Free After Rebate*

[glassdoctor]

With all the consumer electronics, etc that are marketed with mail-in rebates and "instant" rebates (formerly known as a sale price), I have been wondering about adopting that in our industry.

Often, I try to get an insurance customer to pay me direct and then leave the bill and instruct them to submit it to their agent to get reimbursed. Most people seem to not really take issue with this. I mainly do this with State Farm customers, simply explaining that this process is the most efficient and simple method of billling State Farm. Idealy, all jobs would be this way...

Anyway, why not try to market the "free with insurance" as "free after rebate"? Mail in rebates have become a staple of advertising today. Simply shifting to this language would lead into getting paid on the spot and having the customer submit the bill for reimbursment. It's a subtle difference, but might make it easier to "sell" getting paid up front by the customer.

Do you guys think there would be a problem using this term or pitch? I know that it is not technically a "mail-in" rebate as used by stores and manufacturers, but it really works the same way. Would "FREE after rebate" be less attractive than "FREE with insurance"? Either could still just use and asterisk... FREE*


What say you? Hope this all made sense

[DaveC]

Ack!

Rebates are guaranteed offers provided as incentives to end cutomers. What would happen if you offered a "rebate" and the insurer refuses to re-imburse for some/any reason?

However, this does spark some idea that might be a great start to a potentially profitable marketing idea (I hope?).

Why not come up with some sort of payment guarantee? You could certainly gurantee your cutomer, that if their insurance company denies their claim in writing (provided they had adequate coverage at the time of repair, yadayada....), or if their insurance company re-imburses them for less than the invoice amount, that your company will either refund the price of the repair or the difference between the invoice amount and re-imbursement amount.

This way, if your customer doesn't care to submit the paperwork, you've got the cash. If they submit and are denied (which shouldn't happen, since you at least verified coverage and received some sort of claim#), you're no worse off than direct billing and being denied?

[johnnyone]

Glass
That sounds like a winner a $50.00 rebate with repair!!!! Who would issue the rebate form you or the insurance company? I wonder what they would have to say?

[glassdoctor]

DaveC, you're right about a guarantee of reimbursement. I think we would have to do that to "sell" it. I already promise my customers they will get paid back, and to call me if they have any problems, so I can "take care of it".

I certainly wouldn't have a problem with what has been mentioned... a simple guarantee that my customer ends up with no out of pocket expense. I aready offer a money back guarantee on my work, right? As long as you check on the insurance for them, and use common sense, I think there would not be a problem. Insurance agents are will usually go out of their way to take care of their customers.

For example, recently, I asked a friend (State Farm insured) to take my invoiced marked "paid" to his agent when I did a repair for him...as a "test". He got a check within a couple days, and said they would have cut him a check right right there on the spot, but the agent was out of the office.

This is one selling point... just mention in passing that ins. will normally send the insured a check within a week or two, but it may take two or three months for me to get a check. People often don't like to hear that you don't get paid for their repair for two months... they kinda feel guilty.

[glassdoctor]

Just thought I would add that I know "rebate" is a turn-off for some people.

My dad doesn't buy anything because of a rebate... but that's because it's a real hassle to get all the crap together and mail it in time, etc. Also, I get sick of every sale price end up being a mail in rebate, or several of them...

Having said that, most people do bite... If it didn't work, then the Sunday paper ads would not be saturated with mail in rebates.

And, it's just one option.... no reason you couldn't still go through a network or bill direct.

[DaveC]

But these Sunday Paper rebates are all issued by the manufacturer and not the retailer/service provider.

Perhaps you can get StateFarm to issue you a bunch of $55.00 rebate forms;)?

Seems like (at least for this thread) we are trying to target the WSR's that want the cash up front from their customers.

Of course, guaranteeing re-imbursement, either by the insurer or the WSR if denied, should certainly alleviate customer concerns.

But, what is the "incentive" to get them to want to do this? What would/could get a customer to pay up front, have to do the paperwork and then ultimately wind up with the same "free" repair that they could have received from another WSR that direct bills, uses networks, etc. . .?

I just recently took advantage of a Seagate rebate offer and purchased 10 80GB harddrives (since I have a propensity to crash-em like crazy) for $30.00 a piece. THese are normally $80.00 a piece. Ergo, I had no problem forking up $800.00 knowing that I would be recieving a check for $500.00 and would be realizing that $500.00 savings. IMO, I received true value for advancing the funds.

[glassdoctor]

Good point asking what the incentive is for the customer to go for a "rebate" as opposed to you billin the insurance direct. There really isn't an incentive. The "rebate" is the actually a worse option for them. But it's better for us. The concept I had in mind was just a twist of words that fit better with trying to get paid up front 100% from the customer. It's to completely bypass the ins. and network.

Most people don't know WSR is "FREE", so they surely don't know about the normal billing process, that we can direct bill the ins. without them dropping a dime. Maybe paying out $60 and getting reimbursed is a good deal to them, and not a hassle, as we would assume because we know better.

I realize that this would be a more difficult sale telling a prospective customer that it will cost them $0 out of their pocket. I am sure this would not be very effective for cold calling work like Coitster does. I just talked to him and it's pretty clear that his method is based on selling the "FREE" repair... you couldn't then ask them to get out their checkbook.

I guess I had in mind a different type of retail customer. One that comes to you and are more of a captive audience... they already want you to do the repair, like a word of mouth referral or aquaintance of some sort. It's different than walking up to a complete stranger and selling a repair.

So, maybe it's a good idea for certain specific situations. I don't know...

The other part of the "rebate" idea is simply that I believe people are very familiar with the concept of a rebate. It's become a standard marketing tool. If someone hears "Free after rebate" they understand instantly how it will work. I have seen people have a hard time grasping the idea that their insurance will pay the bill, and why... they think there is a "catch". Maybe that same person would not think twice about the idea of a "rebate".

Last thing....
I think you could make this rather painless for the customer. You make a call to verify that their ins. will in fact pay for it, and also get an address to send in the bill. Give the customer an envelope with this address on it... with the invoice in it, and a stamp on it. All they would have to do is drop it in the mail or give it to their agent. The only "hassle" for them is just that they have to write a check, and wait a week or so to get paid back.

It's just an idea, nothing more.



I posted this idea as food for thought... maybe a different term to use for a vehicle signs, etc... to get attention.