Steve Wacker Email & Phone Number

Chicago, Il, Us

Greater Chicago Area

In my current position, I oversee an auto damage appraisal operation which consists of 7 front-line managers, 50 front-line appraisers, and over 2400 repair facilities covering 7 regions across 25 states. I am ultimately responsible for assuring that over $500 million in annual vehicle claims are handled in an efficient and cost effective manner while maintaining the highest levels of customer satisfaction.Key Responsibilities of this position include:• Manage all aspects of auto physical damage handling in the Guaranteed Repair Network, including damage payment severity, rental management, total loss severity, repair facility relationships, vendor relationships, and customer service outcomes.• Evaluate, oversee, and coordinate all hiring, training, coaching, development, and performance of the repair management staff in the 7 regions within my operation.• Evaluate performance of Guaranteed Repair Network shop partners across all key measures and manage the facilities as appropriate.• Serve as national subject matter expert for Guaranteed Repair Network process.• Lead Lean Management System projects, aimed at improving the overall efficiency and effectiveness of the Guaranteed Repair Network program.• Serve as key communicator between local and national sales branches and field appraisal/direct repair operations.• Coordinate action plans and direction between field and in-house direct repair operations.

Greater St. Louis Area

My position as manager of the auto damage appraisal team was to oversee all aspects of damage appraisal and repair management in the state. This included coordinating accurate appraisals and management of repairs across all repair channels, including direct repair and non-direct repair estimates.Key Responsibilities of this position included:• Managed overall claims performance, through a team of 5 front line managers, 30 staff estimators and 250 Network Repair Shop partners.• Maintained vendor relationships including parts, salvage, rental, repair, and estimating software vendors.• Evaluated and managed hiring, training, coaching, development, and performance of the repair management staff in my region.• Evaluated the performance of Network Repair Shop Partners across all key measures and developed corrective actions with those facilities as appropriate.• Identified training needs and then designed and implemented programs at the individual, regional, and state levels to address those needs.

Greater St. Louis Area

My position was to oversee all aspects of vehicle repairs and customer outcomes for direct repair insurance partners.Key Responsibilities of this position included:• Ensured that the key measure expectations of each insurance partner were met.• Directly oversaw the timeliness and quality of repairs for each major insurance partner.• Updated customers on the progress of their repairs and worked to resolve any issues that arose during the course of the repairs.• Negotiated with vendors to ensure that quality parts were obtained in the most timely and cost effective manner.