Windshield Repair Forum

In the late 70s and early 80s I did phone work full time. Even after years that first call was hard to make every day. But after the first the rest of the day was usually OK.
You won't get good at it until you have some practice, so enlist the help of your friends and get one good one to role play with you on different things you might come up against. This can really help a lot.
Also, write down the responses you get or think you will get and your answers to them. You can get a lot of ideas from sales books etc on this. Practice some more until it becomes natural and you don't have to think about it anymore.
Get a mind set of "I am doing this" rather than "I am going to try this". Your subconscious will respond much better to positive affirmations like this than if you use the wishy washy stuff. Even better is picturing yourself already successful at meeting people and going over in your mind the whole conversation you would have with a successful outcome. I know this sounds kind of goofy to some people but it does work. You can read some of Maxwell Maltz's books or maybe Claude Bristol or a ton of other more current books. The bookstores and libraries are full of this kind of thing.
Tell everyone what you are doing, at church, school meetings, clubs, checking out of the grocery store, your dentist, doctor, etc etc. You are bound to get some business this way. And don't prejudge anyone, you never know if that kid's dad's car might have a chip. You don't have to have a big sales pitch, just tell them you are starting a new business and to keep you in mind if they have a need. Then give them a card or a flier or something if you want.

Hope this helps

I would like to thank everyone that has responded to the thread that I started. I will be purchasing Zig Ziglars book. After reading your post on his book, I had a conversation with my mother-in law. She went to a conference with the company she sells for and he was a speaker there. She said he was great and helped her sales skills greatly. Thanks again.

Yohannes M. Berard

Squirrel
I thought you trained with Dave Coit? his cold call posts and other realated should give a lot of info on how to sell it

I dont mind givng out advice or sharing techniques to folks But my time is valuable I will train people out of my Market for a reasonable amount as I have said in many posts before the repairs rhemselves can be taught to anyone the sales portion is another story. If you cant sell you cant work and spending some time and Money learning the Sales portion of this buisness is as important as learning to repair (More important if you want to succeed)

I don't do as much cold calling as I did when I got into this business 3 years ago. But when I did I tried to mimic Coitster's technique/methods and visited many business locations searching for repairable windshields. When I spotted a vehicle I'd enter the business and ask if anyone working there had a [identfy the vehicle]. If so, I'd ask to speak to the person. Many times I'd have to explain why to the receptionist, etc. which was OK if I got to see the employee. If I couldn't speak directly with the employee, I'd leave my business card (never got any responses this way). If I did get to speak with the vehicle owner, I'd tell them what I do (as I hand them a business card) and mention that I saw that they had a rock chip (or crack) and that I could repair it for them while I was there so that it would not spread any further. I had no canned script; just talked casually and friendly depending on how I felt. I'd wait for a response. If cost was mentioned I give them my cash price and then mention that if they were fully insured that their insurance company would probably pay 100% of my cost (no out-of-pocket to them).

Most of the time excuses were: I'd have to talk to my husband (I hated this one); I'm not interested (most frequent); it's (the break) been there for x years and hasn't spread; it's not my car - mother's/sister's, etc.; and the list goes on. :eusa_wall For each excuse or response, I learned a response or come-back without sounding pushy or cocky. I always maintained a friendly atmosphere and ended the conversation quickly so as to move on. Just a note: I don't think I ever got a call back from a cold call after I left.

I don't enjoy selling like some people do. It is a necessity though in recon work, whether you're selling your service to car dealers, fleet managers, or retail customers. So I do it. This past year I started the business over in a new area and with a little bit of my wife's help got over 50 accounts so far, 25 or 30 of which are probably pretty solid with repeat work. (I do seat repair as much as windshield repair, and a few pinstripes here and there).

