WARNING! May be offensive to some!

[Scott]

A forum is a great tool to build friendships and a sense of community, but is not a magic lamp that one can rub to get answers to every problem one is having in their business, whether it be technical or marketing.

Everyone in business (especially us windshield repair guys) should change our mindset from one of “REACTIVE” to one of “PROACTIVE.”

We should be looking for creative ways to get customers. We should be honing our skills as a repair tech, and “ALWAYS” take sure that we did all we could to make a repair look nice.

For instance, I’ve done repairs that only took 7-8 minutes that looked great and I’ve spent up to an hour on one repair (it was the size of a silver dollar) to make it look good (though during the process I almost gave up on it – I wouldn’t recommend doing a repair this size to anyone “NEW” to repair)! The point is, don’t rush the repair!

Too many people getting into this business is just out to make a quick buck, when what they should be doing is “THINKING LONG-TERM!”

Windshield repair can be a very lucrative business, one that can be both financially rewarding as well as spiritually rewarding (meaning more time to spend doing the things that matter most to you, like spending more time with family, more time enjoying your favorite hobby, etc;).

:arrow: Make up your mind to “DO SOMETHING” to jumpstart your business and STOP waiting for business to come to you (if you do decide to just sit around waiting for business, send me an email....I have a nice rocking chair I’ll sell you)!

Scott[/b]

[Chris S]

Scott,

I argree that quality is very important, so for me I have plenty of time to make every repair the best I can. We have only been in business for 6 months with some success, but not at a consistent level of weekly repairs. Dealing with fleet mangers on selling WSR has been frustrated to say the least. Going after the retail with out breaking the bank is also difficult. I realized that word of mouth is probably the best and most cost effective adversiting. If you could provide any ideas that worked for you with limited money for advertising, I would appreciate any ideas.

[Layne]

Hmmm---Actually I am not in the same situation as most of you. I am retired and got involved in the repair process just to have something to do other than play golf every day. I don't knock on doors--post flyers--walk the car lots,etc since I don't depend upon this as my only source of income.

As you have mentioned, good quality work generates more potential customers. Satisfied clients will gladly recommend you depending upon the rapport developed during your encounter with them. A simple business card (a couple of extra ones too)
works wonders.

I am not new to this endeavor---I have been involved for over 7 years and I have watched quite a few enter with a lot of zeal---only to find out later that it is a very static environment in small town America. They become disillusioned and have to return to whatever skill they abondoned earlier.

Working with a diverse segment of society has its rewards. Although there are a few strange ones, I note overall that people find our repair business to be very interesting and it is quite a conversation piece. If they have the time...visit for just a few minutes. It leaves a positive impression of you with them.

One other tidbit of info...if you see something of interest that they do..restoring cars, any arts or crafts that they are involved in---make a few positive comments and ask a few questions. It lets them know that you are interested in what they do also.

Thanks for listening and I enjoy all of your comments immensely.

Layne

[repare-brise]

Scott

Great title and post, very true, this is far from a get rich quick scheme, it take work, effort, skill, and determination. WSR is just lika any other business, sit and wait and you will wait until you go out of business.

Chris

The folowing is one of my favorite maketing idea's, my best 8 hours using this is 64 repairs, on average I get 30-40 per factory, plus many referals in the weeks following the intervention.

