5 Key Areas And Point Of Difference - Secrets to Making a Killing In The Windshield Repair Business
You love your
business but are tired of looking for business or you are wondering why
it is not building faster? Windshield repair services are in great
demand when you need it! That is the great thing about it, no matter
how good a salesperson you are, you never have to sell anyone. They
either need a repair or they do not. When they do need it, you will
make a lot of money showing up to do the repair.
Use the Following 5 Secrets and NEVER be Rejected Again:
- Make sure you set a goal every day
- Systemize your work and your day
- Always reward yourself, especially daily and hourly
- Use the Area approach (ULTRA BIG SECRET REVEALED)
- Adjust your attitude to reflect your new approach
NUMBER ONE
Make sure you set a goal every day. Goals are funny things. It has been my experience (at that of many
others) that having clear objectives for the day, greatly enhance the
likely hood of accomplishment. For argument sake (and for the sake of
making this article make more sense), lets assume you have set a
monetary goal of making $300.00 for the day.
Write it down! Write it down! Write it down!
I
write down my goal the night before, that way I can sleep on it,
knowing that when I wake up I have a purpose. The alternative is waking
up with a stupor of thought and wasted time, trying to figure out what
you are going to do.
Do not discount this step. It will help you
in ways that you cannot imagine! Having a goal will make all the
difference in your daily attitude, energy and ability. It will help you
stay focused and as you develop the willingness to use your goals
daily, you will develop an attitude that will add integrity to your
accomplishments that will aid you as you work.
You will see
yourself in the mind frame of HAVING TO REACH YOUR GOAL --NO MATTER
WHAT! Use it, IT IS VERY POWERFUL! (and it really is as simple as I
just mentioned).
NUMBER TWO
Systemize your work and your day. Now most anyone can purchase a windshield repair system and learn to do
quality repairs. But few have discovered the exact techniques to
consistently make it work for them and how to have a constant flow of
customers.
The secret to doing a lot of repairs is knowing where
and how to contact people. Mostly it is a function of letting them know
you there and able to do the repair. Problem is most people wake up
thinking about how to find someone who needs windshield repair.
You Gotta Love McDonald's Hamburgers!
I
think everyone knows how to make a better hamburger than McDonald's,
but their real genius is in how they how developed systems to operate
their operation. Begin thinking about systems you can implement in your
windshield repair business. Make every part of your business a system.
For example:
- Get up the same time every day (your schedule)
- Plan your activities for the same time every day. (your activities)
- Set up the same time and method to do your billing weekly (your administrative tasks)
- Same with your ordering supplies, etc. (your office stuff)
- Have a certain area planned for each day to do marketing. (your marketing)
You
get the idea, systems will help you stay focused and you will be able
to concentrate on the real business of business. Now you have the
concept, pay particular attention to number 4, as one way to solidify a
facet of your business marketing strategies.
NUMBER THREE
Always reward yourself, especially daily and hourly. Once
you have set your goals for the day (number one above) and are starting
to think about how to systemize your business (number two above), lets
talk about rewards. Having a reward for your goal achievements is
important because even though we might have all the ways to set goals
figured out, we need reasons to do things.
In reference to the
example of having a goal of $300 a day, let us talk about how to set it
up so you can see results, feel good about your progress and be
motivated to reach your goal every day. Having a goal is important and
setting up a system (there is that word again) will help you in ways
you will understand after applying it.
Hourly Daily Weekly Monthly Rewards
So
let us break it down and say that you will have mini rewards for every
$100 level you reach in the day and a bigger reward for reaching $300
and even bigger rewards for reaching your goal every day for a week,
month, etc.
After reaching the first hundred of the day, take a
little 10 minute break and treat yourself to a drink or candy bar. This
may seem simple and trivial but it is not. It is important
psychologically. It is important to FEEL the rewards and know you are
progressing. This step is so important, do not discount it.
When
you reach your daily goal you may treat yourself off with something
that is important to you, it might be a movie, a stop at the local
bookstore or even a special dinner. After a successful week of reaching
your daily goals, think of something special to reward yourself with on
the weekend. See how much fun this will add to your life? Not only fun,
but it will help you achieve your goals.
NUMBER FOUR (This ONE IDEA has made me tens of thousands of dollars)
Use the Area approach. Now that you have the fundamentals down from the first 3 items above,
now here is where you will learn the actual technique to apply to your
goals and daily activities.
Get a small flyer, nothing expensive,
one that is the size of half a piece of paper (8.5X11). Have it show
some small pictures (or drawings, like on mine) of what several
different rock chips look like, i.e. a star break, a bullseye, a
bullseye with star cracks, etc..
The flyer should have your
contact info on it, and even a little description on how most insurance
companies will waive the customers deductible and pay for the repair.
You know the basics. I have mine printed in 2-color. Nothing real
fancy. Have them printed on normal paper, you are going to give a lot
of these away.
Killer Method of Getting to the Right People
Here
we go: Choose the professional business parks around your town and
starting early in the morning. Walk in and approach the receptionist.
Here is what you should say and do, (Exactly):
I was in the area fixing a few rock chips in a car windshield (Hand them a flyer) and was wondering if you would give this to anyone you know who might have one of these (as they are looking at it, point to the little drawings of sample rock chips on your flyer) on their windshield.
Say, thank you and turn and walk out. (watch them for their level of interest. It will
tell you if they might have one or will confirm that they do not, so
you can move on)
IT IS IMPORTANT YOU TURN AND WALK AWAY. YOU ARE THERE TO HELP THEM AND NOT APPLY ANY PRESSURE WHATSOEVER!
You
will find that if there is no interest, there is probably no damage on
their windshield and they do not need you (at least not today).
