What is Your Travel Distance Limit?

[Jason74]

This question is for those who provide mobile service. What is the maximum amount of miles that you are willing to travel from your home base for a single repair appointment?

Do you have different rates for different distances?

Thanks for the answers,
Jason

[paulrsf]

When I first started out, I had set the travel range for insurance referrals to 15 miles. I was getting about three referrals per week. About two months ago, I broadened the service area to 35 miles and I am now receiving an average of 2 referrals per day. Going the extra mile in this case has paid off. Also, it never fails that while I am repairing one windshield, another customer grabs me and asks me to have a look at their windshield as well, resulting in quite a few additional repairs each week.
-PaulR

[SGT]

For insurance work I do not use a radius in miles becuase there are areas I wont go even if it falls within a straight line distance I would travel. If it is not easily driven to I will pass at time of referral. This is almost 100% of the time with SGC network as they do not even offer things in the distance parameter I have set. That said, it is 20 miles one way and most places fall where I have an account or more so I schedule accordingly. I have had customers who still wanted to use my shop meet me at a convenient location for both of us. Since my retail is more than most networks pay, I will make exceptions. For the most part I try to stay close to home.

You know before you pick a distance you need to know what it will really cost to do the job. Gas, Milage, Time, Supplies, Advertising and other overhead things... If you do not, you will be thinking you just made fifty bucks for say an hour but it really might have cost you more than you got paid. Crunch the numbers and schedule work in the same areas at the same times.

Good luck to you.

[t4k]

Yep, I have to agree with the previous two posts. If you group them together in a certain area, you can afford to drive further out of your normal range.

[screenman]

Whilst you are driving to the customer just have a good look out of the car window at how many potential customer you are driving past. Try getting a map and put a circle of say 3 miles around your base and make sure all of these people who drive know about you. then when you have done that if you are not busy move the circle slightly larger. There are many successful franchises that work well on a very small area, you just have to get the marketing correct. You are only earning whilst the tools are on the windshield.

[Jason74]

When I first started out, I had set the travel range for insurance referrals to 15 miles. I was getting about three referrals per week. About two months ago, I broadened the service area to 35 miles and I am now receiving an average of 2 referrals per day. Going the extra mile in this case has paid off. Also, it never fails that while I am repairing one windshield, another customer grabs me and asks me to have a look at their windshield as well, resulting in quite a few additional repairs each week.
-PaulR

35 miles doesn't seem too far if you are guaranteed payment for the job. But if you drive all that distance only to find that the customer missed the appointment or that the break is not repairable, then that would equate to a lot of lost time. Does this happy very often?

Jason

[paulrsf]

There have been a couple of times where I drove a considerable distance only to find that the windshield needed to be replaced, not repaired. -Real bummer when it happens! While there is no way to absolutely guarantee that a customer will show up or that the damage can be repaired, I have come up with a series of questions that I ask each customer in advance to help steer the odds more in my favor. The list of questions is growing as I encounter more variables. I always ask at least the following:
1. What is the age of the vehicle?
2. Approximately when did the damage occur?
3. If you put a dime over the damage, would the dime cover it entirely, and if not, approximately how much would be extending past the dime? I've actually asked customers to measure the damage while I wait on the phone. In once case, a customer took a picture with his cell phone and emailed it to me. The point is, I try to get as much information as is possible so I have a pretty good idea of what to expect.
4. Do you notice any legs or cracks coming from the break and if so approximately what is the length of the longest leg?
5. Will I be repairing the windshield inside or outdoors?
6. Once I schedule an appointment I ask if the customer would like a reminder call either the night before or the same day as the repair.
I have never had a customer not show up, though I have had customers arrive home a few minutes late. With insurance referrals a lot of the information I need comes from the referral, but I ask the customer anyway because I have found that what customers tell insurance companies is often different from what they tell me. Most often the date they report that the damage occurred and the date that they tell me the damage occurred varies sometimes by two months. I think they are afraid to tell their insurance company of the correct date because they imagine if the damage was not reported immediately, it would not be covered. As a rule, I notice that customers tend to UNDER estimate the extent of the damage. Even with all of my questions I frequently find larger more involved situations than the customer described to their insurance company or to me on the phone.
Lastly, once I arrive I can usually find at least one or more additional chips that need repair. Sometimes they are extensive enough to require a full repair cycle and sometimes they are just superficial and only need to be cleaned out and treated with pit resin. In any case, it is a way for me to either make some extra money or to offer it free of charge as a customer service gesture. This helps make driving the extra distance more worthwhile and often leads to referrals.
I'd be interested in hearing from others what questions they ask in advance to qualify customers and what other opportunities they come across for earning additional revenue wile on a repair.
Hope some of this helps....
Paul