Factories

These are are great source of income that requires some planning and salesman-ship, but more than worth the effort. The procedure starts on a Monday(for example), that day you ask to meet with the person responsible for their liesure committee, or employee group, or union leader. When you meet with this person your objective is to get free reign of their parking lot. The best approach is let some money talk, offer the employee’s a rebate since you don’t have travel expenses between jobs, or the approach that work 90% of the time is to offer $5. per repair to the liesure commity of union. Once you have acces to the lot, on all cars that have a repairable windshield leave a brochure with detail about you, your repairs, the cost(with free if insured , and a short text spelling out why not), and who to give the brochure too. On Wednesday, return to collect the filled out brochures, then contact the insurance companies for those involved to get pre-approved. On friday(weather permitting) show up 45 minuits before the start of the shift, and have all the employee’s whose cars you are repairing park side by side. Start repairing once all the cars have arrived(if you have more than 40 it’s advisable to have an assistant with you to do the invoices, clean the windows, and make-sure all the cars are locked up). After a car is repaired lock the doors and keep the keys. At the end of the shift, return the keys to the customers once they have paid or signed the invoice and your almost done. Give the contact person a cheque with the commision, and if you have some give-aways(hats, pens ect) give them some for their next activity. A few days later send a thank-you letter with some coupons for the employees that were unavailable that day. If the factory has mulitple shifts you can do miltiple visits in a short span of time(no more than 2 weeks total). Be aware that the night shift also needs your services, and if it takes you less than the whole shift to do the repairs catch a nap in your car and set an alarm to wake up 30 min before the end of the shift. Once in a factory visit at least 2 times a year, and make sure they know you are avialable on call at all times for emergencies.

[Anonymous]

Scott,
None of the "real people" in this business that I know would dispute anything you have said but I am a bit puzzled, could you please clarify?
You say on one hand that we cen't sit around waiting for business and we need to be creative, yet you say that it isn't in going door to door.

However you are doing it, if you have a healthy, vibrant, business that feeds your family and pays your bills, then we would all be grateful if you would share some info.

I have over the past 5 years have built a very good living and created a respectable commercial and retail customer base. And I did it all by going door to door.
And I continue in this method to grow and prosper.

We all come from very diverse backgrounds. If you have the capital to start with then you can set up an effective marketing system. I have found that advertising has to be carefully planned to obtain a cost effective benefit. I started without 2 nickels to rub together. I had to borrow the money for my first kit from a relative. I have never advertised or even had my number in the phone book. I do have signs on my truck and I dress in a standard service uniform with screen printed button down shirts. And I have a nice logo on my cards and invoices. That's about it.


I think all I want to say is, there is no right or wrong to do this as long as you have satisfactory results obtained through ethics and integrity.

[Scott]

Blind Squirrel,

First, let me congratulate you on building a successful business on such a low budget.

The point I was making about going "door-to-door" is that the majority of people do not want to solicit business this way. I know that their are those out there that could sell sand in the desert.....they thrive on face-to-face selling. But these rare individuals are in the minority.

For most, going door-to-door is uncormfortable, and will yield disappointing results. It will also be a very, very slow way to build their business.

I doubt there would be very many successful appliance repair, auto repair, etc; businesses that would reach success going door-to-door.

It soulds like you have reached success this way, which I commend because it takes perseverance.

I wish you continued success.

[Anonymous]

Just a fresh perspective, AHEM!

There are a number of unique characteristics to owning, operating and growing a windshield repair only business.

By any formula that can be applied, it is a "low ticket average" revenue generated item that most traditional marketing methods won't work with profitably.

Simply put, it is far too easy to put money into advertising, promotion and marketing that will not return a profit or make the phone ring with people asking for you to come and repair their windshields.

It doesn't matter if you start out from scratch like me, or if you have adequate capital.
I can't think of any other business that more lends itself to "direct sales" than this one.

There are, of course, a number of "marketing" techniques that create a networking environment for referall business. Yet, this still all begins with that "first contact".

It is very OK with me that most everyone else finds it "uncomfortable" going door to door and get dissappointing results. Neither is the case for me.

There is what Tom Hopkins calls "the myth of the natural born sales wonder".
I am not a super salesman. I didn't come into this world with the ability to sell ice cubes to eskimos. It has taken many years of "want to" for me to learn what little I know about selling. But who can't appreciate the simplicity of asking someone for their business?

Especially when we are in a business where the need exists practically everywhere.

So, to sum it up, be very careful about how you spend your marketing/advertisind dollar.

So Scott, just keep telling them not to go door to door, more for me!