BUT if they hesitate or ask questions, and more often than not, they will call you back and say, Hey wait a minute, come back (IMPORTANT FOR YOU TO APPEAR TO WALK AWAY. IT IMPLIES, NO PRESSURE, AND PEOPLE DO NOT LIKE TO BE PRESSURED OR SOLD).
IT
IS A GIVEN: I should not have to say that you should go in dressed
nicely with some sort of logo on your shirt or hat that shows you are
serious and you are a professional.
Using this technique will
give you a leg up and make it possible to set your goals and reach
them! You will never feel rejected and you will make a lot of money
with this.
When I say business parks I mean,
professional business buildings like doctors offices, dentists,
lawyers, etc. I even have one of the state government buildings on my
route!
NOTE: You will often see a sign on the front door of many businesses that says, no soliciting IGNORE IT. That is right, ignore it.
POSTURE YOURSELF AND YOUR IMAGE FOR SUCCESS
Let me say this (very important): You must have sort of a humble attitude about it and act like you are doing a favor by just leaving a small flyer in the case they might know someone else who might need your services. (This is important because it takes the pressure off of them being
approached with a sales pitch directly). Remember, you are only there
to drop off a flyer (that is what you want them to perceive and
believe).
THIS WORKS LIKE MAGIC! HAVE FUN WITH IT AND YOU WILL HAVE GREAT DAYS OF SUCCESS AND MEET A LOT OF INTERESTING AND FUN PEOPLE.
NO PRESSURE NO REJECTION LOTS OF NEW BUSINESS.
After
you do this for a while, you will develop a route you go on and visit
the same buildings every month or so. Some of the receptionists will
recognize you the second time and remember you were there to help them
last time with NO PRESSURE and if they used you to fix their rock chip,
in most cases: IT COST THEM NOTHING AND SAVED THEM THE HASSLE OF
CALLING SOMEONE, SETTING UP AN APPOINTMENT, TAKING HALF A DAY OFF AND
ALL THAT!
NUMBER FIVE
Adjust your attitude to reflect your new approach. Your
attitude will determine your altitude! This business is no different.
You will win and succeed in direct proportion to how you think about
things. You will learn what Dr. Denis Waitley said in his book,
entitled The Seeds of Greatness, when he said:
We seldom get what we want in life, but we always get what we expect.
I
had the chance to meet Dr. Waitley several years ago and we discussed
this great phenomenon. What a great guy. If you get a chance to read
his stuff, do it, he is a real pro.
This is a professional
business and you need to treat it as such. Even though the barrier to
entry is relatively small, the opportunity is enormous if you apply
yourself, set goals, and expect great things.
I set my wristwatch
up to beep every 15 minutes to remind me to stay focused on my goal (I
have a wondering mind, I call it genius, but most would call it, ADD
ha!).
Your Integrity Will Strengthen With Your Resolve! (and you will make more money)
I
zero in on achieving my goal and have developed the attitude that I
will let nothing get in the way of my goal!, NOTHING! If my car breaks
down, I call a tow truck . I do not spend all day taking it to the
mechanic etc. I will not let anything get in my way of reaching my goal.
POINT OF THE WEDGE
Use
the five areas I talked about and remember that the in doing so, you
are among the few who recognize that developing a system for every
facet of your business is the secret to more success in whatever you do.
The
WEDGE portion of this whole approach is to REALIZE that the windshield
repair business is one of the only businesses I know of that:
1. The end customer actually wants and needs the business. There is no selling required (no rejection either. I hate rejection).
2. In most cases the customer does not pay for the repair. Insurance companies are glad to pay!
3. It usually takes 5 to 10 minutes to perform the actual service.
4.
The actual cost of goods for each repair is less than a dollar! And you
get to charge from $35 to $50 dollars! How many businesses do you know
with that kind of return?
5. It saves customers (and insurance
companies) millions of dollars annually in replacement costs, which is
why they love it. If most rock chips are not fixed they end up
splitting the whole windshield which ends up needing replacement, which
is a lot more expensive than a repair!
6. Little or no risk
involved (if your repair ever fails (unlikely) simply refund the repair
cost! I have never had to return money!
7. You can run this business out of your home with little or no overhead!
8. You can make a serious professional income with this little niche business.
No More Waiting For Business to Come to You!
You
see a lot of repair technicians setting up tents at the local grocery
store parking lots and waiting for cars to come to them. The problem is
waiting. Why not set up a system of soft marketing to include in
your business that will make it easier for a person to have the repair
done, without hassle and without having to take a lot of time to do it.
Wake
up every day, start work at 9 or 930AM and work till 3-5 PM and come
home with over $300 in work done. My best day was $740 by 2PM (and I
was even training someone that day)!
FORGET YELLOW PAGE ADVERTISING. THOSE DAYS ARE GONE!!!
IF YOU WANT THE BUSINESS, SET UP A SYSTEM TO GO OUT AND GET IT! SO THEY WILL KEEP COMING TO YOU! NO MORE WAITING!
Good
luck in your business. Use these 5 little secrets and point of the
wedge and watch your windshield repair business take off!
Happy Chippin!
Martin
Collins is an international windshield repair marketing expert. He has
taught windshield repair and marketing in all 50 states and 6 foreign
countries. He invented the Superglass Windshield System (which he later
sold) and introduced windshield repair services to Jiffy Lube
International and the Car Wash Industry nationwide in the 90's and is
the author of many international articles on marketing windshield
repair services. He has been on the cover of national industry
magazines and wrote the national best seller, IN THE CHIPS, now in its
second printing. You can visit his website at http://www.windshield-repair-business.com
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