"We're the best": Every company selling windshield repair equipment claims to be "the best", "industry leaders", "have advanced technology" and more. They proudly display logos from trade organizations they are affiliated with and even the Better Business Bureau. While that may give you a warm fuzzy feeling, you should be asking why so many of their customers are regularly found on ebay selling their slightly used equipment for pennies on the dollar? The answer is because they quickly find out they can't do two things with their windshield repair systems: 1) good repairs and 2) make money.

On-line Forums: Seems like a great idea. But ask yourself, why should you need to ask a third party for help? Shouldn't you be getting that help and information from the company that you purchased your equipment and training from? Well you probably would if they knew the answers themselves, but they don't

Franchises: Some investors favor franchises because they feel success is best achieved by duplicating what has made others successful. We agree, that's why we run a successful windshield repair operation and share those things that make us successful with our customers. Where we differ is that we don't charge a huge amount franchise fee, nor do we restrict your freedom to change or operate your business the way you think best. Franchises make mistakes, and when they do, their franchisees suffer the consequences. With us, if a component of your operation doesn't work for your business, you can change or eliminate it as you see fit. The ability to quickly react to changing market conditions gives you an advantage in business. And unlike franchises, we have no monthly fees or royalties, nor any territorial restrictions. So if we're not providing the best supplies at the best prices, you're free to buy elsewhere. I'd say that's real incentive for us to stay on top. Franchisees are locked into buying form their franchisers, no matter if their products are good or bad.

A shoe to fit every foot?: How can a company says it's the best, offer several quality levels of tools. Have you ever wondered about that? It's marketing. Some people are convinced you can get something for nothing, so they'll only buy the "bargain". Others know quality costs and so they buy the higher priced offering. When you find that the "bargain" wasn't really a bargain at all, they tell you that you need to upgrade to the better product or you need to get some additional training (for a fee). Nothing more than a modern version of the old "bait and switch". The worst thing is that even after all that, customers are still unsatisfied. Ask any seasoned technician how many tools from different manufacturers he has, it's usually several. And they're still searching for something better!

Training: Can you name one person that provides you with a service that they learned how to do from a video. You can't. Learning a skill by watching a video tape or reading a manual doesn't work. They tell you it's so easy a three year old could do it. The truth is it's a lot cheaper and easier for a supplier to mail you a VHS tape than provide a location, labor and materials to properly train you. Some do offer live training, but that's usually in larger class sizes of four or more and taught by someone that just has questionable training themselves and has little or no real world field experience doing windshield repairs.

Marketing strategy:  The "unique" and "proven" marketing strategy offered by other companies is often just a list of potential customers or "accounts" such as: car dealers, car rental companies, delivery companies, taxi companies, etc.  Consider these facts:  1) there’s nothing unique (or pleasant) about cold calling on businesses. 2) these are wholesale "accounts" that often select the lowest bid (that means you'll be working for a lot less). 3) repairs on these vehicles must be done very early in the morning, after hours or on weekends since the vehicles are in service during normal business hours.  4) these folks don't pay you right away often taking 30 days or more. 5) every other technician in town is competing for the same business. That's a strategy?  Our technicians don't do "account" work.  Our technicians do retail work, get paid top dollar, get paid at the time services are rendered, work normal hours and have little or no competition. Better yet, they're growing their business with repeat and referral business, something you don't get with wholesale work!

Insurance referral program:  There's no secret to getting insurance work, you simply join insurance referral networks.  Just call and ask each company to send you an "offer and acceptance agreement", fill it out, sign it and return it.  What others don't tell you is that several of the largest insurance companies are no longer paying for repairs. Why? Because they are no longer willing to pay for repairs that fail, the kind technicians from other companies have been providing over the past several years.

Add-On Systems: Systems sold by "windshield repair companies" for plate glass repair, headlight repair, flat tire fix and vinyl-leather-fabric repair are sold to increase their income not yours. These systems do not satisfy retail customers so technicians never actually use these systems. Need proof? Try to find someone in your area that actually provides these services. If you can actually find someone, ask them if they guarantee the quality of their work.

Patents: The term "patented" is often used to suggest that something (in this case a repair tool) is superior in some way.  The only thing a patent does is protect an inventor from others copying his invention.  We have a cabinet full of  "patented" windshield repair systems from other manufacturers which were left behind by their previous owners who were unsatisfied with them.

Spot heater: (Not to be confused with a chip dryer such as Drystar) Avoid any system that includes a cigarette lighter, barbeque igniter or mini torch. In short, any technician using a flame or direct heat is ignorant of the proper way to perform windshield repairs. Intense heat does not "help the resin to fill the break", it only causes the glass around the break to expand, temporarily giving the appearance the break has filled.  Excessive heat also changes the viscosity of the resin and alters it's strength, clarity, molecular bonding and other characteristics and must never be used.

Certified training: The concept of certified training sounds good, but unless the certification is from the NGA, what value does it have?  Many "certified" technicians can't do a quality repair.

Free technical assistance: Just like certified training, the assistance is only as good as the company providing it.  Technicians we re-train from other companies often tell us that when they called for support, the person on the other end had little or no repair experience and was of no help. Of course what can you expect from a company that doesn't do repairs itself? Technicians are often told they need more training (available at additional cost).

Pneumatic vs Hydraulic: Pneumatic (air) pressure is far less efficient than hydraulic (liquid) pressure because air compresses and liquids do not.  That’s why only hydraulic pressure is used in heavy equipment!   A repair system that uses air pressure to fill a break is putting air into the resin and back into the break.  If you're going to do that, why remove it in the first place??? 

Quick repairs: Windshield repair is a service business so time really is money.  That's why claims are often made of quick 5 to 10 minute repairs.   Using the curing lamps and resins of other suppliers, the curing process alone takes 5 to 10 minutes .  Add the time needed to prepare and fill the break, and those repairs actually take over 30 minutes. What kind of math are they using? Our systems include a quick curing lamp that cures our resins in 60 seconds!  With our system, complete repairs really are done in 5 to 10 minutes.