State Farm\'s Decision For The Industry - Your Thoughts

[mafsu]

I in no way see it as a disaster as far as my business is concerned. Only for the industry and it perception to those who are not familiar with windshield repair.

[Repair1]

I to will be ok I think we might be putting in full 8 hour days LOL to make the same money. However I feel for those trying to get in to the business, and this is a huge discredit to the windshield repair business.

I could go on forever about this just hate to type that much. We tried the yahoo chat thing once we should try it again. If your interested pm me lets get a group to discuss this topic it could be good.

Happy Repairing

Brian

[AutoEgo]

I can't believe the doom and gloom I'm seeing over this. State Farm doesn't pay for windshield repairs anymore, so what? The end user, i.e. the consumer still has a broken windshield right? We know how to fix this windshield without having to take the current windshield out of the car. They don't have to worry about leaks or wind noise. They have no down time with the car. STATE FARM HAS NO SAY IN WHAT WE CHARGE THE CUSTOMER! I'm not saying I would advocate gouging, but $60 to $70 per windshield versus an average replacement cost of $175 in my area means I make more money and I put that money directly in my pocket instead of waiting for State Farm to cut me a check.

It doesn't ahve to be the end of the world that some are making it out to be. Most of my daily business is cash right now anyway. I'm finding people would rather pay me $45 to $50 cash for a repair than bother with their insurance anyway. It's all in the presentation.

I'm going after a couple markets with WSR that fit into my hobbies and honestly, I'm starting to make inroads that make the future look extremely bright. Look for work in areas that are not typically looked at and you could find a gold mine. DOn't be afraid of fleet accounts! Volume is a good thing!

Sean

[mafsu]

AutoEgo brings up a good point for anyone who is relying solely on insurance business. I know it's probably nice knowing you get $50 or more for each repair you do. It's also nice knowing you've got checks coming on a regular basis for a bunch of $30-$35 repairs. If you are worried that this change is going to hurt your business, now is the time to diversify your business.

[AutoEgo]

Good fleet stuff.

You get $50 per insurance job and you travel or search for the next job for what, 20 to 30 minutes possibly more between repairs? I work on Alabama Power's field vehicles and they are all right there, parked right next to each other. I work on 2 or 3 trucks at a time, depending on what I'm repairing.

What's better? Making $50 and searching for the next job or making $300 in 2 or 3 hours and never having to drive to a different location? They both work just fine for me!

Sean

[mafsu]

Sean you already know my answer to that

[boyd]

Here's my opinion. I'm thankful to SF for the past several years of endorsing this process. If it wasn't for them waving the deductables in the past many, many people would not have ever heard of our process. Thanks SF for giving us unbelievable, free advertising for the past 15 years.
I think the people will remember us on their next rock chip and pay themselves. I see this as helping my business. I lose many to Safelite. Now, when someone gets a chip they will look in the Yellow Pages and see me. Before they would just call the insurance co. and maybe get my # one out of every 5 x. Plus, about 50% of the time when I go to someones home and tell them I can bill their insurance they will say " nah, for $40 I don't want to mess with them". I know you've heard the same.
However, is this a good thing? NOPE. I don't think it is for the industry in a whole.
Is it good for me? I think so. Read the book "Who Moved My Cheese".