Headlight Restoration - Fleet Trucks -Lead sharing??

Discuss all aspects of headlight restoration, including marketing, technical, and business advice.
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Old Blue 66
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Headlight Restoration - Fleet Trucks -Lead sharing??

Post by Old Blue 66 »

We are just beginning to take on new fleet accounts. Its an area thats big and very profitable. And especially in the part of the country, there are a ton of trucks. I want to be in this segment bad. So much so Ive hired a sales rep and Im looking for a second to sell HL restoration to theses accounts. In the last six weeks, we've taken on four new accounts.

What we are running into is this:" Decisions are made at a corporate level in another part of the country." Thats really tough to get by. Id love to see if anyone might be searching for this business and possibly willing share leads when they come up. We are in the Chicago area and since OHare airport is so big, we have a ton of distribution channels that surround the airport. Id guess that 30-40% of them have a home office somewhere else.

Thoughts?
Paul Weinstein
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Re: Headlight Restoration - Fleet Trucks -Lead sharing??

Post by LightMeUp »

I like that idea as well. I would think the older business savvy folks here would do well to sell the service as
a professional company. The hard part for me and I would guess anyone else is to find the right leads for medium to large accounts. Once that is established, hitting the phone and the streets is easy.

For these type of leads, plan on the first visit being in nothing but sales mode. Dress professional. Wear a tie. Get a haircut. Brush your teeth. First impressions are EVERYTHING.
Old Blue 66
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Re: Headlight Restoration - Fleet Trucks -Lead sharing??

Post by Old Blue 66 »

LightMeUp wrote:I like that idea as well. I would think the older business savvy folks here would do well to sell the service as
a professional company. The hard part for me and I would guess anyone else is to find the right leads for medium to large accounts. Once that is established, hitting the phone and the streets is easy.

For these type of leads, plan on the first visit being in nothing but sales mode. Dress professional. Wear a tie. Get a haircut. Brush your teeth. First impressions are EVERYTHING.
When going on a sales call, just looking clean cut is enough. We wear windshirts and clean looking jeans. No tennis shoes. Chances are most of the people you see will be dressed the same.

Its not hard to identify the accounts. When you call or stop in, they instantly tell you "Decision for things like that aren't made here". The next logical thing to do is ask where. What irks me is that if they need parts to repair a truck, they don't need ot get corporate involved so why is this any different?
Paul Weinstein
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Re: Headlight Restoration - Fleet Trucks -Lead sharing??

Post by LightMeUp »

I have had some dealers that have told me the owner is not in and that they have to make the decision. The whole time I know damn well that I am talking to the owner. The most common trick used for business owners to buzz off a sales person.

One dealer told me that they have there own in-house person do it professionally and at the same time I am looking at a lot with no less then 50% looking horrible. At that point I know they are not a player and I usually come back with "Have they been on sick leave for the past month?" Well he just quit last week.

If you are sharp, snappy and savvy enough, you can weed out these BSers pretty quick.

Sometimes it is just as efficient to cross someone off the list, so you can go on to the next.
Old Blue 66
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Re: Headlight Restoration - Fleet Trucks -Lead sharing??

Post by Old Blue 66 »

LightMeUp wrote:I have had some dealers that have told me the owner is not in and that they have to make the decision. The whole time I know damn well that I am talking to the owner. The most common trick used for business owners to buzz off a sales person.

One dealer told me that they have there own in-house person do it professionally and at the same time I am looking at a lot with no less then 50% looking horrible. At that point I know they are not a player and I usually come back with "Have they been on sick leave for the past month?" Well he just quit last week.

If you are sharp, snappy and savvy enough, you can weed out these BSers pretty quick.

Sometimes it is just as efficient to cross someone off the list, so you can go on to the next.
I get that all the time. You have to explore that and ask the right questions.

I won a major dealer chain of eight dealers just because I did some probing. The service techs were doing headlights withe mixed results and they didnt like doing them. We went in at a competitive price ad won the deal.

I was at at Toyota dealer yesterday. The used car manager showed me a Prius that his porter did. It was terrible. I asked for a car to do and if he felt it wasn't 100 times better than their in house job, it was free. As expected we did a supreme job on an ES300 and he loved it. I didn't charge him either as a showing of good faith. We picked up a new customer - Toyota and Kia combo dealer. Big win at a busy dealer. Probably added 20 cars a month to our base.

