Add on services.

[AGSS]

I know this post has probably been beat to death before but..Iam curious how many here do add on services with windshield repair. we were thinking of adding upholstery repair whick may or may not include headliners. any thoughts?

[SeeClearly]

We as a company opt not to do any other add on service to our windshield repair business. We do repairs only, and do very well at it. Can I ask, why are so many doing add ons to their repair business? Is it that these companies are having difficulty supporting the business with just windshield repairs, or because they want to offer their current customer base more options? We feel that diluting our business to more than what we do can often times cause companies to lose focus on doing what they do best. I guess to each's own, but if you already have a windshield repair business, why not concentrate more time on growing that business?

[AGSS]

well, my thoughts are the easiest way to earn more money the fastest is to upsell more services to existing clients. If you do say, Car dealers only, while there doing chip repairs, if you could add more services like headlight restorations or something else wouldnt that make sense?

[puka pau]

If you do car dealers only, additional services such as headlight resto, PDR, etc make perfect sense if only from the perspective that over the last twenty or so years the volume of WSR per car dealer has significantly decreased due in part to changes in design (aeodynamics) and increased consumer awareness of WSR. Being that a primary concern of car dealers is cosmetic appearance rather than structural integrity, the dealers are not particularily amenable to long crack or more complex damage repair - and with good reason. They have a used commodity that they want to look good and resell at as much profit as possible. Headlight resto could be a great add-on for fleet accounts in addition to WSR but fleets have a different perspective than car dealers; they want to save as much money on their glass replacement as possible and they are generally less concerned with cosmetic appearance so to satisfy a fleet account with a WSR protocol you need to do long crack and complex damage repair in addition to the garden-variety bullseyes and star cracks and then possibly offer headlight resto as an add-on.

Cheers;

Puka Pau

[SeeClearly]

I guess it is preference, it just drives me nuts when I see these companies that offer so many side add ons. Most of the ones I see, it does not do them or the service any justice. It is too bad that so many out there do not concentrate on doing better repairs. Just my two cents.

[screenman]

I offer PDR as well as WSR when out on the road, however I do agree it is important to do what you do well.

[Auto Glass Rescue]

I offer PDR as well as WSR when out on the road, however I do agree it is important to do what you do well.

Screen, how does PDR do for you?

[just chippen away]

I am going to chime in here also... As the yrs have gone by, I have seen yr's were dealers do lots of work, then fleet accounts and also Insurance comps. It changes yr to yr. This past yr the dealers took a major hit and have cut back big time. We as independents need to adjust to were the work is... I have lost a lot of car lots do to the fact they went out of business or are not willing to spend the money on the car and only use the chip fix as the " If you buy the car today we will repair the chip" sales scheme... Also they have now started doing H/L restore in their detail shops to cut back.... They do not want good quality work, just a cover up to move the car.

I am also thinking about adding on other services for my retail customers as a convenience of one stop service... I can be called in to do H/L's and add a chip or two or the other way around..... I personally do not like doing "Hack work" and would put a lot of thought and practice before I would work on a retail customer.....

Some of you will be saying that "If you do not know what you are doing, do not get into it and let to pros do it".... I will throw my saying back out here at this time... " Everyone is born stupid, We all learn as we go" It is a little sarcastic as I have been told, but true as you can get it..... Non of you knew how to do what you are doing when you were born,,,, We all learned one way or another... Some learn faster than others, and some just can not be taught anything and just skim through life winging it....
I can say I am a fast learner at most everything, Show me for a little bit then get out of my way... I love to learn as much as I can and try to learn the right way with lots of research...

All of you can take what I say or leave it.... I know most of you leave what I say.

Just my .02 cents worth...

[candyman]

I do both HLR and WSR. I had a few dealers consoldate their car lots and a few closed up. The few I have remaining only do the repairs when the vehicle is sold or requested by the buyer. I am not that busy and most of the time I can respond within an hour to do the job. Dealers like the fact I can do it that quick. Off the subject a moment. I stopped almost all advertizing except for my computer site through Vista Prints. Most of my Yellow page calls were for replacement. The vast majority of my calls other than referrals were from computer search by the customer. This will save me $$$. I also dont use credit cards. Most pay cash or check to include the insurance companies. Radio & News Paper were also expensive and produced very few leads. I recommed the add on to give your business a broader base of services. When one is slow the other may pick up the slack during tough times. I wouldnt go over board with it.

[screenman]

AGR, PDR is good for me, very good, however it is extremely hard and time consuming to learn. For most quiet guys it would be easier to learn to sell WSR than it would learn PDR.