When to drill??

[paulrsf]

First, you are assuming that those of us charging $60+ per repair are only doing 4 repairs a day. Personally, I charge $70 for the first chip and $10 for each additional. I live in Northern CA. where the market can definitely handle it. Getting back to your comment though -It isn't so much the difference in rates from one technician to another that I am responding to. It is your seemingly condescending attitude that surprises me and your implication that conducting business in any other way than yours is somehow not even worthy enough to "justify calling myself a business."

[screenman]

Puka, practise does not make perfect did you not watch the video on a previous post. Now perfect practise makes perfect. I do not and never have sat around waiting for the phone to ring, far from it I am a go out and get them guy. Question to you, how much business would you lose if you increased your prices by 10%. I have found the point which the market in my area will stand and it is something way more than a lot of my competitors charge, but for sure I am not going to broadcast it.

Reasons for buy;
Service.
Quality.
Personality.
Convenience.
And of course anyone who wants to can add to the list.

[puka pau]

Whoa! It seems that once again my inimitable people skills got everyone's panties in a twist.
1. My comments were directed mainly at Shepardh1 who postulated that $20 and ten minute repairs are inferior to $60 repairs that take...what? half a lifetime?
2. In my experience price is determined by the cost of replacement glass, the prevailing local rate and/or whatever insurance considers appropriate. The prevailing rate in NoCal probably differs significantly from that in Tupelo or Nashville.
3. If the average repair takes fifteen minutes and you do four repairs a day that's an hour a day. I know, I know, there's drive time, nap time, lunchtime, break time and everything else, but hey, even two hours/day, is that more business or more hobby?
4.My personal list: Price, Service, Product. Unfortunately, WSR has become commoditized. Just like Costco and Walmart. Decades ago Novus was the standard of quality; some of the older guys I work for still refer to a repair as a "Novus" as in "It needs a Novus". No longer. There's too much competition. Standards of performance are assumed by most commercial accounts and the average retail customer can't tell the difference between a rock chip and a rocket ship. If I had a nickel for every bug splat that was initially identified as damage.....
5. If I raised my rates 10% every two years since I've been in business I'd be charging roughly 40% of the average cost of new glass (to my car dealer accounts) for one repair. Most glass vendors are selling glass to commercial accounts for about what they were charging fifteen years ago. I have to consider that when I consider a price increase. It's just a fact of life: do you work for a little or not work at all? Insurance payments haven't increased substantially if at all in the last fifteen years either. So you charge what youur environment allows. If you get $70 good on ya. However, just because you get 70 doesn't necessarily mean that you're better than the guy who gets 20. Location, location, location doesn't always mean apples to apples comparison.

Cheers;

Puka Pau

[screenman]

How does you argument stack up when guys like me are busy and many of the cheaper guys quiet?

[paulrsf]

Who said anything about being better than the guy who gets $20 for his repairs just because I get $70? And just how did you come up with the notion that a technician who works only 2 hours a day is not in business, but rather doing it as a hobby? Where do you get this stuff? Is there some cut off point? At which point, in your mind, does the hobby become a business? I do between 4-6 repairs each day on average on good days. On not such good days, between 2-4. $70 per repair is an income = a business = my salary. When I work more, I make more. When I work less, it doesn't turn my business into a hobby. Simple as that. Also, I don't think anyone is knocking those that charge less. Location has a lot to do with rates. However, even in my area in Northern CA. you can find WSR for $20. from "technicians" who just plainly don't know how to run a business. Charging $20 for WSR in an area where others are making $70 for the same things is just plain stupid. Charging $20 in an area where the average going rate is $30 or even $40 might make a little more sense, but even then, I have to say that if the average repair goes for significantly more than you are charging, you need to reconsider your rates. Now if you're saying that times are tough, and you can't always find enough business to support yourself, I would say, you gotta do what you gotta do. Before going hungry, I would be doing repairs at what ever rate I could get and I wouldn't care about anybody's criticism about my rates. When it comes to surviving you do what you have to. As for WSR becoming "commoditized. Just like Costco and Walmart" -my own experience is that while more people are informed about the process, most of the customers I see know very little about it and they are thrilled that their windshields can be repaired instead of having to replace it. Even if the repair cost is about 1/3 the cost of a new windshield, paying $70 feels better to them than paying $210+ to replace it.

