We met with Mike Lattomus, owner of Union Auto Glass, at the NACE convention at Auto Glass Week in Las Vegas recently. He has been signed up with Glass.net for over 6 months, but this was the first opportunity we’d had to meet with him in person. He was such an advocate for Glass.net at the convention, and we wanted to know why. We know why we think Glass.net is a great service for auto glass shops, but we decided to pick his brain to find out what he thinks about our service.
Q: How has Glass.net changed your advertising strategy?
A: A lot of it is timing. Advertising within the auto glass industry has changed from the phone book to the internet. This has happened for the independent companies in the last 12 months. Glass.net is one in only 4% of the glass industry that has the ability of the instant quote. It’s something that auto glass shops need to survive in this industry. Glass.net generated 1300 jobs for me since July. So the people that are worried about the 50 cents a quote, they’re not seeing the big picture.
Q: Is there anything you think other shops should know about Glass.net?
A: I have the statistics, and they don’t lie. With the internet we’re getting $60-$80 more per job—internet customers are different shoppers. They’re totally different. It’s an avenue in a lot of markets that’s totally untouched. Glass.net is so simple. If I were to build a website, it would be exactly like Glass.net.
Q: Is there any advice you’d give to those who are considering Glass.net?
A: There’s really nothing to lose. We’ve all spent money on advertising that hasn’t worked. There’s no risk, you’re getting your money back, and there’s not even a contract like those other guys. Auto glass shops have everything in the world to gain. How can you not afford to take the chance? 62% of customers are shopping online, that’s huge.
Q: Why do you partner with Glass.net?
A: Glass.net is hands down the best, but you were also the first. I was building my own website and trying to get the simplicity of the website, and Glass.net pioneered this. Why go with an imitator? I believe in Glass.net, and you’re leaps and bounds ahead of everybody else, clearly. I feel very fortunate to be able to do business with Glass.net.
Categories: Glass.net
Tagged: advertising, auto glass, business development, Glass.net, windshield
With the Auto Glass Technician Olympics (AGTO) right around the corner, safe and proper installations should be on every mind in the auto glass industry. I know I’ve mentioned the importance of safe, high quality windshield installations before, but it bears repeating. I’ve highlighted a few of the simple, yet often overlooked aspects of what should be a routine auto glass installation process.
Greeting your customer. It’s vital to make sure, as an auto glass installer, that you are properly greeting your customer—which is why it is part of the AGTO judging criteria. When meeting a customer you want to make sure to introduce yourself and the auto glass company you represent. This might sound like a no-brainer, but I’ve had several customers giving feedback raving about their Glass.net installer, but lamenting that they didn’t get his name. During your greeting you will also want to fully explain the auto glass installation process while maintaining a patient and friendly attitude. You might be able to do a windshield installation in your sleep, but chances are your customer has never experienced it before and may have some questions. There is no need to have a marathon greeting period, but making sure to thoroughly cover your bases will not only earn you full points in the AGTO, but will also help your customers remember your name and company.
Dress the part. The AGTO and AGRSS have guidelines for the proper attire to wear during an installation. This includes having a “neat” appearance and wearing a clean and appropriate uniform, not jeans and ratty sneakers. This not only helps you look professional and credible, but it also should help protect you and the vehicle while performing the installation.
Inspecting the vehicle. Before you begin any auto glass installation, the AGRSS states that you should thoroughly inspect the inside and outside of the vehicle. This is to help determine the conditions you’ll be working under, and to check for any corrosion or other conditions that might hinder the auto glass installation. You should also bring any conditions to the attention of the owner of the vehicle. These steps will help the installation process go smoothly, even if there is a condition to work around.
Categories: Auto Glass Safety · Glass.net
There are many factors that customers consider when getting their auto glass replaced: price, convenience, features. These are all obvious factors, and ultimately it’s in the customer’s hands to decide what’s most important to them. In the past when I’ve shopped around for windshield replacements, as a consumer there was one more factor I considered vitally important that most shops simply didn’t offer—outstanding customer service. You could have had the lowest price or the most qualified technician, but if the person I was talking to wasn’t friendly and competent, there was no way I would schedule with your company. Now that I’m in the auto glass industry, I can’t help but notice the amazing potential for improvement in customer service.
Enthusiasm is contagious. As I’ve mentioned before, make sure to look for customer service representatives that are personable, friendly, and knowledgeable about the auto glass industry. Enthusiasm and competency in a CSR will help reassure your customers that your company is the best choice for their replacement. That may sound strange, but chances are they’ve never met your technicians, haven’t been to your physical location, and have just found your phone number from the internet or yellow pages. It’s very likely that this customer knows next to nothing about any aspect of your company. If even the most entry level position in your company is occupied by a person filled with confidence in your company and enthusiasm for their job, it translates into ease of mind for your customer—and a simpler path to closing the sale.
