Registering with Safelite

Post your windshield repair tips, questions, advice! Note there is a sub-forum specifically for business development questions.
t4k
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Re: Registering with Safelite

Post by t4k »

kentcrossfit wrote:
t4k wrote:Why not do it right by getting what is required to run a professional business?
Well my car isn't exactly a great car. I'm not going to wrap my business name on a car that I'm driving till the wheels fall off (and it's getting there). I got everything else. I also figured out I don't really need it.
You don't need a wrap. A couple of magnetic signs identifies you as a business professional when you drive up to someone's home or business.
GlassStarz
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Re: Registering with Safelite

Post by GlassStarz »

Join Act
bill lambeth
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Re: Registering with Safelite

Post by bill lambeth »

ACT ! and get out there and get your insurance work if that is what you want !
kentcrossfit
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Re: Registering with Safelite

Post by kentcrossfit »

bill lambeth wrote:ACT ! and get out there and get your insurance work if that is what you want !
Well, they charge like 13 bucks for processing. I wouldn't pay someone just because I want to dial the same number to process my claims. I'd rather take the 13 dollars and call the insurance company myself.
bill lambeth
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Re: Registering with Safelite

Post by bill lambeth »

Negative ! 2.95 ! You can do SGC yourself I use ACT for EDI ONLY !
clearquest
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Re: Registering with Safelite

Post by clearquest »

Insurance work is over 60% of my business. Most is with SGC Network. The rest is mostly Lynx and Harmon. I repair on average 120 windshields a month. Not sure why so many knock doing insurance work? My non-insurance rate is $55 and $10 for each additional on same windshield. Insurance average seems to be around $60 flat rate. Some are higher at $70 including Safeco. Some lower like Allstate at $54. I have nearly quit doing cut rate fleet and dealer work for obvious reasons.
bill lambeth
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Re: Registering with Safelite

Post by bill lambeth »

I love insurance work ! I seek out Nationwide agents and their business because they pay 75 bucks a pop! At the end of the day though rental car companies feed my family ! Insurance work is great filler for empty periods in your day !
kentcrossfit
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Re: Registering with Safelite

Post by kentcrossfit »

bill lambeth wrote:Negative ! 2.95 ! You can do SGC yourself I use ACT for EDI ONLY !
Why is EDI so important? I just plan on squatting at one location and just doing repairs there. Given that chip repair isn't a service that customers regularly need, why would I want to keep track of all of the customers? I was just looking at ACT and thought it was pretty pointless if you're dealing with retail customers.
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Brent Deines
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Re: Registering with Safelite

Post by Brent Deines »

kentcrossfit wrote:
bill lambeth wrote:Negative ! 2.95 ! You can do SGC yourself I use ACT for EDI ONLY !
Why is EDI so important? I just plan on squatting at one location and just doing repairs there. Given that chip repair isn't a service that customers regularly need, why would I want to keep track of all of the customers? I was just looking at ACT and thought it was pretty pointless if you're dealing with retail customers.
EDI is important for billing Lynx claims because it is your least expensive option for doing so. Services are available for as little as $1.25 per claim that will do everything you need to do for you. You can bill SGC and HSG and networks for free so most new windshield repair professionals just choose the least expensive option for EDI submission to Lynx. Why pay more than you need to? As your insurance claims volume increases there are software packages available that will reduce your claim filing cost even further but for most it takes a little while to get to the break even point. As you can tell from many of the comments here there are a lot of experienced technicians who still don't have the volume to justify a software purchase that is certainly an option to consider if you are running multiple locations and multiple employees.

I highly recommend that you get you setup your SGC, Lynx, HSG and other network accounts yourself so that you have your own identity with them. We receive a lot of complaints from customers who had someone else do all their billing for them, only to find that none of the claims they billed through the other company were recognized by the networks. In other words, they had built a good reputation for someone else but not for themselves! That would be like putting another company's name on your business card.

As for keeping track of all your customers, I feel this is very important as well. I think you will be surprised how many repeat customers you have if you do a good job for them and customers can be your best form of advertising so you should try to stay in contact with them. I would be happy to discuss a number of ways in which you can use your customers to help you advertise and increase the percentage of repeat business you get. Here is one example. Hand out referral cards or flyers to each of your customers. If your customer Joe gives the card to friend Bob and the Bob has you repair his windshield, you give Bob a $5 discount and send Joe a check for $5. The amount can be anything you want and you can give it all to Bob or all to Joe, the point being that you have created a reason for them to tell others about your service and a reason for them to remember you. If you don't do things to set you apart from the competition, the next time Joe needs his windshield repaired and he sees your competitor sitting across the street from you offering repairs for $5 less than you where do you think he will go? Maybe he will come back to you because you did such a fantastic job for him but the more incentive you can give him to come back to you the better. You are no longer just some nameless guy Joe had repair his windshield, you kentcrossfit, the guy that does great work and rewards his loyal customers!

It's also important to keep track of customers for warranty purposes, marketing, sales analysis, planning for growth, etc. Not everyone has the same needs of course but success comes in a large part from planning and preparedness.

You don't need an EDI billing service to keep track of your customers, there are much better ways of doing that. What to use depends on your business model and marketing approach there there are some very inexpensive options available that work quite well for most.
Brent Deines
Delta Kits, Inc.
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bill lambeth
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Re: Registering with Safelite

Post by bill lambeth »

That is so funny that you mention that email ! I did a repair just last week for the man that I have answered to for many years at my airport location(rental) and they sent to him the email and he told them he would never let SGC repair his car and that I was the best thing since peanut and butter :D ! Allstate . I find that my fleet customers NO what kind of work SGC does . My direct report for the 7000 cars I over see understand the repair business inside and out as her husband was in the business. When you repair rental cars you are behind the eight ball all day and there is NO way that you can get around not drilling at all . Now with that said since I started using the mighty GW EcoVac my drilling has cut way down. All safelite does is put a little resin on top of the damage . I go on vacation (not very often my wife says) and come back and they will have cars waiting for me to look at that safelite did while I was gone for me to try to rerepair! Just my 2 cents.
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