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Windshield Articles
4 Steps to Researching Starting Your Own Windshield Repair Business
1. First and most important do your research. There are several companies offering windshield repair systems. The web is one of the best places to search for companies that offer windshield repair kits, tools and windshield repair training. When you do your search I think it is a good idea to check more than one search engine, Google has the most searches but Yahoo and Msn may have different results. Also do different searches such as windshield repair kits, windshield repair business opportunity, windshield repair training, windshield repair tools just to name a few. You want to get a very good idea of what is being offered. Take your time and read through the sites that come up in the first 10 pages of results. Write down the web addresses and names of the sites you find so you will know if you have already looked at that site. Most of companies offering windshield repair systems will come up in your searches. You may want to print off 3 to 5 of the sites you find that you are most interested in so you can take your time and read through their information.
2. Next you will want to call the 3 to 5 companies you want to find more information about. Remember all the sales people you talk to will tell you they have the best windshield repair system. There are 4 main areas you want to ask questions about
How long have they been in business?
Do they provide training and what kind?
How long of a crack can there repair systems perform?
And most importantly what percentage of there repairs are cracks over 12 inches?
Is their system patented?
3. In my opinion you want to go with a company that can repair cracks over 12 inches. It has been my experience that promoted correctly crack repairs over 12 inches will be close to 50% of your windshield repair business jobs. And even if long cracks are a smaller part of your repair business why would you want to turn those customers away and loose the income and referrals. One of the best ways to tell if a company can repair cracks over 12 inches is to ask them if they have tools designed for especially for long crack repair or do they use the same tools and resins to perform long cracks. In my opinion long crack repair takes a specialized system that is different than chip repair systems. Then ask them if their system has a patent on it. If they say yes get the patent number or numbers from them and go on to the http://www.uspto.gov government web site and look their patents up. The first page of the patent will give you an idea of what that system is designed to do. Then look at the drawings to see what the tools look like and read the claims at the end. You then will have a better idea if the company has specialized technology for long cracks from the ones that just say they do. A windshield chip and crack repair company may have good technology with out having patents on it however many times the newest technology will be patented and may offer you an advantage over the others. I believe being able to do long cracks is a huge advantage.
4. Training is going to be the key to your success. Some companies will tell you that you can train off a video or CD. I believe that hands on training is the best if you are going to be successful in all aspects of the windshield repair business. Some companies will train you on a windshield on a stand not in a vehicle. The problem with this approach is you can not duplicate the stress that a windshield has from being glued in the frame of the vehicle. In my opinion training to repair chips and especially cracks over 3 inches needs to be done on a windshield glued in the vehicle. Our company takes you out to one of our locations to do your windshield repair training. You will work with an experienced tech. You will perform chip and long crack repairs and make calls to Insurance companies while interacting with customers. I believe this approach provides the best format to learning all aspects of the windshield repair business. No matter what windshield repair system you decide to go with the training will be the key to your success.
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