Calling All Delta Kits Users

[Brent Deines]

Frank,

For people like you who have a well established and successful business, bragging rights may be enough, but the fact is there are a lot of technicians who simply do not have the money to compete without a little help. As I said in my original post, some of our competitors have already been sponsoring their customers or franchisees. If the NWRA wants to make a rule that says no one can sponsor a competitor or wants to limit the amount that can be offered, I have no say in that. But why is it that Delta Kits is always treated like the red headed step child? I don't hear anyone squealing about the other sponsorships being offered.

You do bring up a good point about the possibility of our competitors offering more, but so what if they do? Are you sure they don't already? I'm certainly not going to get in a bidding war. If a Delta Kits user decides they will use another system in the competition because a competitor offers a larger sponsorship they really don't have any loyalty to the equipment in the first place. My offer will not attract those people. My offer will only attract loyal Delta Kits customers who could use a little help coming up with the money necessary to compete. Remember, they still have to believe they can do well or the incentive is very minimal.

My job is not to make the NWRA or my competitors happy and I don't try to tell them how to run their operations. In fact, should it not be their job to make me happy. I pay them every year! My job is to make Delta Kits customers happy, and from the response so far, my offer is doing just that. It's been suggested that I should have just given that money to AGRR so they could dole it out as prize money to whoever wins. How does that help Delta Kits customers if it is not a Delta Kits customer that wins? In this case the NWRA makes the rules and I have not broken those rules. I have also not done anything unethical or anything that has not already been done, other than post on this forum that is.

Every time I turn around someone is trying to tell me how to run my business, while all I ever try to do is mind my own business. Apparently anything I do opens a can of worms these days. Just curious, do you send Nike letters telling them they should not sponsor athletes who use their products?

As for vendors being judges, I agree with you that it is very difficult to find unbiased judges, but I don't feel any vendors should be judges and never have. I told Korey that as well, but when he was asked to be a judge he was told he would not be judging any Delta Kits customers, so it didn't seem like it would do any harm. Still, I think it is good that a Delta Kits representative will not judge a competition.

Look, the Windshield Repair Olympics should be fun and void of politics. It should also be about the competitors, not the vendors. I watched several of our competitors graciously congratulate Brian when he won last year and I certainly congratulated Matt the year before. In fact, I tried to congratulate as many of the competitors as I could in the years I have been there to watch. Yes, there is a marketing advantage to having a customer win the competition, and it would be foolish not to take advantage of that, but I have always tried to put the spotlight back on Brian. The little bit of sponsorship money we are offering helps with expenses, but is not enough to bring out the money grabbers. I really feel sorry for anyone who lives in such a conspiratorial world that they have to try to make this into something it isn't.

[SGT]

As a previous competitor, I can say that the publicity is nice and will get you some recognition within the industry. Great for the ego but not so much for the business as my accounts and potential customers do not read these industry publications. Ego does not pay the bills. The local coverage I recieved was really minimal at best. I believe it was about five sentences in the back of one local paper. I do not believe that was due to lack of effort from the NWRA as they have no control over what a paper deems newsworthy for print. I feel the NWRA did there part. So I did not really get any measurable business from the local coverage. I had to take the ball and run with it to get the word out there. I am not complaining as I have always worked hard to succeed. Yes the honor and bragging rights are yours which is nice but that does not put food on the table.

After seeing for two years in a row, a low turn out for the repair olympics vs. the replacement olympics, in my humble opinion it comes down to the extremely large prize money that brings out the competitors. Where does that money come from? The "MFG's"! Plus the replacment contest is looked upon as a much bigger deal and I have seen it first hand. Brent you cant fix all issues but I appreciate you and any other mfg who steps up to not only help the NWRA/WRO build a stronger event by enticing protential competitors but for also recognizing the reality that most true independants face in todays economy(every cent counts) and providing an incentive to your customers to get involved and risk the loss of business. Your are not offering a free ride. You still have to compete and do well to get your incentives and the NWRA wins either way. Since DKI is not a franchise, if your incentives even gets 1 or 2 more competitors to compete that is more than others are doing to get more true independants to compete that I am aware of. Personally I think that the NWRA should have recognized this issue and handled it in house which may have prevented this controversy. 10,000 dollars prize money is serious and why the replacement contest is so big. Sure 10,000 pulls many competitors out of the woodwork but the cream will always rise to the top. The are no fluke winners. Who ever wins, deserves to win and deserves to be rewarded. Not only for there efforts in the competition but the sacrafices they have made to compete. Our(all competitors) professionalism is the model images the NWRA is trying to promote to make this industries credibility strong. I am not saying prizes need to be 10,000 I was just using the replacement contest as an example. Sorry for the rant but this thread has really deviated from my original intent.

At the risk of this thread turning into a MFG battle, I know other MFG's monitor your forum and would like to hear there input on this if you would permit it.

[Brent Deines]

At the risk of this thread turning into a MFG battle, I know other MFG's monitor your forum and would like to hear there input on this if you would permit it.

Of course it is permitted. Despite the efforts of some to suggest otherwise (not you Brian), the same rules apply for all members of the windshield repair forum.

I'm not sure why you would think it would turn into a battle as most of us get along quite well, but I would be surprised if too many other manufacturers piped up after the response I received from my post. I think most of our competitors shy away from this forum for the same reason I shy away from other glass repair forums. Time, being the number one factor, but also the fact that it is moderated by a competitor. I know I have enough trouble finding time to post on this forum, and never seem to be able to find time to read, let alone post, on other glass repair forums. I also find it very difficult to not promote my products when that is my primary responsibility as president of the company. I'm sure that is just as difficult for our competitors, but it is a violation of forum guidelines.

