How do you find customers?

[puissantone]

I've looked into every aspect of glass repair and I think it's a great idea and we had wind storms around the Palm Springs area like some places have rain. I know the demand is out there b/c I managed to take a pebble in my windshield yesterday even though I stayed aways from the back of gravel trucks and stayed away from the meridian where all the rocks were being tossed about, but I forgot about cheap mudflaps on busses as I watched a rock spit sideways from a school bus and WHAP my windshield. I don't have a kit yet so I called my local mobile service and he was there and the windshield is good for another week. But he works for a shop. If I started my own business where would I get the leads and the customers? A spot on Goog411 would be nice but how do you guys do it? Our local paper is mega expensive for ads. I could hand out fliers to all the neighbors but that would be expensive too. Is there a way to make a buck in this country anymore without spending a king's ransom to do so? Your input is appreciated.

[Glassdoc]

Palm Springs Fla??? Florida has a zero deductible replacement law that will replace your windshield up to 2 times a year if needed.. I doubt repair techs do very well in that State.. But then again:eusa_naug

[S&W Glass Repair]

Good old fashion caold calling. I have natural sales ability and then honed my abilities by taking two jobs part time to learn professional sales technics. Persistance is a must, if every door you knock on is slammed in your face you have to rethink, approach and come at them from another angle. I have been trying to wrangle Pepsi Cola of South Jersey for months. I've been back to see them several times. I looked at their fleet, made a list and submitted a price. It didn't work, is there some secret that works better then others, maybe but in my experience of 18 1/2 years and having an extremely successful business nothing is better then hard work and persistance. In my case I have a business with a logo, nice leterheads and have designed two letters. One for Fleet accounts and the other for Car lots. They are not treated the same and fleet prices vary. Below is my last letter to Pepsi which was not mailed but hand delivered. They have not agreed to windshield repair yet but eventually they will, I won't quit until I get the account. Use this letter as you want to help you in any way possible. This letter was written by myself with the help of my friend Don Gregor at Glas-Weld.

Dear Mr. Servan and Mr. Stone:
After examining you fleet of vehicles I have determined that 31 vehicles need to be repaired. Eventually if these repairs aren't done then you would be looking at an approximate replacement cost of $5425 based on an average cost per windshield of $175.00, not only is this a more expensive process it is also not good for the environment. You may not be aware that windshield glass is not recycled and all those windshields will be adding to our local landfill when repairs can save the glass and at a much reduced cost. There is one truck however that will have to have the windshield replaced and that is truck # 9.That break is too big to repair safely and would be better if replaced. Out of the 31 vehicles you have 7 that need two repairs and one vehicle has need for three repairs. My charges for your fleet are $30 for the first repair on the windshield and $10 for each additional repair on the same windshield .This makes my charges for repairs to your 31 vehicles $1010, which is only about 20% of the estimated replacement costs. My terms for payment would include a discount of 5% if the bill is paid within 5 days. My goal is to reduce the amount of unnecessary replacement of windshields and save you money. All my work is guaranteed. If I can't fix it or it doesn't meet the new ANSI standards then there is no charge to you. In the event you need a reference about the quality of my work or the savings I can provide on your replacements please contact John Liberkowski at New Century Transport
phone: (609) 265-1110
I look forward to working with your company to save money and be more environmentally conscious.

You'll notice a few things, one I underpriced the cost of replacing their windshields, why?
This gives the customer an even more definitive reason to repair windshields when he knows the cost will be higher. I hope this helps.

Cheers,
Scott

[Bois]

Puissantone, to address your concern...

Flyers don't work! Newspaper ads don't work! Yellow Page ads generally aren't cost effective. What does work is truck/car signage, cold calling on small businesses (search for Coitstering on this forum), signing up with insurance networks (LYNX/SGC/etc.) and person-to-person sales. It also helps to present a professional appearence, have nice business cards and be fully trained to offer quality service.

[Chips-B-Gone]

Puissantone, to address your concern...

Flyers don't work! Newspaper ads don't work! Yellow Page ads generally aren't cost effective. What does work is truck/car signage, cold calling on small businesses (search for Coitstering on this forum), signing up with insurance networks (LYNX/SGC/etc.) and person-to-person sales. It also helps to present a professional appearence, have nice business cards and be fully trained to offer quality service.

Where I live in WV I am getting business from referals and flyer that I hang in grocery stores, restaurants, banks, fast lubes or anywhere there is a public bulletin board. I hardly get any calls from my vehicle signage.