On August 6, a tornado damaged many buildings near our paintless dent shop. The shop we left a few weeks before is a quarter mile away. It still stands, but is not safe to be in, much less to do business out of. Looks like we moved just in time.
Some have said, “You must be living right,” or “just good clean living!”
Is this how it really works?
Did our old neighbors lose their location for some hidden transgression?
Maybe we were just lucky, or maybe its something else.

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

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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This members only article is a story of a man I met who gave some helpful advice about hiring people.
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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

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

All the excitement of getting a new shop or house is too often snuffed out by the labor of packing and moving.
We’ve been throwing stuff in corners and cubbies, never to touch it again for years. Now its all in our face. Take the nostalgia walk with us and discover why some of our current setup won’t be going with us.
Also in this episode:

• Elimadent Glue gun review
• Shocking, but even your best customer is going to other shops, here’s what you need to do now
• Is it really possible to have too many lights?

Ever wonder what your PDR business might be worth? Would you sell it?
Never kill the goose that lays golden eggs, they say. Yet, you still may be ready.
What are some factors to consider?

• Who will buy it?
• Will they run it well?
• Do they have more resources than you? Time?
• How long will you stay on during transiition?

• Tool review: Druztools Pimp Stick
• Prior hail damage – update
• Facebook slander – how we handled it

Links mentioned in this episode:
David Bowie Sold future earnings
VW loses right to “Rolls Royce” name
Barbara Corcoran How I Built This

Overhead. The largest expense you have.
Some techs say, I don’t want to be tied to a shop. Some would never be without one.
Others think its too expensive and opt for a $700 truck payment instead. Here is our take on expansion and what’s coming up in our PDR business.

• Should I even have a shop at all?
• How you know when its time to expand
• Your customers perception – we discovered ours in the strangest way
• The shops we’ve had through the years and why

“How much for a small dent?” You hear this many times a day if you do retail.
Of course, you have to get to the bottom of the real deal. We show you how in this episode.
But should you give a price or range by phone? I know we don’t want to and we discuss why, and how a recent observation is causing us to change our ways.

• What to put in a texted or emailed price for protection
• Why your customer wants a price in the first place
• Your customer thinks one way, but here’s why you shouldn’t

Links mentioned in this episode:
Finding the Right Price for Your Dent Work
How to Negotiate in Paintless Dent Repair
Why You Need to Charge More for Dents