3M Car Care Center

[Clearbraj]

Interesting article on 3M getting into the Pep Boys...

I could not down load a 115K file. Here is the link

http://workshop.search-autoparts.com/_3M-a...3/31710.html?b=

[The ///Man]

Damn, I wonder if they will pay me the healthy salary I make now, it would be sweet digs.

[Bababooey]

So pretty much 3M just %&$# on everybodys business in CA.

[Guest ico54]

They probably will have so many redo's that they will end up going up of business...

Their products sucks, customer service it's probably one of the worst in the USA.

I wonder who would want to apply for a job that will probably pay minimun wage.

[blackout66]

3M Car Care Center further supports our customer commitment to 'Does Everything. For Less.' They're even going into dent removal. FFF MMM

[Guest Retnitorp]

So pretty much 3M just %&$# on everybodys business in CA.

Jacksonville Florida's Next............

[Bababooey]

I really think if we don't stop shitting on each other locally and start to work together and partner up, there's nothing that's going to stop more of this from happening. While we're having p1ss1ng matches over who's install looks better, these guys are out selling to chains and dealerships totally bypassing our business. Once the word gets out about Pep Boys selling film for next to nothing, it's going to be very hard make any type of money. Sure the Ferrari owner will understand he's paying for quality, but the guy financing his Camry for 6 years will just see a lower price. It wouldn't be a problem if they sold 300,000 Ferrari's a year.

We have ZERO support from any manufacturer and will NEVER get it. I couldn't even get a manufacturer to place a sales call to a 28,000 car per year dealership for me. It's heavily corporate and the only way in there is through a manufacturer. Work together, build your own local brand. The bigger you are or are perceived, the easier it will be to land the bigger jobs. Some of us might be better installers than salesmen and the other way around. They can easily work around us being individuals. If we don't the real reason for this business going downhill is us.

[Guest execpaintpro]

Baba Well Said. In our market I am trying to work with local guys to help them build their businesses. The only way we are all going to survive is to stick together and help each other. I am fortunate to be in a good market of high end but i recently started working a company the strictly does wholesale work and wants to partner with me to add our services. We are opening our third location and hope to continue growing but instead of re-creating the wheel I will look to partner with guys that are skilled technicians who just want to install while i do all the sales and marketing to grow the brand. We know what the results will be with these car care centers and i actually see them as an opportunity instead of a threat. Think about the investment they need to make, training of a tech, and doing quality work. You know they are going to pay these guys nothing especially if they are targeting price so how long do you think they will last? MOST importantly the one thing that will help all of us is that 3M will finally do what we all have been waiting for the manufacturers to do "DIRECT MARKET TO THE CONSUMER"!!! Let them spend the money to educate the consumer and increase awareness. For me i see huge opportunity and hope you guys do too!

[PROFORM Rob]

I really think if we don't stop shitting on each other locally and start to work together and partner up, there's nothing that's going to stop more of this from happening. While we're having p1ss1ng matches over who's install looks better, these guys are out selling to chains and dealerships totally bypassing our business. Once the word gets out about Pep Boys selling film for next to nothing, it's going to be very hard make any type of money. Sure the Ferrari owner will understand he's paying for quality, but the guy financing his Camry for 6 years will just see a lower price. It wouldn't be a problem if they sold 300,000 Ferrari's a year.

We have ZERO support from any manufacturer and will NEVER get it. I couldn't even get a manufacturer to place a sales call to a 28,000 car per year dealership for me. It's heavily corporate and the only way in there is through a manufacturer. Work together, build your own local brand. The bigger you are or are perceived, the easier it will be to land the bigger jobs. Some of us might be better installers than salesmen and the other way around. They can easily work around us being individuals. If we don't the real reason for this business going downhill is us.

now the PPF is going the way tinting has been going for years.....to much info on the net..and granted we are all guilty of throwing out trade secrets for anyone (including myself) and everyone to come on and find it (some more then other)...and apply it to starting up their own business.

