Sponsor Scene Genesis Inc. is actively recruiting in Central Florida, whichwill be the first area to go live. SceneExchange, a new concept that letsshops capture more jobs by using the power of the Web to connect withcustomers, was unveiled last November.

"This is a chance for shops to benefit from a new opportunity with hugepotential," said Chrisa Hickey, Scene Genesis director of productmanagement. SceneExchange will connect vehicle owners with shops inFlorida starting in June, she added.

Industry veteran Jeff Sherrill is spearheading the Florida rollout.

The process starts when a participating insurer receives a claim and thecustomer agrees to use SceneExchange to help select the repair shop. Anindependent appraiser next inspects the vehicle and submits an estimate anddigital photographs to SceneExchange.

Member shops are alerted via SceneExchange when a new job in their area isavailable. They view the appraisal and compete for the business basedsolely on turnaround time and service. Vehicle owners go online to reviewproposals and information on the shop's training and warranty policy andread ratings from other SceneExchange customers who've used the shop.

The shop pays a flat referral fee only for the jobs it wins. Aftercompletion, the customer posts a rating of the service on SceneExchange.

"Joining early gives you a leg up. The shops that are members when we rollout will get customer feedback and ratings first, and in our pilotcustomers tended to choose shops that had the most feedback," Hickey said.

During the pilot in the Carolinas, shop owners said that customers werebetter informed and more engaged in the repair process, leading to highersatisfaction rates.

A three-minute video about SceneExchange is at www.sceneexchange.com.Click on the SceneExchange tab and then "collision repair shops."Membership is available in all states, and the service will continue toroll out across the country during 2008.

More information is available from Jeff Sherrill atjsherrill@scenegenesis.com.

Scene Genesis (scenegenesis.com) is a technology company serving thecollision repair and insurance industries.