Having high quality representatives in every component of your company is crucial. I mentioned last week that auto glass technicians should go the extra mile, and so should your CSRs. Instead of just answering the phone, giving a quote and hanging up with the customer, make sure your CSRs are going one step further: have them educate customers on the importance of auto glass safety, attempt to close the sale, or even have a prepared sales pitch that boasts your company’s strong points. If you’re employing someone to answer your phones, make sure they’re trying just as hard to schedule appointments for your company as your technicians are trying to provide your customers with safe, high quality auto glass replacements. High quality customer service is just as important as high quality auto glass replacements—and just as helpful in making your business more successful.
Categories: Glass.net
As I was looking over some customer feedback from the Glass.net website the thought occurred to me: How is it that even when an installation goes according to plan, a customer can still be dissatisfied?
With a few extra steps, your auto glass installations should sell themselves. Auto glass installers are not selling a job—the customer has already scheduled the appointment. The most important thing to remember as an auto glass installer is to above all make sure the customer walks away satisfied. Most people consider windshield installations costly, and a hassle to boot. If, as an installer, you can take the little extra time and effort to make sure your customers are satisfied, the chances of turning that auto glass customer into a repeat customer increases substantially. If you’re replacing a broken door glass, take those extra few minutes to make sure you vacuum up the broken glass—and inform the customer. If you’re replacing a windshield, make sure to clean up all the extra urethane that gets stripped away. Keep some Armor All wipes in your truck and quickly run over the dash after you’ve installed the new windshield. Also, make sure to always leave the customer with a drive-away time. A good way to do this is rear view mirror tags, that way the customers have the information even if they aren’t present at the installation.
Simplicity is the bottom line. By simply taking a few minutes to clean up after an installation and providing your customers necessary information, you can make a customer’s experience that much more stress-free, which is what customers are looking for. A good rule of thumb is to always return a vehicle to your customer in better condition than you found it.
Categories: Glass.net · Sales Tips
As I’ve mentioned in earlier posts, being an AGRSS registered auto glass company or having certified auto glass technicians should be a significant part of your sales pitch to a customer. Certifications are important— not only to show that your business or technician is accredited, but also that you adhere to the safety standards that are currently in place.
This November 2nd and 3rd at the Mandalay Bay Resort the Third Annual Auto Glass Technician Olympics (AGTO) will showcase just how important auto glass replacement safety really is. The AGTO gives technicians from all over the country the chance to prove that they are the best of the best at properly and safely replacing windshields. Participating technicians will be judged on all important aspects of the replacement process, including: customer greeting, vehicle inspection, installation standards and technique, post installation and cleanup procedures, and customer wrap-up. All of the windshield replacements will be judged according to the AGRSS Safety Standard on a special AGTO score sheet.
The AGTO not only provides the opportunity for bragging rights, but it also helps bring awareness about auto glass safety, which is why Glass.net has decided to become an Emerald Sponsor of the event. I always encourage all the auto glass shops in the Glass.net network to employ certified technicians and/or become registered with AGRSS, and I think the AGTO promotes safety and quality in a unique way. This year the AGTO will be awarding Innovation awards for technicians who use uncommon tools or techniques, in addition to the grand prizes— $5000 and the title “World’s Best Auto Glass Technician” go to the first place winner. The AGTO challenges the participants and showcases the importance of safe windshield replacements, and the skills of auto glass technicians from all over the country. If you’re not signed up to compete this year, I would strongly encourage any auto glass technician or company owner to look into the AGTO, and becoming registered with the AGRSS. Windshield safety is not only important in practice, but a great aid in selling your services.
Categories: Glass.net
It’s very seldom that a customer looks forward to the prospect of windshield repair or auto glass replacement. Rock chips, vandalism, and unforeseen accidents are not incidents that people often consider in their day to day lives, so when they happen, customers usually aren’t too happy about it. Suddenly, they have an unexpected expense, the potential nightmare of informing their insurance companies, several calls to make to find the best price, and the hassle of finding time to schedule an auto glass replacement. In today’s fast paced society, no one has time for this. Windshield replacement isn’t a recreational activity, a planned event, or even a maintenance issue that people plan for—it’s one more thing they have to deal with. This is all information Glass.net customer service representatives are trained to keep in mind when talking to our customers. By keeping this in mind, they are more likely to close the sale and schedule appointments
Answer every call you take like it’s the first of the day. Most customers are polite and are simply trying to meet the need of scheduling their auto glass replacement as quickly and efficiently as possible. Answering a constantly ringing phone to give windshield replacement quotes can be very monotonous and even frustrating, especially in the middle of a busy auto glass shop, but it’s very important that your customer never knows it. I’ve always told my phone representatives that it’s their goal to make every customer feel like they are the company’s first call of the day. It’s important to sound friendly, knowledgeable, and most importantly calm. If you sound hurried, frustrated, or impatient, the customer will not respond well, and you will most likely lose the sale. It’s also important to never let the customer rattle you. We’ve all dealt with a difficult customer, and to many people it’s incredibly difficult to maintain a positive, polite attitude in that particular situation. However, it’s crucial to treat all customers with a polite and friendly disposition, no matter how they treat you. Keep in mind what the customer has probably gone through to get to that point.