[puka pau]

Screenman;

Yes I saw the You Tube video. Other than the fact that she's blonde (ROFLMAO) this video demonstrates precisely my position about training - or rather, lack of it. She did one of two things: either she got inadequate instruction or she got adequate instruction, ignored everything she was taught and decided to "do it my way". And as we all should know, the only person who could do that was Frank Sinatra.
As to why you're working more than the $20 guys, I have no idea. Maybe you should tell us and then we'd all know. But if I were to speculate, I would have to say that you have managed to differentiate yourself from the competition. And there are so many ways to differentiate that a discussion would necessitate a new thread. Now there's an idea for you!

Paulrsf;

I have no idea where you get the idea that I was being condescending and impying that my way was the only way. If you read my initial response to Shepardh1 you'll discover that I qualified my comment by stating in so many words that what I considered to be a business was my opinion and my opinion only. And if you read Shepardh1's post preceding mine what you'll discover is that he indeed implied that anyone who charged $20 and took ten minutes was by definition, a hack; and that to me is condescending - and prompted my initial post that you are taking issue with - bizarre, but true.
I have no idea why you are so upset - unless you feel threatened. As to what consititutes a business rather than a hobby, again, that's just my opinion. And we all know that opinions are like a gluteus maximus - everybody has one. I hope you realize that we conduct business in a free market and that there are many reasons why anyone would charge $20 in a $70 venue. Let me give you one: a few years ago there was a discussion about price and a guy named Nomad provided some insight as to his particular situation which was travelling around in his RV and doing repairs for fellow RVers. I forget the exact prices, but I do recall that he said that Canadians were the cheapest (LOL) and expected to get cash repairs for about $15. Now I don't know about you, but if I was retired and bumming around in an RV I would not at all be adverse to doing $15 repairs. So if Nomad just happened to be in NoCal and was doing $15 repairs in an RV park would you feel threatened or brand him as a hack? I hope not because in addition to being ungentlemanly, that would just be downright insulting.
As I said before, if you can get $70 cash, good for you.

Cheers;

Puka Pau

[paulrsf]

--Last reply to an already very tired post. You may be reading my replies incorrectly. First, I am not even slightly upset by anything you've written. My comments to you are made in a totally relaxed state of mind and with very little emotion involved. Secondly, I am not threatened by anything you've said. Again, I told you in my last reply that I am fine with yours or anyone else's opinions regardless of how they relate to my own. That's what opinions are; personal points of views. Technicians have the right to charge what ever they feel is best for them. My PERSONAL OPINION though, is that when they guy up the block is undervaluing our service, by charging too little it makes it more difficult for the rest of us to charge a fair market rate. This applies to any business, not just to WSR. I am one of those guys that feels that competition is a healthy thing. If you are a good salesman and a qualified technician there is plenty of work out there and little reason to waste time feeling threatened by competition. As for the guy charging $20 in an area where $70 repairs are commonplace; you find this sensible. I don't.

[Brent Deines]

I'm not sure what any of this has to do with drilling, which is why I have refrained from posting to this topic thus far, however this morning I feel compelled to offer my 2 cents. I suggest if anyone wants to continue the conversation about pricing we start a new topic with a title that matches the subject.

I'm with you Paul. It's not my place to tell someone else what to charge for the work they perform, but I was charging $45 for repairs back in 87 when I got started and although I stayed busy and fed my family I certainly did not get rich on that. Now, 24 years later, I'm not about to do repairs for $45 any more. With the gas prices, vehicle cost, real estate, health insurance, labor cost, worker's comp, liability insurance, advertising and just about everything else skyrocketing, I would need to charge $100+ just to maintain the same profit margin I did back then. We've always had the $20 guys in our area but they never seem to stay in business very long. The glass shops and franchises charge up to 4 times that amount, as do I, and we are the ones still in business and continuing to grow.

The only beef I have with people who charge so little for their service is that they are often the same ones who complain the insurance companies don't pay enough. I agree the insurance companies should pay $100 or more for a quality windshield repair job, but why would they do that when they see technicians charging $20 for cash jobs? We cannot complain about insurance companies not paying enough if we can't convince our cash customers of the true value of our service. I think insurance companies appreciate the fact that I charge my cash customers as much or more than I charge for an insurance job.

Again, I don't beat up on anyone for charging less than I do, I just know what it takes to run "my" business successfully.

[ghost rider]

I only drill when Brent tells me to drill.........................................

[Brent Deines]

LOL