[Jason74]

There have been a couple of times where I drove a considerable distance only to find that the windshield needed to be replaced, not repaired. -Real bummer when it happens! While there is no way to absolutely guarantee that a customer will show up or that the damage can be repaired, I have come up with a series of questions that I ask each customer in advance to help steer the odds more in my favor. The list of questions is growing as I encounter more variables. I always ask at least the following:
1. What is the age of the vehicle?
2. Approximately when did the damage occur?
3. If you put a dime over the damage, would the dime cover it entirely, and if not, approximately how much would be extending past the dime? I've actually asked customers to measure the damage while I wait on the phone. In once case, a customer took a picture with his cell phone and emailed it to me. The point is, I try to get as much information as is possible so I have a pretty good idea of what to expect.
4. Do you notice any legs or cracks coming from the break and if so approximately what is the length of the longest leg?
5. Will I be repairing the windshield inside or outdoors?
6. Once I schedule an appointment I ask if the customer would like a reminder call either the night before or the same day as the repair.
I have never had a customer not show up, though I have had customers arrive home a few minutes late. With insurance referrals a lot of the information I need comes from the referral, but I ask the customer anyway because I have found that what customers tell insurance companies is often different from what they tell me. Most often the date they report that the damage occurred and the date that they tell me the damage occurred varies sometimes by two months. I think they are afraid to tell their insurance company of the correct date because they imagine if the damage was not reported immediately, it would not be covered. As a rule, I notice that customers tend to UNDER estimate the extent of the damage. Even with all of my questions I frequently find larger more involved situations than the customer described to their insurance company or to me on the phone.
Lastly, once I arrive I can usually find at least one or more additional chips that need repair. Sometimes they are extensive enough to require a full repair cycle and sometimes they are just superficial and only need to be cleaned out and treated with pit resin. In any case, it is a way for me to either make some extra money or to offer it free of charge as a customer service gesture. This helps make driving the extra distance more worthwhile and often leads to referrals.
I'd be interested in hearing from others what questions they ask in advance to qualify customers and what other opportunities they come across for earning additional revenue wile on a repair.
Hope some of this helps....
Paul

Good info!
Thanks for sharing!
Jason

[just chippen away]

I followed Screenmans post and thought I was on "What is Your Travel Distance Limit?" sorry for miss posting.


I live 17 miles out of town so I work my jobs around my way in and my way back out of town. When I have a job out of town I will log it in as the first job of the day and just leave early to get them in at the time I would of with a local job, Get back in town if need be for the next job, if no calls at that time I will stop in on other places and see if there is any other work. Then back track in town. I go 35 miles to the next town only.
I do get a lot of my customers to come in and I will catch them as they are at their DR. appt. or shopping. As I tell them " they can shoot two birds with one stone this way" 90% are happy to come in town to shop. I will work around their time schedule. I make it a convention for them as possible.

I have some coming in from 50 plus miles away on a regular basis.

[mrchip]

paulrsf...if you are cleaning out surface nicks and filling with pit fill you are doing a disservice to the customer and to the networks by charging for a non repair..just a wrong way to make a buck