[SGT]

I guess I just figured the way this thread as well as others have evolved into a negative spin that it would happen. The insight I am looking for really is not a brand promotion one. I really want to hear thoughts on the WRO, judging, prizes and mfg's offering incentives to increase competitor registration and help compensate for the expenses incurred to compete. I look forward to other mfg's views. Remember there are plenty of users of your systems that are part of this forum that may benefit from your respones. Thanks in advance.

[SuperGlassDave]

Hey Brian and Brent,
Since you invited comment from others, here's mine about the Olympics.
Our company SuperGlass, Inc. does pay the travel & hotel expenses for our Olympic contestants.
We haven't offered extra prize money. I don't think that's what drives our competitors anyway.
I also contribute the Emerald Sponsorship last year and this year. Not for the publicity, that's for sure or the credit from anyone. We help sponsor it so it can continue. Eventually, it will be a big deal, I think. Higher prize money, bigger sponsors probably.
Our Franchisees (Lee Simms and Lee Helms) enjoyed competing last year. Lee Simms will compete again this year. It's about winning to feel great about yourself and your company. And, it's about competing with your peers, learning, teaching and communicating. It's also about promoting the most professional presentation of windshield repair possible. To see the competition is to see what everyone should emulate in their everyday repair procedures and behavior.
Hope you agree. I bet Brian does.
Thanks for the invite to participate in the discussion as a manf.
David Casey - SuperGlass

[Brent Deines]

Thanks for your input Dave. You are I are both doing what we feel is best to encourage windshield repair technicians to compete, just with a slightly different approach. I think it's a little different working with franchisees than it is with true independents.

Let me reiterate that I have no qualms with the NWRA, AGRR, or any of our competitors over this issue. I was surprised by the reaction to my post, but certainly not upset by it.

[SGT]

Hi Dave,

Hope all is well. I am glad you checked in here on this. Yes, you make valid points. I think all professionals are holding themselves to the highest standards not only in the competition but in daily operations as well. You are right there are non monetary rewards to be had which is what my original intent of this thread was but it got derailed a little.

Personally, I am not out for just a cash prize but I do have to admit it is a little disappointing that the replacement contest hands out substantial prizes which is why they get the turn out they do. They want it to be a big deal, they treat it like a big deal and it is a big deal. Trust me if they said they were dropping the prize values for the replacement guys you would see the turn out diminish rapidily unless they contestants are employees of large companies and being paid to do it. As we know most repair only shops are run by one individual. It has to be worth it to stop daily operations to compete. It costs quite a bit of money to compete... airfare or other means of travel, hotel, entry, certifications, shipping tools, food, drink and lets not forget about the loss of business for minimum of one day. It adds up quick.

I do not want this to just be a money thing here but it needs to be recognized and if they want the repair contest to be a big deal with good contestant turnout, it will take larger prize money or some other prize that will create excitement and draw. If not I believe it will stay stagnate or worse, end.

Beyond that, I look forward to competing again and seeing old and new faces.

[SuperGlassDave]

Hey Brian & Brent,
You are right Brian, I would hate to see that only competitors with corp sponsors could compete.
So, money could enter into it two ways, (1) to help competitors get to the competition and compete and (2) make a higher monetary award, making it potentially more worthwhile to go there and compete.
Where to get sponsors is the question. Is there a supplier that serves most of the industry that would get behind independent repairers? Do the indepenents want to contribute to a pool to help sponsor one of their own? Do the competitors contribute to a pot for winner takes all like texas hold em?
I am serious, not kidding. These are three things to look at. Can we think up some more? Maybe with input from others we can come up with something that would help everyone feel like it is their Olympics too.
I mostly want to see the event continue and get a chance to grow into something more meaningful in the future. Of course, I would like someone from our company to win but, that's up to the judges.
Dave Casey - SuperGlass

[Frank EU]

Dave:
For a start, no matter how modest, I am prepared, as a NWRA member, to pay a higher membership fee, say, just for the example, $10 per year.
If the NWRA would add just a mere $10 per year per member, and alocate the total sum to a prize pot, it would help. and be a start in another direction.

There are 15 mfr members, around 120 repair/replacement members and 9 international members. That makes 129 members x10 = $1290.
If, and I say if, the friendly mfr's are willing to add a mere $50 each, we have another $750.
There is your first $2000 in prize money.
It makes it ''our'' thing, we have all contributed to this great event, in a co-op manner, everyone wins, nobody loses.
It is nothing real big, but it is a good start.

[SGT]

Great suggestions guys. I certainly do not have the answer or the NWRA/ industry influence to host discussions with other key individuals that have the power to make changes but hope this gets explored more. Recognizing that there is a problem is the first step and I think Brent had his hands on the crystal ball here. Of course when DK made the annoucment I was thrilled at the potential to win additional prizes but I believe his intent was not just to pay his equipment users that placed well. He truely wanted to preserve the event by enticing new competitors.

You mention where to get the sponsors, well maybe the best place to look is the replacement side? I assume industry related company sponsorships is how they do it. How does any other competition that rewards winners do it? I am not an event promoter but maybe if there was a way to ensure prizes put up by manufactures was infact given to the contestants and not used for other costs of the event, more would feel they are supporting the competitors rather than being unsure of where there money is going.

I really am not sure but do look forward to what others have to say and were this may go.