Gary

[Scott]

Gary,

I'll say it again. You are to be congratulated on building a successful business by going out and soliciting business. It takes hard work and as you put it "the want to." I want to be perfectly clear here.....I am not suggesting that "door-to-door" soliciting is not a viable way to get business. What I was saying is.....is that many people getting into windshield repair either "cannot" or "will not" use this method long term. Frankly, it's exhausting and can be very frustrating. As you said, it took quite a while for you to build your business.

I really don't know why you would say that windshield repair is not the type of business that you can market/advertise. The profit on a repair can be as high as $40-$50 (after deducting gasoline expense). If this kind of profit margins weren't enough to justify marketing/advertising, then flower shops, pizza delivery, etc; wouldn't be doing it. There is even a "delivery/pickup" only drycleaning franchise that is very successful.

You even mentioned there being a huge need for windshield repair in your last post. I'm not condemning anyone for choosing the "door-to-door solicitation" route. Everyone who gets into this business has to choose for themselves, which road to take. Either going out soliciting business or getting customers to contact them through marketing/advertising. Anyone can market/advertise on even a small budget and build from there. Allocating $100.00-$200.00 (2-4 repairs) per month in the beginning is a good starting point.

Gary, investing $100-$200 (2-4 repairs) that has the potential of reaching thousands to tens of thousands of people, beats reaching 10, 20, even 30 people per day, going through the same sales pitch everytime, and experiencing daily frustrations. If one was to add their fuel costs up (5-days a week X 4-weeks)....they might just find that they could save money by advertising/marketing.

Just to make myself clear though Gary.......everyone is different. Some people will experience a high level of success doing what you do (going out soliciting business), many won't. You will also find those that advertise/market their business experience success, while others fail.

More and more businesses are putting "NO SOLICITING" signs in their windows, so one day the "going out soliciting" way of trying to get business may be gone. Just something to think about.[/quote]

[Anonymous]

BTW, I ALWAYS ignore the "no soliciting" on the door of a business when I am out cold calling in office/business parks.

I go in and politely ask, "could I please leave you one of my flyers?" What happens next varies a great deal from simply accepting it, saying, "have a nice day" to a conversation that at the very least ALWAYS results in an exchange of information.
I ask for and get their business card so that the next time I come in (60-90 days later) I will remember their name. I can't tell you how many jobs I have sold on the second visit. After doing this literally thousands of times, I can count on one hand the number of times someone has said, "we don't accept/allow solicitation.

I think the main difference here is in the perception of what it is I am actually doing.
I donot consider this soliciting per se. I am merely going out to introduce myself and my useful/valuable service to people. I believe I have the right to introduce myself to anyone, anytime, anyplace and to ask them for as much information as they are willing to give me.

I am very sensitive and aware of the value of peoples time. I take a total of 25 seconds to tell someone who I am, and what I do. If they are busy or preoccupied, I can see that and they appreciate that I am not pushy.

The result is that they have been made aware of the existence of a service that is available in their area that they can use when they need it.

One glaring reality that gets overlooked when evaluating the effectiveness of advertising is that people will read your ad but we all live in complicated lives and that chipped windshield is going to slide right off the bottom of that persons priority list of things to do in about the same time that I took to tell them about it.

I can't tell you how many times I have gone back and people told me, "oh yeah!" I was going to call you but just didn't get around to it". And, of course, the worst is when their windshield cracked out while they were busy with life.

At this time of year, with nice weather and daylight savings time, I will put in 1-2 hours in the evening going door to door residential. I just ask, like above, "can I please leave you on my flyers?" Then I just say that I want to let them know that I do windshield repair and
that I am available with mobile service if they get any chips on their windshields.

I also ignore the "no soliciting" signs and I have NEVER had anyone be rude to me.

One item of interest, I have engaged the services of a marketing consultant to help me set up a data base to better organize the customer base that I have built.
By getting more focused and efficient with this system, I will be able to feed off this base and along with referalls that it generates will become a great deal more consistent and won't need to cold call anymore. My plan is to be selective with the customers that I want, both commercial and retail.