Anyway, my method of selling is pretty simple. Go to where most of the work is (car lots have been my forte) with the least amount of competition, find some work and just bring it to whoever's in charge's attention and tell them that you can fix that and it should come out looking very good. (For car lots that usually means making a list, so you can walk in and easily show them what needs to be done without wasting their time)

In the beginning if they are a little hesitant, ask them to try you out on one, then look it over and see how they like it. Barring something horrible happening, if they let you do that, you usually are in, to some degree at least. Then you have to regularly stop in. And this is what took me awhile to learn...If you think they are a valuable account, even when they have 2, 3, or 4 weeks in a row where they don't have work, still stop in and show your face, with a smile and a wave or a few friendly words, so that they know you are still conscientously treating them as a valued customer. They will take note for sure whether consciously or sub-consciously, and get used to thinking that you are their guy.

jayjacque;27821 wrote:
Anyway, my method of selling is pretty simple. Go to where most of the work is (car lots have been my forte) with the least amount of competition, find some work and just bring it to whoever's in charge's attention and tell them that you can fix that and it should come out looking very good. (For car lots that usually means making a list, so you can walk in and easily show them what needs to be done without wasting their time)

In the beginning if they are a little hesitant, ask them to try you out on one, then look it over and see how they like it. Barring something horrible happening, if they let you do that, you usually are in, to some degree at least. Then you have to regularly stop in. And this is what took me awhile to learn...If you think they are a valuable account, even when they have 2, 3, or 4 weeks in a row where they don't have work, still stop in and show your face, with a smile and a wave or a few friendly words, so that they know you are still conscientously treating them as a valued customer. They will take note for sure whether consciously or sub-consciously, and get used to thinking that you are their guy.

Well said. I find this is right on point. Some of my accounts took me a long time to finally get. It took week after week of consitantly showing up on the same day before I finally got in. Like I said in a previous post" No does not always mean no, it may just mean not right now" They have now come to know SGT as honest and reliable and actually schedule work for me on my scheduled day. They rely on me and I should include my dad here as well as he is also a big part of my business. As you mention, there are times when there is no work at a lot but I always take 5 min to building my business relationship and some personal friendships from the GM, New car Mgr, Used car Mgr, Service writers and salseman. Grow roots in every accoount you have and become part of there family.

I am not the cheapest, nor the highest priced but like I said, I am honest, reliable and I feel we do great work as well. These qualities have proven to weed out the inferior workmanship and unreliabilty of our competion. And you know what, I still always consider myself as good as my last repair becuase there will be someone just as driven as myself trying to get my accounts some day.

SGT;27836 wrote:Well said. I find this is right on point. Some of my accounts took me a long time to finally get. It took week after week of consitantly showing up on the same day before I finally got in. Like I said in a previous post" No does not always mean no, it may just mean not right now" They have now come to know SGT as honest and reliable and actually schedule work for me on my scheduled day. They rely on me and I should include my dad here as well as he is also a big part of my business. As you mention, there are times when there is no work at a lot but I always take 5 min to building my business relationship and some personal friendships from the GM, New car Mgr, Used car Mgr, Service writers and salseman. Grow roots in every accoount you have and become part of there family.

I am not the cheapest, nor the highest priced but like I said, I am honest, reliable and I feel we do great work as well. These qualities have proven to weed out the inferior workmanship and unreliabilty of our competion. And you know what, I still always consider myself as good as my last repair becuase there will be someone just as driven as myself trying to get my accounts some day.

Excellent post Brian, being a family/part of, makes you the first choice. I also build relationships as I go. You forgot to mention being asked to the christmas party, family outings, and company picnics, etc.... lots of perks in being a caring provider!! Happy holidays to you SGT. Warm wishes to you and you family and friends.

Maxryde,

Thank you. Merry Christmas to you and your family as well. May the new year bring you more chips than you can handle.

This time of year is also a great tool of building meaningful relationships with accounts. By nature people are generally more friendly and receptive at this time...make sure you take advantage of it. If you have accounts that give you work frequently next time you are there drop off a little holiday gift pack with a note saying "Thank you for helping us succeed. We look forward to our next year serving you." or some type of note to make them feel good. Using something like that line above is putting both of the focus on them, not you, and everyone likes to be complimented. A small gift can go a long way. If you know their family personally a gift for the wife or kids too would only help, but make sure they are meaningful, but inexpensive. Something with a bigger pricetag only makes someone uncomfortable if its not a close friend. Maybe pizza coupons for the office staff.

Sorry for the rambling, hope this helps.