Sally/Mike- I too, hate rejection and cold calling. What little I do go after, I try to do without pressure to the customer. This also means very little pressure on me. One of my favorite places to spot chips are busy conveinent store parking areas- or any other place where people come in and out frequently and its easy to tell whos car is whos. Talk to the driver and hand out your card or brochure- quick ,low key- low pressure. Another excellent place to hit is a retirement community where the elderly residents live in large apartment style buildings and still drive. Most of these places have open area parking lots. Start walking the lot with your clip board gathering information-within minutes you'll be greeted by a nosey senior asking what you're doing. Explain why your there. Most retirees love to talk and will start telling you who owns what car ect. If you can score one job, you'll soon have an audience of bored curiousity seekers watching your repair. Also mention you're a veteran Mike= big plus with seniors. I did four one day at the same place and felt like Billy Mays (Oxy-Clean). If you can't score any repairs, ask if you can leave your list and a few cards on their bulletin board just in case somebody wants you to come back. As far as fleet work, if you can look over a car dealers inventory on a Sunday when the dealership is closed, find all the chips and write down the make and stock numbers on one of your invoices and give to the manager on Mon. morning. If he says he has somebody, come back 2 weeks later with another list- some of the same cars will probably have gone unfixed- have a volume price in mind if he asks how much to fix em. Winters coming up, let the customer know that this is when the shield will most likely crack out , and time is running out. Tell them "hey I'm just trying to help save you the cost and hassle of having to replace your windshield - the choice is yours". Hope this helps a little. I also have a few cases of windshield washer fluid anti freeze (89 cents a gallon) that I use to top off their resevoirs with after the repair. Cheap extra service- no charge, leaves an impression.Good Luck- Bob
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