very good points. For many years my phones have rung at all times of day and night from other installers asking how to get into dealerships, back in caveman times there were very few that had good dealership penetration, to my dismay many of the people that I helped wound up being dishonest or bluntly they shat right in my hat. I have many trainees and ex employees that are out trying to make a living at this, many of them are out of business as they didn't understand the need to properly control costs, they got too busy counting the owners money. One of the talks that I would have with trainees was, there is maybe 1 out of 50 that can do all the work and run a successful business at the same time.It is difficult to be the main installer and answer the phones as well, it turns a 2 hour job into a 4 hour job and so on.

As for a large chain picking it up, here in the Mid-Atlantic, we still don't have dealers doing tint or ppf in house that I have noticed, the one that still does it has no installer and the kits that were done in the past frankly didn't look that good. ppf and tint have been sold in small quantities at retail stores for years, just because soomeone can buy it, it wont install itself.

This is where being a professional installer and carrying yourself in that manner is paramount, I have a forum troll in my area that is swearing that he is the best around, and is doing hand-cuts on Porsche for 700, do I lose business to him? At times yes, but one must wonder if the person that is solely looking for the cheapest price is really my core customer. When being price shopped to him, I ask the client to request copies of his business license and shop keeper insurance policy, if he cant provide these for them, then they should look elsewhere. Even mobile installers are required in MD to have insurance, most dealerships wont work with you unless you carry it as well.

Have I had to address my pricing? to a degree, yes, however I feel that this is do more to the economy than anything else. I also let the customer know that I would love to have them as a client, but I have to run my business in a certain manner, I have to pay and collect taxes or I risk losing it all, never apologize for doing the right thing and being a smart business man.

As for too much info on the net, I agree 100%, and the majority of it is wrong, on most forums every poster got his the cheapest and by the best installer this side of the equator. , and group buys benefit whom? Tim from Xpel and I were talking about both Proforms and Xpels kit designs once, and honestly questioned ourselves as to why we strive so hard to make them fit well, the answer was simply because it is the right thing to do. It is our jobs to make sure that you guys have access to the best fitting kits possible, I do understand that many guys still hand-cut and that's OK as well. But I fully believe in quality designed pre-cut kits, I believe the industry needs it, I also believe the industry will always need the professional installer. You guys are the back bone of this industry, our products don't look good unless they are properly installed. Their is a reason that we dont allow our kits to be sold on Ebay, because if it is installed horribly, it still carries our name, that to me is unacceptable. for the long term good of the product and every one involved in it, mass sales isnt a good marketing plan...~Rob

[Bababooey]

Baba Well Said. In our market I am trying to work with local guys to help them build their businesses. The only way we are all going to survive is to stick together and help each other. I am fortunate to be in a good market of high end but i recently started working a company the strictly does wholesale work and wants to partner with me to add our services. We are opening our third location and hope to continue growing but instead of re-creating the wheel I will look to partner with guys that are skilled technicians who just want to install while i do all the sales and marketing to grow the brand. We know what the results will be with these car care centers and i actually see them as an opportunity instead of a threat. Think about the investment they need to make, training of a tech, and doing quality work. You know they are going to pay these guys nothing especially if they are targeting price so how long do you think they will last? MOST importantly the one thing that will help all of us is that 3M will finally do what we all have been waiting for the manufacturers to do "DIRECT MARKET TO THE CONSUMER"!!! Let them spend the money to educate the consumer and increase awareness. For me i see huge opportunity and hope you guys do too!

This is exactly what needs to be done. Group up according to state or region, everybody says what they're good at, and form a brand and work within it. There's potentially more work out there than we know what to do with. I know guys with just two dealerships that are almost overwhelmed. Like I said though, people have to put their "I'm taking over the world myself" attitude behind. The guys who work together can stomp out these rogues like Rob described easily. If we don't as a whole we'll keep treading water.