Wise words for a novice?

[nymetropolitans]

Hi guys, great message board here that I've been reading nearly every post on for the last couple of days. I'll spare you a boring lengthy introduction, but basically I'm a guy that did windshield repair for a year or two a few years back, loved it, loved being on the road and then quickly burnt out on the business entirely because my employer got in some kind of serious legal trouble and my paychecks stopped showing up every week.

Recently, however, I've been getting tons of calls from dealerships I used to do work for asking me if I'm still in the business and it's gotten me all pumped on buying another kit and going out on my own. The cost is right and I'm fortunate to have another job right now with a very flexible schedule, so I can kind of mess around with this and see how it'll work out. I'm a little rusty, and I've learned just from reading posts here, that I was trained to do things the WRONG way - although the results were generally pretty good.

First question is how big of an improvement will I see in the Delta Kit or similar compared to one of these: Glass Star America ?? This is the equipment I always used. I was taught to drill all the way through to the laminate and NEVER expand a non-bullseye. As you may imagine, bullseyes always came out the best for me while everything else was iffy. The one big problem I had with those Glass Star hand pumps was that I didn't feel like I got a good vacuum/pressure at all on them. There were definite limitations I could feel while using them, so a hydraulic pump is a very appealing item for me. Obviously, with the stick-on suction cups you don't have the option of flexing the break either, which I experimented with a little bit when I could.

Second (and last) question is about dealerships. These will be my primary target initially. I'm in the NYC metro area and there's one on every corner...it's also the environment I'm familiar with working in. I'm a little embarrassed to even ask this, but who do you guys typically make your sales pitch to at the car lots? I never "sold" before, just did the work...all I know was that I generally dealt with guys who sat behind big podiums in the showroom, but sadly I don't know what their "title" is and I don't wanna look like a chump!! :icon_redf

Thanks for the help in advance, and I'm sure I'll be back to ask many more stupid questions frequently!

[jayjacque]

Hey there nymetro, welcome to the forum.

I've done car lot work for 26 years now, 25 of them in the states. It was always the Used Car Manager I dealt with in the states. Up here they refer to the position as the Sales Manager (in charge of both new and used). There's also a few lots here in Canada where the get ready person ok's the work. But I would say unless told otherwise, go directly to the UCM. So after you make sure you've got all your pricing down and labeled invoice books and estimate pad, here's what you should probably do at each lot:

1 Go around the lot looking for chips, making a legible list with stock no. and price (higher price if more than one break on each car)

2. Take the list in to show to the UCM at the same time that you introduce yourself. They are used to guys like you, so the whole process can happen real fast if you can get into see them. I would introduce myself in such a way that does not give them the impression you are just starting out. Just an opinion, since in NYC there are probably plenty of vendors, and you don't want to come across like you're any greener than the other guys.

3. Be prepared with a plan, if needed, to either offer to do the first one free to show what you can do or some other incentive in order to get your feet in the door. If sales comes easy for you or there is plenty of work to be had, then don't worry about it.

On a few of the lots you'll find yourself just going straight in to introduce yourself to the manager, but usually try and get around to make a list, so you have ammunition with which to sell your service. Another thing, you might remember from doing this work, is to not usually write up the older vehicles, since most lots don't put the money into recon for their wholesale units. You can come across looking kind of stupid if you ask them if they want to fix a starbreak on a 1997 Taurus. Even a 2000 is questionable now unless it's a high dollar Mercedes or low mileage Truck, etc.

Oh yeah, you will notice a considerable improvement in quality repairs with the Delta system. The best quality and value for the money going. Study the video and do some practicing, and NEVER drill all the way through again! Just like the Amy Winehouse song, "They tried to get me to drill to rehab, and I said NO NO NO!

[nymetropolitans]

Great tips jay!! Thank you so very much! I couldn't imagine going into a place being like "Hey do you have anyone that does windshields? Could I speak to your uhh...uhh....boss, I guess???" That would've been the end of it right there! I know my way around some ends of the business aspect, but obviously not all of them....like you suggest, a whole lot of BS and confidence will hopefully take me far. I'm counting on siphoning off a good chunk of my former employer's ex-clients as well, and they already know me so it makes it much easier. First one's always on the house, we always did dealership employee cars for free too.

I also want to try walking the mall parking lots and sticking fliers under windshield wipers, this irrationally seems like a good idea to me. Anyone have any luck with it? I read a lot about tents on here, not sure that would work in this environment but it'd be a good suntan for me. Where are you guys with successful tents running them out of? I mean broad picture, is it more rural areas?

I'm really looking forward to getting back into this. When the money was right for me, it was the greatest job in the world and took me all sorts of fascinating places I'd never get to see otherwise. Hopefully this time around the money is even more than right!!!

[GlassStarz]

In the city you would have better luck cutting a deal to work out of a carwash or carpark than setting up a tent go to where the cars are

[SGT]

Hey METS fan!!! I wish I could say I like the METS but I have been a YANKEE fan since the first game my dad took me to when I was a little boy. Unlike the METS I have plenty of good things to say about DKI. If you desire, drop me a PM with your contact info and we will talk at length about my experience with the DKI tooling and training.