Listen like your life depends on it. It’s a fact of life in this industry— most phone calls are painfully the same. Everyone in the auto glass industry has experienced the quote call. Day in, day out, the same routine—it’s very easy to slide into autopilot-mode. I’ve listened to, and experienced, representatives who just are not listening. The first time I called around for quotes for my windshield replacement, I was asked what model my car was three separate times by a single auto glass company representative. I could tell I was not a priority to him, or his company. Needless to say, they did not gain my business. No matter how boring a call may be, or how busy you are, if you answer the phone, make sure to listen to your customers like they are your best friends. Every customer needs to know that their business matters, and actively listening is a very important and successful way to accomplish that, and help close sales.
Categories: Glass.net · Sales Tips
I think the most important factor when discussing ways of converting leads to appointments is not what you say to close the sale, but how you say it. I don’t know how many times I’ve called a shop to initiate contact and was greeted by an irritated, rude, or otherwise negative-sounding person on the other end. The way a conversation goes can very well make or break the sale. It’s important to remember that whoever is answering your phone is most often the first point of contact a customer has with your auto glass shop. If a customer is greeted by a rude, hurried representative, the customer isn’t going to be left with a good feeling about your company, which can make or break the sale.
Building rapport with every customer is a key component in closing sales. I’ve found that if you establish a connection with your customer early in your conversation, then the customer is more inclined to do business with you for a few key reasons: you’ve established commonality between yourself and the customer, you’ve let them know you’re a real person, not just a windshield-replacement-quote-generating-robot who could care less about their personal needs, and they have a positive memory to associate with your company. Building rapport can be as easy as a quick discussion of the weather, asking how their day is going, or even by asking how their glass was damaged. Chances are pretty good that the customer is going to be shopping around, and it goes a long way to make that little extra effort to help them remember your company. If I’ve made a customer laugh or tell me something about themselves, I know they’re going to be far more receptive to and impacted by what I have to say from that point on.
When all else fails, remember to keep smiling. You won’t be able to build rapport with all customers— some people just aren’t interested in small talk. What I’ve told my employees for as long as I’ve been in the auto glass industry is just keep on smiling. If you smile while you talk, and make an effort to sound as upbeat and friendly as possible, it will make closing the sale significantly easier. Smiling helps keep the tone of your voice friendly and enthusiastic, which will help customers feel more at ease and, again, it will help customers put a positive association with your auto glass company’s name.
Categories: Glass.net · Sales Tips
As I mentioned last week, auto glass safety is a huge asset to any auto glass company or technician. Auto glass safety is something many consumers are unaware of, and this is something you can use to your advantage. Using your knowledge of auto glass safety and proper installation procedure to close the sale is a great way to educate your customers and also close the sale.
Another important way to use windshield safety to your advantage is to have your technicians further educate your customers while they are doing their installations. The first time I got my windshield replaced the technician was in a complete rush. He barely made eye contact, let alone any kind of conversation. I had no idea what he was doing, and some of the steps he was taking seemed like they would be damaging my windshield rather than helping with the installation process—like when he started prying out the old windshield. I saw a huge crack shoot across the entire windshield, which was completely unexpected, and worrisome. Now that I am in the auto glass industry I know the required components of a windshield installation, and know what the purposes behind his actions were— but at the time I was more worried about the installation than I had been about the initial crack. It would have put me more at ease about the installation if he had explained why he was taking the steps he was. By pointing out the safety precautions he’s taking— using towels to protect the inside of the vehicle, the quality of the urethane he is using, why the glass may break when he takes it out, fully explaining the reason for a drive away time, etc.—your technician can put potential fears to rest, and help the customer feel like they made the right choice by going with your company. In many cases, your technician is the only representative of the company that the customer will meet face to face, so by taking that extra step it will help the customer establish a positive association with your company, which may very well result in a loyal, return customer. Having your technicians take the time to explain what they are doing during an installation may make the installations run a little bit longer than they would otherwise, but it is a huge opportunity to reiterate to the customer why a safe, high quality installation is so important.
Categories: Glass.net
