Pacific NW Tenter\'s

[Anonymous]

Hello all:

I have been repairing windshields from my "green" tent in the Gig Harbor / Kitsap area for some time. I have nothing against the "white" tent 5 minute guys. As they do help in getting people used to this type of marketing.

The only unfortunate thing I see is the "gypsy" approach to thier site choices. They will sometimes show up at a location and work until kicked off by the land owner. Some of them look like bums. Perhaps the most important thing I notice is the tiny-tiny repair kits they have? Yesterday, I did a tight bat-wing break that the owner had been told by the "white" tent kid that these breaks were to tight and could not be repaired. I poped a bulls eye and it did the trick. (they obviously don't have the ability to do more than the simple bullseye and the quality I have seen so far is marginal to say the least. (He did however inform the owner of a shop that could do the replacement)!!!

If you are a tent guy like me, (part -tim, Saturday only), find a good location with permission from the land or business owner. And STAY THERE! You cannot force trust down people's gullet. The kinda have to sniff around and get used to you. I have placed signs accross the street that say "Windshield Repair every Saturday". I also have a large sign on my tent that states that I am an owner operator with 10+ years experience. You can go to an art store, by plastic foam filled 16" x 20", 3" stencils, and a hour or two cutting a template. Presto, instant $5.00 sign. I am now putting out a different sign every other week. Some humourous, just to get people to start looking.

Do Good work and the neighborhood will find out!

Chris Arena

[Guest]

What kind of humorous signs do you use?

Jeff Higgins
Delta Kits, Inc.
jhiggins@deltakits.com
http://www.deltakits.com

[Anonymous]

Hi Chris,

I would also be interested in hearing what kind of humor
you use in your signage...

Also... How do you hang or place your signs?
I have only tried the "tent" thing several times...
But everytime I do set up, my small signs like to try and
fly away. I had thought about just stapling them to the
top of some large dowel rods and stick them in the
ground. My large banner stays put tied to the tent, but those little signs are another story... :-)

later,
hyperflow

[Anonymous]

I have been reading for some time on this new board as well as on chip fix (Hi Rich!) about this approach to w/s repair. About two weeks ago I observed a parking lot not far from my home where a young guy was set up with sandwich signs and a well lettered new van. I only watched for about twenty minutes but he had one repair underway and four people waiting busily filling out forms with their insurance info to wait their turn. This guy was obviously not experienced as he still hadnt finished the repair he was working on when I got there. In spite of this, he may have done a decent repair if patience counts. With 5 years experience and certified in 3 systems, I'm pretty good and can do the average repair in 10 minutes without even trying to be "fast". So, here's my question. What do you have to pay (on the average) to legally set up your operation in a Mall parking lot? Does anyone have anything to share regarding this? I would imagine you have to contact the property manager, owners, leasing agents, etc. and just ask what they are agreeable to let you do. After considering this, I am planning the process of getting signage made up and approaching the malls and shopping strips in my area. I will be posting the results as this develops.

[Anonymous]

So how is the parking lot marketing going?

[Anonymous]

First of all Hi Rich Glad to see you on this board and hi to jeff too. Haven't talked to you in quite a while. Well You guys have your hands full with people camping out with tents and here in Arizona we have our hands full with people camping out at the AM/PM Gas Stations and Car washes. Just talked to a kid yesterday who i've actually helped raise and he just went to work for a (uh hummm) respectable windshield repair company that works these stations. His training consisted of 1/2 hour of actual repair and the other 2 days of customer relations. He said they use the tri glass system but i haven't been able to find a listing of that system anywhere. I guess they also co-op with different replacement companys here and they stive more for the replacement then repair. Oh yeah, i've also done my share of redoing their professional repairs also. Especially the Stars. So all in all i guess they make $10.00 of an insurance repair and $40.00 of their commision for a replacement. I just haven't had time lately to go set my awning up and also it's hard to get around these guys at every gas station. Definetly no customer relations here. I do tell my customers how ever that if they're not satisfied with the repair that they don't pay. Even if it's under their insurance. I've only had 2-3 customers in the last 2-3 years that liked the repair but i didn't and i didn't charge them. Guess what? I got them back as well as referrals. Anyway keep up the good work and you know what they say: Give a person enough rope and they'll hang their selves.
Mick

Al an Mick's Nicks N Chips

[Anonymous]

Holy smokes,

They pay $40.00 for a replacement on comission? How much do they charge for a windshield? Maybe they just do insurance work. (that would make more sense)

The company must have big bucks to put a tent at every corner.

[Anonymous]

Well cracker,
The windshields can go anywhere from 250 on up. so they get a whole whopping 40 bucks to the techs if the techs (sales people really) sell one. All they have to do is make the phone call and then set up the appointment for the customer. If the customer has it replaced then that tech (salesperson) gets the 40 bucks for the commision. 40 bucks period. no more no less. So if they get an rv replacement, who do you think is making the money? The tech (sales person) also again only gets $10.00 for each repair and thats it. The company pockets the rest. Not for me. I collect the whole claim or cash for my repairs.
Mick