesn’t exactly go out and campaign for the awards.

“That makes me feel good when it’s a genuine award. It was just the people that voluntarily went out there and voted,” he said. “It’s good to know that people have trusted me over the years to fix their vehicles and they’re happy with my customer service, obviously. We’ve won a few times now, so it’s a reassuring feeling that I’m on the right track.”

When asked how his business has become a BOB Awards dynasty in recent years, Ivan said it’s about the commitment to customer service.

Although Ivan oversees operations of the shop, he still gets his hands dirty in the garage to cut down on wait times. To Ivan, running his business is more than just fixing bumps on vehicles, it’s about connecting with customers.

“I do believe we do have a more personal relationship and better customer service, that’s the first thing.”

“I do believe we do have a more personal relationship and better customer service, that’s the first thing.”

Another big factor has been Trudel Auto Body Collision Centre’s ability to achieve and maintain SGI’s Elite accreditation. Around 95 per cent of their business are claims through SGI and deal with repairs, theft recovery, vandalism and more.

“I would say we have strived to stay amongst SGI’s top rating,” Ivan said. “All of those things, in order to maintain that top level of accreditation, you have to be on top of training for technicians, and new tooling, and have good key performance indicator scores. It’s just trying to stay on top of our game and as much ahead of the curve we can.”

During the pandemic, Ivan said every safety precaution has been taken with having plexi-barriers installed, masks and sanitizer available, and making sure all staff are up to date with all protocols. But the biggest challenge for Ivan throughout the pandemic has been not being able to connect with customers as usual.

“It was difficult, because it’s a very unpersonal way to deal with people and I don’t like that at all. I like to be able to sit right beside my customer and explain the estimate and what I wrote, and make sure that everything is transparent,” Ivan said. “They know what the plan is, and I like to do that when I’m sitting right beside them—but you can’t do that anymore.”

Trudel Auto Body has been in operation since 1972, when Ivan’s father set up a small car garage beside a grocery store in Albertville. He then started teaching a body shop class in the SIAST Prince Albert campus in 1992 before buying the current shop at 75 South Industrial Drive. Visit their website, Facebook page or give them a call at 306-922-4791.

Congratulations to Ivan and the team at Trudal Auto Body on their fourth BOB Award win.