Customers And The Question : "what Brand Do You Use?"

[Bal4]

In reality customers don't really know what is good film and why its good film. What customers Know is Brand Names. 3M, SunTek, & LLumar are probably the brands that they have heard of most. - What we know is that there are a lot more brands than those.

When it comes down to it, customers ask "What brand do you use?" or 'Do you have such-and-such-a-brand?', but what they really want to know is; is it going to look good and "Am I getting a quality product?"

Who brand really matters to is the installer for reasons such as: what kind of install experience will I or did I have while installing this brand?; does it wrinkle easily, or how good is its shrink-ability?, and of course, am I giving my customer a good product.

What customers should be concerned with is: will this film bubble, peel, fade, crack, or change colors and how long it is going to last them. Many of these Issuse they don't even realize are things they should be concerned with.

What we know as installers is that there are many brands that will not have the issues mentioned above.

Here are some of the brands that we all know (or may not know).

Global, SunTek, Solar Gaurd, V-Cool, LLumar, Hanita Coatings, Madico, Johnson Window Films, Huper Optik, and of course 3M. I'll add another brand to the list that has been highly spoken of; Valiant.

If we were to poll our customers I would say that the majority of them have't heard of 75% of the brands listed here.

When your get a customer who comes and ask for such-and-such-a-brand we have the opportunity to educate our customers on an what truly is important when it comes to window films.

We can open a dialog like this.

Tell me what it is you like about that brand.

Well this brand that I use offers everything that you are looking for. It is color stable. You won't be driving around with purple bubble wrap in 2 years. Plus the manufacturer offers a life time warranty that covers, A,B,C,D,X,Y, & Z.

So everything that you we looking for in the brand you asked about is offered in the film the we use here in our shop.

I know that many people don't like to purchase a certain brand because its expensive and you can get the same, features, benefits, & warranties from many of the other brands out there.

This is something we shouldn't be afraid to share with our customers. We can add it to our dialog.

You know a lot of what you are paying if you want that brand is going to be the name. We are able to offer you all of the benefits you want including a warranty at a better value.

Not many customers will argue with that. I find that when you level with customers like that they gain trust in you. And that makes for a repet customer and a referral or two.

In the end, even though we may not be using the brand that our customer asked about we still have the ability to assure them they will still be getting a quality window film installed on their car, which will last them a very longtime.

[Jerry Hernandez]

Yes that's true, furthermore customers ask most about 3M without knowing that it realy isn't worth the money.

[Bal4]

Yes that's true, furthermore customers ask most about 3M without knowing that it realy isn't worth the money.

Thats really the brand I was talking about with out talking about it.

[Tinitman]

I hate to burst your bubble, but I disagree.

If you walk to any downtown and ask any random person to name a window film brand, chances are they will cock their head sideways and shrug their shoulders. The only REAL way someone would know is because some independent dealer is advertising the heck out of a brand in that area.

I have not seen any advertising of ANY brand of window film outside our industry. I have seen advertising in the Window Film Magazine all over the place, like every other page. I have seen them at SEMA, but that is it. I have heard that a couple of brands are marketing NASCAR races but never seen a window film brand on a car. I have seen a few names that are involved with window film, but never have seen the name with window film after the name. So if they are saying they are promoting window film, then the letters saying window film should be there also.

In my opinion, if you get someone calling and asking if you carry X brand they are only price shopping. They are expecting the same thing for the cheapest price. Window tinting is a service, not a can of corn. Even though you are installing the same brand as your competitor, it does not mean the customer will be getting the same service. It is up to you to get your customer to understand this.

All brands have color stable films. All brands have a lifetime warranty and they are ALL national warranties. All brands have silver, neutral, bronze, dual reflective, opaque and black-out.

If a product fails, who does the customer remember? Is it you or the window film brand? It is you who they remember, so film brand recognition is not as cracked up as it used to be.

It is up to you to determine a quality product. There are many ways to figure it out without buying into that billion dollar corporation.

[TomTint]

When it comes to your education of the customer, do you know what KISS stands for?

[painted600rr]

keep it simple stupid. my customers could care less what brand film we use and ive never had anyone ask.

[Tint Eastwood]

I also notice those that ask about brands typically do not book or like my price for that matter.

[vquestfilms.com]

I think more and more people are hopping on the internet and learning more about window fims and brand awareness. I get calls from consumers all of the time and they all say that they have been researching on the web. It's slowly coming around...

[TintWizard]

I hate to burst your bubble, but I disagree.

If you walk to any downtown and ask any random person to name a window film brand, chances are they will cock their head sideways and shrug their shoulders. The only REAL way someone would know is because some independent dealer is advertising the heck out of a brand in that area.

I have not seen any advertising of ANY brand of window film outside our industry. I have seen advertising in the Window Film Magazine all over the place, like every other page. I have seen them at SEMA, but that is it. I have heard that a couple of brands are marketing NASCAR races but never seen a window film brand on a car. I have seen a few names that are involved with window film, but never have seen the name with window film after the name. So if they are saying they are promoting window film, then the letters saying window film should be there also.

In my opinion, if you get someone calling and asking if you carry X brand they are only price shopping. They are expecting the same thing for the cheapest price. Window tinting is a service, not a can of corn. Even though you are installing the same brand as your competitor, it does not mean the customer will be getting the same service. It is up to you to get your customer to understand this.

All brands have color stable films. All brands have a lifetime warranty and they are ALL national warranties. All brands have silver, neutral, bronze, dual reflective, opaque and black-out.

If a product fails, who does the customer remember? Is it you or the window film brand? It is you who they remember, so film brand recognition is not as cracked up as it used to be.

It is up to you to determine a quality product. There are many ways to figure it out without buying into that billion dollar corporation.

That's why branding yourself is the best time spent IMO

[yz101]

T-Wiz is on the money. :thumb