Direct Competition

[Guest denvertinter]

Interesting. Especially since I just tried (yesterday) to submit a request for bids from Service Magic (www.servicemagic.com) to see what kind of response I'd get as a potential customer before signing up for the $100.

Well, of the 3 that responded, 1 was a friend/shop owner, another was about 60 miles from me in Denver, and surprisingly, the last was Enpro. Don't know how many of you deal with them on Madico and Hup in the S/W, but I was surprised to say the least. Though I haven't called my pal @ the local Dist to find out what's up.

For the really big stuff, I guess I understand, but my request was a typical residential job (~ 200 sq. ft.)

HMMMMMMMM. Bad enough that many play favorites with certain shops when getting leads, but this would force me to really re-consider my film provider IF distributors are bidding and farming out jobs themselves direct.

[Guest metint]

Good point metint.  The circumstances of these very large jobs and national chains may dictate that they sometimes could best be handled by the manufacturers reps.  Hopefully the installation would be funneled to an appropriate dealer and not to hired hands.  In our area we have a independent distributor who has started a dealership in direct competition with the dealers who offer his product.  EVEN DOING RESIDENTIAL!

If it's the same one known of here in these parts... they have ads in the papers that say film will STOP fading.

I saw the ad yesterday and if my memory serves me well it is from your region.

Total conflict, but hey, are they not the same one's who advertise you don't need a professional to install ready-made auto tint anymore? If so, appears to be groping for sales.

as I see it, the only reason why a distributor should be going directly to the market is when the dealer does not do his job and participate actively in his area.

A distributor should first look to find other representation and when all avenues have dead ended, then and only then should the distributor become actively involved in the market for that region (possibly sharing responsibility with an enthusiastically ambitious upstart, which are truly hard to find these days).

[Guest Sprinter]

we have someone here who sells the film and also installs it!

[Guest Tint Masters]

I think your right on The reps do favor certian shops I know this for sure b/c one shop had to go past mine to do a " national account"

I was also told I didnt know what I was doing when trying to close a deal Got the job on my own and done

Let us ( the dealers) get the work, do the work, finish the work. JUST SELL ME THE fim. Dont give me If I got Q's , answer them ! Dont say Let me close the deal for U How about showing us how to do it , not do it far us.

[Tintcutter]

I like the corporate deal. they call up and say you get 2.15 per square for this job, and we act all excited and say ok, we'll go measure the windows! Then we lie and add however many nonexisting windows we need to get the price right and turn in the bid. No one has ever even counted the windows. but everybody is happy. We get our rate, corporate office gets their discount, film company sells film. Oh that integrity sales bit that will ultimately cause problems for the whole industry down the road? We don't worry about that - it is the factory's problem when their name gets ruined. We dealers will just change product lines.

[Guest tintchick]

speaking of service magic, I just got a job from them today,,,,,I've always known that big companies deal with the manufacter,,not a surprise here ,,,,I'll take my slice of the pie,,,,,I bid two buildings today that were 10,000 square feet and that's enough for me to handle,,I'll have to call in help for something like that,,,It would be hard for a shop like me to handle something as big as metint was referring to,,,,,those kinda jobs are lengthy any way you look at them,,

[Guest joeytints1]

The point is not the huge jobs that exceed my capability, but employees that are your go to guy at the manufacturer who is a dealer also in your area(owns a tint co) on the big payroll of the manufacturer,double dipping.Also these are jobs smaller than 20,000 sq ft and I don't get the help I need anyway.no call backs.so can an employee of a manufacturer own a tint co an be your go to guy? no ,not only that but how does the manufacturer not see the name on the warranty as a problem

[Guest Tint Masters]

I dont think I could deal with that. I would find a new dist.

[Guest tintmax]

Coming from the leather and such side of the automotive business for fifty years, I see several manufactuers sell "territories" then open up their own shops up the street or in the next town. I have even seen deals set up directly with auto dealers instead of using us. Then they complain that we dont sell enough to get the best discounts. Ultimately, we have to sell our selves and continue to better ourselves through education and such. The customer large or small will eventually come back. I have even had dealers try to install leather on their own then call us to fix their problems. So what happens? The manufactuer is ultimatly hurt because then the auto dealers are not happy with the name of the manufactuer. Go figure.

[Guest Tint Masters]

Where can I get leather for my shop ?