You have to ask about the process. No smart ass comments. Play into what he's telling you but think smart. Ask 'what his own service dept is charging him. Ask who's doing it. Ask to see a car with results. Ask about the process ( in some cases they may be dong a poor job with a 3M kit and will turn white as soon as the car is sold). Remember these guys are the same people that ARE NOT educated on the HL restoration process and just like everyone else, need to understand that it takes more than a 3M kit to make headlights look their best. You need to sell value, quality and experience with what you do.
Paul Weinstein
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Re: Headlight Restoration - Fleet Trucks -Lead sharing??

Post by LightMeUp »

Outstanding post. I usually do not get snarky but this place was such a trash heap and questionable employees, I could not help myself. I like what you say. I have been avoiding big dealer accounts because of the "they already have it in-house" excuse. Not any more. I like your suggestions, reasoning and knowing the fact that you can win over someone else business hands down just from your work.

Last week I took the business from someone else at 2 dealerships simply because of the end result and the professionalism that I carry with me. Kinda 1sy 2sy stuff, but I'll take it.

Who do you normally talk to at the dealers? Sales Manager, Owner, Service Manager or ?
Old Blue 66
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Re: Headlight Restoration - Fleet Trucks -Lead sharing??

Post by Old Blue 66 »

Heres what I do to come off as professional as possible:

Plan your route a day ahead of time. Since car dealers are open at night, I call the night before I plan on going there to get two bits of information: 1. find out if the used car manager is there on that day and 2. Get his name. This way, I maximize my time by not stopping at a place where I wont have the right person to talk and, I always know WHO to talk to when I walk in. Looks more professional that way than walking in and asking "Who is the used car manager" and looking like just another salesman.

Never walk the lot without permission! I drive in slowly to see if I can eyeball a car in need and bring it up in conversation.

Always ask to walk the lot. It give you credibility. They always say ok.

I often get "yea we just don't see much of that around here". Most used car managers know what they have on the lot but they have become numb to the challenge of foggy headlights. They dont realize they may have 6-8 cars on the lot that look terrible no matter how much recon they have done to them. I run into that all the time. If they are open to the idea of HLR, then ask to walk the lot. Have a professional form that you can write down stock numbers/yr/make/model/color so that you can present this to them and ask for work. Even if they have a dozen cars that need work, I write down not more than five of the worst cars there. This way you don't come off greedy. Also, if the UCM walks the lot with you just to verify the cars in need of service, he knows your there to fix a legitimate problem.

The best dealers to prospect are high volume stores, but by brand - Hyundai, Toyota and Honda. The worst brand is Mitsubishi because they aren't selling cars. Get in with dealer groups. If you get in at one and they have five or six different dealers, you can slowly move your way through the chain by name dropping. Chances are they all know each other.
Paul Weinstein
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Re: Headlight Restoration - Fleet Trucks -Lead sharing??

Post by LightMeUp »

Paul,

Here is a situation I had earlier today and I am sure it will not be the last.

First time at this dealer and as I walked in I saw no less than 75% of the vehicles needing the headlights restored.

I went inside, introduced myself and let him know what service I do and if they might have any interest is using that.

He told me that he was not interested and said that the customers really do not care for that. Now both you and I know that is bunk, but would you make any attempt to re-approach the same dealer with a different angle, put it in your tickler file for some other day or just drop it like a hot potato because the odds of them turning around would be nil?

They literally had enough cars to keep me busy for a week.
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Re: Headlight Restoration - Fleet Trucks -Lead sharing??

Post by Old Blue 66 »

Im not sure what your approach is, but I always tell customers this:

There are three things that are most important to any buyer when making a first impression on a used car. And we all know first impreession is everything right?

1. Color. We cant change that. All the dealer can do is make sure the paint shines. Shiny paint make the buyer feel good about the car and get a good first impression.

2. Wheels. If a Honda Civic is the car of choice, and the wheels are plastic hub caps, they know the car is a cheap model vs the one with alloy wheels which more than likely is loaded with accessories. A car loaded with accessories make the buyer feel good about the car and get a good first impression.

3. Headlights. When a customer sees the car for the first time, they automatically look at the front end. If the first thing they see is cloudy headlights, they they may get the impression that the car hasn't been well kept, they might expect the car to feel tired. Why let that happen? For about $50 they can make the car stand tall. Especially if they are seeking Honda Civics and the one they just saw at the dealer down the street has clear headlights. Which one do you think they will gravitate to? Clear headlights make the buyer feel good about the car and get a good first impression.
Paul Weinstein
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