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5 ways dealer work kills profits, and how to fix them - 82

Used car work is the low hanging fruit of any reconditioning business. PDR, detailing, touchup, just a snippet of what gets done to a used car.
Get some dealers, build your confidence in dent repair, yes.
What are the perils of doing so? Can where you start also be the end of your paintless business growth?

Uncover these dangers:

• the tainted referral
• confusing selling with negotiating
• Ironic account holding. What it is, and how to spot it
• holds your retail pricing low
• If they get hailed on I’m getting all their work

Listen as we discuss the solutions to these profit killers
Also see:
Work PDR Wholesale the Right Way

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How to Raise PDR Prices without Losing Customers 81

Everything is going up in price, you know this. You also know prices need to go up for your PDR services. You might also know its the easiest way to increase profits, just charge more.

But will you start to lose dent customers? What about the wholesale customers who see your prices be one level every week, then suddenly go up?
What is the best strategy for going up in a way they can understand?
Also: can you be sued for the way you fix a dent? How a collision after repair left a body shop open to lawsuit.
What you should do now to protect yourself and your pdr business.

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How to Deal with a New PDR Broker in Your Town - PM80

Lots of pdr hail work, lots of techs to do it. Some enterprising fellow sees a chance to put himself between it all and make some easy money.
Boom.
You're now competing with someone who doesn't even fix dents.
Broker is a 4 letter word in most PDR circles and sometimes with good reason. But is there a way to stop it, or at least minimize their impact on your market?

Tools we like:
We picked up a Woyo induction hotbox dent puller. Hear about our misadventures with learning to use it.

• why the hotbox is a knife's edge tool
• what it will do, what it won't
• thoughts on its learning curve

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Are You Embarrassed to Be Called a PDR Technician? PM79

'Why didn’t you become/marry a doctor or lawyer?'
A cliche for sure, but are we secretly embarrassed to call ourselves technicians?
Some are.
Once had this conversation with a young man in the hail business earning 6 figures: “Are you proud of what you’ve accomplished?”
"I am, but most of my friends went to college, and though I make more, they still look down on me."

Rivers Cuomo, the lead singer of the band Weezer went back to college (twice) after finding music success.

• What makes us want more status?
• How can we get it, or better yet, how can we make the switch internally?
• Should we be so quick to turn over important jobs to others?
• The big secret about high earning “boutique” jobs

Links Mentioned in this Episode:
Power of No in your Paintless Business

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Ron Kronon - How to Get Wholesale PDR Accounts PM78

“Have you guys ever burned out pushing dents?”
"No, I haven’t”
This was my answer to Ron Kronon in this episode’s interview.
But I was not completely honest. Burn out just might be why I stopped the paintless dealer work in 2003.
What I felt was the hopeless futility of doing dealer work.
They tried to hire one of my employees to compete with me. They set the prices. They dictated my earnings.
The only way to win the game was not to play.
If you do dealer work and this bothers you, sorry. It still bothers me.

Looking back now, I see most of my beliefs about doing dealer work were internal nonsense.
I think there is a right way to do it. Stay in charge. Keep your sanity. Not feel backed into a corner.
The “I gotta do this unfixable car or I’ll lose the account” nonsense that seems to rule the PDR vendors belief system.
Derek and I have worked hard to overcome this.
Its worked out well, both in income and emotional well being.
But here’s the reality.
A good business setup for any paintless tech is going to be a balanced mix of retail and wholesale.
How we choose to do business is not right for all and we know this.
What does a dealer used car manager or recon manager think of you as a vendor? What mistakes does he see you making when you try to get his work?
To find out, we interviewed Ron Kronon, a 30 year vet of wholesale PDR. He also grew up around dealerships.
In this episode you’ll discover:

• Why some PDR techs give up too soon on dealer accounts
• A better way to give a price so you don’t lose the gravy part of the repair
• Why selective quality may be a necessary evil when doing dealer work

Related Episode:
Work Wholesale the Right Way

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Get the Benefits of Social Media Without the Time Suck - PM77

Social Media can make your paintless business grow. But its a lot of work. To get traction, you have to post a minimum of once a day.
Not only can this be a lot of work, its a huge distraction which can take you away from making money pushing dents.
Is there a way to control the timesuck?
More and more sites are allowing you to schedule out your posts. Sit down once a week and set up your posting in advance and you’re done. Sort of.
Once you make a post, its a flash in someone’s timeline or feed. They might miss it.
Today, there are tools which allow you to build a library of posts which can be recirculated over time. Listen to hear our thoughts on these tools.

Links mentioned in this episode:
Buffer App
IFTT (If This Then That)
Zapier
Meet Edgar
Smarter Queue

Tool Reviews:
Druztoolz Carbon Fiber Rod 
Ti-Tack Tip

Also in this episode:

• How to identify where your customer is in the sales timeline
• A quick tip to get better search engine rankings with just one tweak to your site

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PDR Employees - Is Your Business Ready to Hire? PM76

As you apply good marketing strategies to your business, you will feel growth pains. You might consider adding a tech or two to the paintless team.
Be warned: hiring is fraught with danger in any business. Paintless dent repair companies have issues totally unique in managing new hires.

• What are the dangers and how can you protect your company?
• What is the best type person to hire, and how would you even know if they are a fit?
• How will you pay them? Fixed wage vs. commission?

Don’t worry, if you are still working as an employee yourself, you’ll find some tips on how to apply good marketing in your own job
Also in this episode - why you should hire on purpose.

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How to Avoid Overwhelm in PDR - PM75

I have this strange fear of cave diving. Those scuba tank and flipper wearing adventurers have my admiration. Yet, just thinking about them doing it can send me into a sitting panic.
Irrational? Yes, I know its true. But the feeling is overwhelming.
Therein lies the topic of today's podcast. Avoiding overwhelm is an inside job, meaning our conscious thought.
Can you train your way out of overwhelm? We think so and I’ll bet the scuba cave diving school could teach me a thing or two. Maybe even calm me down.
Listen for some helpful tidbits to train your way out of overwhelm in these key areas:

• Hail
• Dings
• When you’re busy
• Even when you’re slow

Also:

• pomodoro method
• how do you switch modes when a customer walks in
• how to conquer an overwhelming task