how to not loose time

im sure alot of us have been in the situation of us waiting around at the a dealership trying to get an account going. finally meet the head guy in charge and try to talk him into getting an account set up to get some tint closer deals. of course the big man wants to get a price on tinting his truck, and maybe a few of the other guys in the finace office also. sometimes you go ahead and give them great deals to where it normally wounldnt be worth wasting your time on. so you tint thier trucks and never hear from them again. in one way or another, im sure this sounds familiar. heres my new approach...when u get to the point of negotiating a price for tinting thier personal cars/trucks, instead of naming a price right there, make them another offer. offer to tint thier cars/trucks, for free after you have recieved 10 cars from thier lot. if they dont bring you any cars, which most of the time they never do, at least you didnt waste your time and tint for nothing.

I like it.. thanks for the tip

whats the best way to aproach a dealership?

Hey, that's what I do. It usually works, but only for the head cheeses like the GM and new and used car managers. Since I'm mobile only, one dealership owner that I work a lot for lets me use a rack in the service department for any cars I have scheduled where the customers don't have a workable garage. I also get free Mobil 1 oil changes for my Evo there, but in exchange I remove any old tint from their used cars free of charge. And whenever one of my dealers needs a damaged window retinted, (usually from them removing stickers!) I won't charge them but they must give me 1 or 2 inventory cars to tint during the slow season. It's a give and take thing, but it always works to my advantage.

There is no "best" way. Working with dealerships is a pain in the ass. If its a trigger you are willing to pull, look decent and ask for the service mgr. Tell them what you do and have a price list ready to hand them itemizing EVERY vehicle they sell with a price per vehicle. Remember, they have been approached by every Tom, Dick, and Harry wanting to do the same thing. It really isnt that great of a deal, for me anyway. Typically they pay in a 30-90 day period. I got lucky. I made them sign my 7 buisness day payment terms, and I do EVERY car on the lot, minus used cars. Good luck.

if you find good dealers they like to work with you a lot. Make them money, and they'll keep you. The volume of cars a lot of dealers move can make us a LOT of money too

Thanks for the advice. I think I want to pull the trigger lol One more thing. How exactly do I go about P.O.'s? I've tinted windows at my towns police staion and hospital. Luckily they were pretty cool and were able to cut a check. Im finally making the transition to FG and thats what most business' require these days.

A P.O. is a fancy word for invoice. I keep an invoice book that I picked up at Office Depot/Max. I can write up to 11 vehicles on one invoice with the R.O.# (repair order, term used in service) year/model and stock #, and price. I get my invoice signed by the Service MGR and give him the original. Within 7 business days I get a check...this is not typical of dealerships though. Chances are slim you will get your money in 14 days. I knew the service mgr from high school so I had it a bit easier. I have NO intentions of seeking out other dealerships. If you want to get into fg, dont get too involved with dealership work. It takes up a lot of time. You may also want to invest in a plotter if you do get a dealership acct.

I make my dealers pay within 14 days otherwise theres 10% interest per week charged and the best part is that every now and then when they don't pay on time and are 3 weeks late, they pay the interest

But really, YOU make the terms with the dealer. Noone is forcing you to work for them. Once they see how good your work is(hopefully) then you be like heres the deal, don't call me when a cars due at 5pm, don't call me 30 mins before you close, i give you an invoice at time of service, and payment is due in my hand, not postmarked within 14 days. Generally i have the check in 3-4 business days.

You havent worked much with a dealership have you? Try as you may (and maybe you are the exception) dealerships will ALWAYS try to get their way. If you wont agree, someone else will. Thats they way they have always been. Cant be there 30min before close, they will find someone else who will. Im not busting your balls Scotty, because I may be the exception as well, but Ive worked with dealerships since I started in this industry and they are always "bending" you. Most dont pay in 14 days...

Im with TJ on this one just cause dealerships have not done anything right for me. I would highly suggest you stress them that you are on a time schedule too other wise you show up and there you wait for them to get the car ready. I am just saying I am not dealing with them anymore cuz of the hassles.

In my limited experience so far... for every nice and easy to deal with dealership, there are five that are a pain in the ass/not interested/don't care/expect everything their way. The one that I do the most for so far is surprisingly good. I walked in at a good time though, the sales manager was just about to open the phone book and pick a random place to get two vehicles tinted sometime that week. I lucked out there. You do have to bend over backwards sometimes though, even for the good ones. Snappy's idea is great. I recently did a HEAVILY discounted tint job for the used car managers son and I wish I had've said "send me 5 off the lot to do this month, and yours is complimentary", or something like that. They also cut me a cheque as soon as they get my invoice and mail it out with their outgoing mail the next day. Takes a few days to get it, good deal.

all I know is the two dealers I work with my acura dealer knows my rules, and almost every week calls me with two-three cars they need done that are being delivered the next week and I do them sunday afternoon. They sign the invoice the same day, and payment usually arrives by the next friday. My ford dealer does a lot of their pickups/suvs and fusions that they sell, and its the same way with them. They always have one car in the showroom for display, then usually have me come and do 4-5 a week. You can find a good dealer, their out there

Most dealerships pay on one day for all their venders every month. Most larger businesses approve their payables within 30 days and an accountant writes the check within two weeks of that. Sometimes you cant make the rules up for yourself.

However, when you do your first deal with a new place, explain to them you will NOT sign up as a monthly vendor and that you CAN NOT maintain good pricing/inventory unless you recieve payment 7days after completion. They can then cut your check when they cut payroll and tag it on the stock number. I offer the best customer service and quality to my dealers and they respect that service by meeting my needs in return. I go to several dealerships through the week like a mobile glass shop would.

With some places I get the PO from one guy, run that to the person to cut the check, and then get it to an authorized signer before leaving. Some even pay CASH right out of the service drawer when they have enough. I recommend getting more direct and asking them what you can do to help the process. Most wont do all the work for you, but if you know who to talk to it can be done on the way out the door.

I used to wait the 30 - 45 days and then I had enough of it and explained that it hurt my cash flow bad enough to raise prices... I havent waited long since being more specific and proactive.

I give mine all net 30 days, and they are usually on time with it, but they would just get somebody else to do it for them, always on their terms otherwise. If I asked a random sales guy I never use, "do you offer window tinting?" they would give me the number to the guy down the street. Honestly I make a ton of money off the techs. Go give a BIZ CARD to every mechanic in the shop, I guarantee you will schedule at least one job then, and get a call for somebody that wants to do a group of cars. Do it to any dealership really, work yourself in the door to the sales floor, and happen to have a price sheet and lit. The mechanics actually like cars and the industry surrounding. I do more cars for them then actually through the aftermarket departments.

I have no problems with my dealers the way they pay. Im perfectly happy with getting it within 7 days usually

Now you know how our government works.

I give all my dealers 21 days to pay off of PO's. There's never any problems, except for one dealership in Napa that was near bankruptcy. They were 9 months out, and I billed and called them every month and never got a check. Then they called to have a car tinted! I said, 'nope, no pay, no tint' I went there, the owner handed me a check including the car they wanted tinted that day. I told them 'sorry, cash only'. So he brought me cash. And I've been getting lots of referrals from them ever since.