Dealership work

[toab]

I've heard that the yellow pages expensive but well worth it.Are you planning on working with insusance co's and retail?I've heard that retail can be fickle sometimes.

[mafsu]

Kellertxgal, rental companies are in my opinion the best fleet accounts you can get. Don't forget about truck rental or DOT these are also great accounts.

tooldini, CPR offers great advice to stop by on the same day every week. Dealers love to know you are consistent and they can rely on you. If they already have someone find out which day of the week they show up. If it's Monday or Tuesday show up on Thursday or Friday every week. If you treat the account right at some point you will probably outshine the other guy and become their number one. I have gotten into a few very nice accounts this way.

[maxryde]

tooldini, dealers are fine but you should diversify for the long run. I know a few techs who do used autos only but there are lean times there and a person who doesn't have all his eggs in the dealer basket usually enjoys a better security as well as when you approach those folks they are trained to read people and can smell anxiety or fear a mile away so when the lean times appear and they cut back on expenses then you show up real hungry they can tell and it appears unprofessional(repair techs are on the top of the chopping block) having alternative sources in your diddy bag pays off big!! It is important with dealers to be professional in appearance and the way you operate, same time every week (Scott shows up at 10 am EVERY tuesday) They can be a pain when you have to get a po# for each vehicle required to record vin and stock # on separate invoices etc. then there's the 30 days min turn around on payment. If your lucky you'll get some smaller folk who pay as they go (my favorite) and avoid the headache involved with the larger outfits. So I recomend diversity when it comes to used car lots!!!

JMO, luck, Scott

[repare-brise]

Too add to Maxrydes knowledgable words, deals should be your first focus to get you on your feet, but they should quickly become a small part of your income pie. In the long run fleet's, small corner garages, individuals, employee days, rental outlets,and other sources should become your main sources of income. Dealers a fickel, they can be demanding, they are not monogamous(they will always try the cheaper tech, even though you give great service), when sales are slow they invest the least amount of money on the cars(WS repair is low on the list of priorities). That being said some dealers appreciate service above price, and will prefer the tech that is ontime everytime, be that tech. One other little piece of advice never book an 8 hour day if at all possible(first off who wants to work that much) allways leave some space for "emergency" calls, this will knock there socks off when they call you at noon and you say you will be there before 3. Once your business gets rolling these"emergency" calls will happen everyday, be wise and plan for them. When a customer needs you it's not next Tuesday(unless he want's to take you to a burger joint for lunch) it's 5 mins ago. While not quite 30 mins or it,s free, this service will carve you into there phsycie as dependable and good for saving there hydes(the call usually stars out as We are delivering this car at 5 and the PDI guys noticed..........).

At Your Service

[GlassStarz]

Its good you introduced yourself to the dealerships but next time you are in walk the lot before you go in and take note of what work is out there inform your new buddy tha cars a,b,c and d have chips and you could do them right now fo ?$ if you wait for them to tell you which ones need work you wont get much work there

[tooldini]

Thanks everyone,, I am getting a lot of help and learning tons now that I nee to get serious. I appreciate it and plan on doing all the things you all have told me in the near future.

thanks
Jeff

[ClearView WRS]

TOOLDINI... AND EVERYONE ELSE, how much do you charge dealers (per repair)? I mean, how big is the difference in price between fleets and retail? Because I noticed from previous threads, that most techs charge much less for fleet repairs. Do you just take off 15 or 20 dollars? Also, do you have dealers sign a release form every time you do a repair?

[tooldini]

I can't answer too much on dealers since I haven't done any work just talked about it and the price was between 25-30 depending on the dealer. Retail in my area seems to be around $40.00

Jeff

[dingmedic]

We give deales a break... we charge 30.00 a repair. Reg fee is 50.00 unless it is a Big Rig, bus, or RV then dealer cost is 40.00 Reg fee is 75.00.

Dawn

[boyd]

Tooldini,
I don't mean t rain on your parade but ... as easy as it is for you to get the business from someone else, you can lose it the same way. You'll see ....
wait til the used car mgr. changes, which will happen every 6 months, or when someone comes through offering $10 repairs. I did it for 8 years now I'm residential only. Yellow pages only. Much happier. INdividuals are much easier to please. At dealerships sometimes you walk the lot (15 min.) find one repair, stand outside the mgr's office for 15 min. wating for approval, fix the repair,(15-20 min). Give the receipt to the mgr., wait 30 days for the payment, hoping they remember. Or you find a chip, wait for the magr, then he doesn't want it fixed for one reason or another.
There are upsides, sometimes you can find 3-7 chips in one week and they will fix them all. I made $ at it, but ovr the years it seemed to be a pain.
But then again, this is part time for me. If I didn't have another income I'd be "shakin the bushes". Good luck.