I would like to talk about pricing and running shops a little. The more everyone keeps their pricing up the better it is for everyone. I don’t care if you are a hack or a top-notch tech. How many times have you heard the adjuster say, “the guy down the road will do it for half of your estimate”. I know one thing, I have not seen the hail matrix go up but inflation and hotel prices have. Every year the insurance companies try to lower or take away one of the up charges (if you don’t know what an up charge is call me we need to talk). Technicians need to understand what they are worth.

I have been in the PDR business for almost 18 years. I have seen a lot of ups and downs with newbies coming into the industry chasing the dreams of all the money the older guys have made in the business. This money is not easy to make happen. There are many details to the PDR carrier that have to be refined to make a good living with a lot of hustle. It also comes down to connections to make a great hail-chasing career. In the last decade I have seen a lot of new guys with subpar training and an ego to go with it. Those technicians will learn a few hard lessons. They will also see how hard it is to make top money in this industry. I tried in the past to help or retrain many guys, but their hardheaded egos would get in the way. I am excited to see some technicians spend the money to learn in all areas of PDR and try to take their business to the next level with an open mind. It is not all about pushing dents the best or the fastest or the most clean, writing the proper ticket is the key to all of this.

I believe there is a lot of hard work ahead with this new crop of techs. I have left many deals in the last couple years with guys not willing to try and listen or learn something from a veteran. The deals I left are mostly body shop deals where guys were not putting the correct money on cars. Some were not even putting R&I times on the cars, I saw the original tickets, they just had a headliner that is it. These guys were still writing chicken scratch onto body shop tickets. They didn’t even have paper write ups with their company information, very unprofessional in my opinion. There are great programs like Mobile Tech RX, and Sullivan’s PDR estimator out there at a vey fair price to better your income level, and organization. They also make it a lot easier for an adjuster to figure out a supplement.

Next time you’re writing a car up if you really look at the damage and use a light for every car it makes a big difference. When most guys adjust a car they don’t put the correct dent size down. If you look at the damage with a light, a dime is a nickel, a nickel is a quarter, a quarter is a half dollar, and a half dollar is over size. Also when writing up oversize I will put 3,4,5, and even 6 oversize on one dent if I need that money for that repair. Or adjust the oversize with a onetime price that fits the size of the damage. Plus if it is under a brace add 25%. You don’t have to stick with just $40 or $50 for that dent. Remember most adjuster don’t know the difference from a $1000 car and a $5000 car. So educate them on why it’s an $8000 car, don’t be scared to put money on these cars put what it takes to fix the car. You don’t have to do anything shady to make extra money just write it correctly. Just justify what you’re charging for. If you write up false tickets it makes them not trust the next guy. It makes us look bad and the trust factor goes away when they see these bad business practices. Don’t start an argument and tell them because I’m a 10 year tech that’s why. They are asking for one reason, their boss wants to know why they approved that price. For this reason I’m a 10 year tech won’t work give reasons why you’re charging this, use your light to show them. You are the professional and know why it cost “X” to repair that vehicle. I think it cost you time and money if your trying to run your own deal, or manage a body shop for someone else and not use one of these programs. I believe if you’re in a body shop it’s a must.

If your still reading this good. I am just trying to get this information out there to better our industry. It cost nothing to hear someone out. If they sound like they make sense or have more experience than you take advantage of this and better yourself. I still learn something every year. If they sound like there full of hot air move on.

This business has all kinds of walks of life. Every storm is different than the last one. You not only have to sell a customer you have to sell the adjuster or a GM at a dealer. If your chasing hail now you also have to win them over and earn there trust being a stranger in a new shop. I have made a very good living off this industry and things are changing fast in the PDR world. Every advantage you can learn or watch from a different source they might have a different angle. It may not even be a veteran. My brother in-law and I have trained a few guys together. Those technicians have all of the success and lessons learned from failures we have attempted in 18 years crammed into 2,or 3 years. These guys are at the top of the tech side of things. They are still new and learning on the business end but willing to call and listen. It’s a lot of hustle to make it in this world.

So with all of this said you just never know who might have a one-up on you in this industry. Try not to judge a book by the cover and try to listen or hear someone out if you’re in the same storm with another technician. If you listen you only stand to make more money from this lesson. I hear of a lot of guy’s talking about bad deals. If you’re in a body shop writing your own tickets, it should never be a bad deal. Maybe you need help on how to write a ticket and or sell or justify the ticket to an adjuster. A lot of guys laugh when I write a big ticket and never think it will pass. It’s all in how I see the damage and how I use and or justify the matrix, it’s easy. We all give a lot up to be on the road, and we are all in the same industry so lets try to keep the prices up and run the best deals we can. We have a short window to make money, make it the best opportunity you can. You might just run into a well-versed technician and that storm can take you to a level you thought you never could reach. One thing I always say is, “my pen will make me way more than your pushing ever will”. You’re going to be working in the same storm/body shop with them for the next month or two. That’s a lot of free learning if you ask me.

I hope someone made it all the way to this part. And I hope this person runs into someone that changes there thought process this season. Remember work smart not hard write a better ticket this year. To all a happy and prosperous 2017 hail season.