Managing a tent location

[gt_repair]

I remember in the past some talk about a maintenance fee that some of you talked about and thought it would bite someone in the back side....

I hit accounts a lot and it ends up being a dead run, but times it is worth the stop... You have to take the good with the bad..... In our line of work we are commition workers. We do not get a flat rate per week. and that was what it was sounding like when the talk was going around, that you all wanted to be paid even if there was no work.... The vender was paying for nothing if there was nothing to repair.... Times are tight and that was one of the cut backs.. More will follow...

In my case I know what account have slowed down and I slowed down with them by not hitting them as often. They still call when they are in a bind, and I come runnning to bail them out....

Sorry if I stepped on any toes.

Don D.

[SGT]

StarQuest,

I can also appreciate the loss of a good account. We used to have all the Ent Rent-a-Car locations in our area. All the locations were thrilled with the weekly/on call service we provided. They had told us that the replacement shops sometimes took a couple od days to handle service calls and the unit would sit.

Even with Gary's insight on the corporate structure at Ent and the feedback from the locations to corp. we could not convince the regional fleet/maint mgr. and the loss control mgr to keep our services. Their logic was that they wanted a company that could provide both repair and replacement even with the horrible response time. They just could not see the cost/time saving advantage as being more important. I tried very hard to convince them to no avail. It was lost to a large local company. Oh well keep moving on.

As for the tent, go for it, I will be doing the same this year. Anything done properly/professionally will be noticed over the lesser competion. There is good and bad aspects to any venture. It is what we make of it.

[gt_repair]

I am waiting for my Enterprise to tell me the same thing now that Safless has the account for replacment . We all know that they are behind the taking of our accounts just like they have done with most other major companies...

The last time someone stoled my Enterprise account away from me, they said they would do all repairs FREE if they can have the replacments. All Enterprise was was they did not have to pay for repairs anymore. The con glass shop had no intent to do the repairs at all, just wait till they were not repairable and then replace them at that point.... My locals did not like the crap that going on so they documented everything and kept me up to date on what was going on... 4 months went by and I called the fleet mgr. and asked how many they have done and if they saved money using the con shop and they had know clue.... Then I asked if there replacements went up. .............. He told me he would call me in 48 hrs to let me know what he felt. He called the local Enterprise and got an ear full... I got my call in 12 hrs and said I had my account back.... That was 3 or 4 yrs ago....
I feel the same crap will be going on with Safless and their sales deals..

The problem with them is it will be a long term contract. just like the ins. companies.

[PerfAuto]

I actually like doing tent sites. Only I use a deck-out cargo trailer with mine. To avoid all of the sitting around - get to know the busiest time of day for your stationary site - you will find it's fairly consistent. Typically I schedule all mobile repair calls for the next day if possible, and usually in the morning between 8 -11:30a. I do mobile repairs during that time, then open the stationary site at about 12:30, usually get an average of around 7-10 repairs between 12:30 and 4p. My site is set up at a convenience store with a VERY high traffic count. I do not pay any set rent. I give out coupons for $5.00 in free fuel with every repair, redeemable in the store. It is a draw for me, and the average ring for the store on the coupons is around $33.00 - so we both make out good. These days i get return customers just to get the gas coupon..lol.

To each his own - but you can also burn up an awful lot of fuel and time "networking" or casing dealerships or parking lots. Downtime whether it is spent sitting at a tent site or driving around trying to find work is one in the same in my book. With fuel prices these days - I will take sitting for a couple hours, than burning up a tank of gas hoping to find work.

[PerfAuto]

......and the nice thing about using a nice cargo trailer with professional graphics....you can work in adverse weather with an awning and someplace to stay out of the wind and dry. You have a place to store everything when you pack up. AND the trailer stays there advertising for you 24/7 or you can move it to a different location and drop it near a busy intersection for free advertising. I find leaving it sit in the Walmart parking lot over the weekend generates a lot of calls.

[ProView WR]

Originally Posted by PerfAuto

......and the nice thing about using a nice cargo trailer with professional graphics....you can work in adverse weather with an awning and someplace to stay out of the wind and dry. You have a place to store everything when you pack up. AND the trailer stays there advertising for you 24/7 or you can move it to a different location and drop it near a busy intersection for free advertising. I find leaving it sit in the Walmart parking lot over the weekend generates a lot of calls.

Got any pics of your setup by chance?

[gt_repair]

Perfauto

What size it your inclosed trailer? Ramp and side door or dual rear doors and side door?