How is the Windshield Repair buisness this year so far???

[the big welshman]

The weather here in the Eastern seabord has been very bad there has been a lot of snow-rain cold weather business has been quit slow in the car buisness, only the Toyota and Honda seem to be selling cars. Chrysler is hoping to put all three units together ie Dodge/Jeep/Chrsyler together at one dealership there has been a few dealers closing on the Chrysler-Chev-Ford sides some of the larger Dealers are buying the smaller dealers.With all the bad weather up here there has not been much on the Insurance repair ,there has been a lot of Replacements windshields, maybe I should learn the replacement side. ??????

[screenman]

We have much the same thing happening over here, looking for add ons is always a good idea as long as you do not lose site of what your business is.
I know of repair techs that added detailing to help out the business now they do more of that than repairing, they earn about the same per job only it takes 8 times longer to do.

[maxryde]

West coast here, lots of rain some freezing temps, the normal winter stuff. I don't do alot of dealers but the ones I do work for have been slow too. That should change soon. Tax checks can boost car sales a bit and the warmer weather is just around the corner! It has been a long winter though, as usual.

[windshield]

I believe the global warming can change the way we go with this business.

[Chips-B-Gone]

Originally Posted by windshield

I believe the global warming can change the way we go with this business.

Lets hope so. The economy just plain sucks and the drastic change in weather doesn't help. I have dealer that usually sell 20 cars per month were down to 3 or 4 last month! I have been getting a few calls but no takers. That's accross the board w/windshield repair, HLR and detailing.

[GlassStarz]

In Vermont its pretty much the same story combine that with getting the son to go to work instead of Snowboarding (he is running the show while im in Fresno) Here in Fresno I have more work than I want found one dealer that with the paint repair/WR/Headlight I do a consitant $800 a week and 5-7 $100-$200 every other week I think having several things to offer makes one more desirable the dealers hate having to deal with multiple vendors

[ProView WR]

I have a friend who works for the largest Mercedes dealer in the world down here in Newport Beach, CA. The whole dealer sold only 16 cars last month.

[GlassStarz]

I think some are missing the boat with add on services adding paint repair and headlights tripled my income and helps get me into places that I wouldnt be in otherwise. When its slow the dealers are looking for ways to increase profits per unit having a guy who can take that chipped and scratched unit and making it front line ready is desirable and if the same guy does WR and other things he has value. I spent 20+ years selling cars before I switched to this times get good and times get bad being able to make a good living in all markets is the key.Diversify!

[harrellbenjamin]

I* agree 100 % I made sure that I was trained in multiple services.I can make a very good living only seeing at the most 8-10 stops a week.If you are in there doing the other services you will pick up most of the w/shield repairs also.Its kind of funny when you see a w/shield tech come in that has the attitude "this is my ! stop, I have been here for years" ,walks the lot and tells you "well not much out there today " After you just did 4-5 repairs there that morning.The managers ,that could care less who do's the job as long as its right will just smile at him and say"see ya next week" .I never had a w/shield guy take any paint work or t/up from me .If you want to make a consistant living you should be diversified.JMHO

[splitpit]

Here's something I don't understand. Why do people buy into multi dimensional
businesses like MARS, train to do such a variety of work and then end up sitting on a street corner doing nothing but lowball windshield repairs??

I agree that it helps to offer multiple services but it seems that the MARS guys must have a hard time selling their services, other than windshield repair.

Could it be that by offering too many services they hurt themselves and then they get desperate to earn some income to pay for the expensive franchise?

Can one offer too many services?