PODCAST TRANSCRIPT
Keith Cosentino: Hey guys, Keith and Shane coming to you again, with another quick show. Once in a while – remember, Shane and I are still pushing dents all day, every day, just like you guys. So we’re continually evolving our game. And once in a while, when we’re out Interviewer: e field, we’ll come across a scenario that we’ll think, hey, you know, I really want to remember this. So we can talk about it on the show. So we’re just making quick voicemails, or notes on our phone. And then, we’re gonna play them back here. And talk about them with you real quick. Just quick little pointers you can use today to make some more money. So here’s Shane.
Shane Jacks: All right, guys, I had a little situation just now that happened here at the shop. A gentleman brings in a Chevrolet Equinox, silver in color, right rear door. And he says, No. 1, it’s a company vehicle. And he says I’m turning it over to a new guy, a new salesman that is coming in. And he says, we want it to look good for him. So immediately, in my mind, I’m thinking, well, it’s a company vehicle, so it’s probably not going to have to be absolutely perfect. But I’ve done work for this gentleman before. And I couldn’t really remember. I’ve done work for him a few times in the past, several years ago. I couldn’t really remember exactly how picky he was.
Now, to figure out how we’re going to approach these dents, this dent was one that was kind of iffy on the edge. The edge was bent going towards the quarter panel. And there was gonna be a lot of hammering on that double wall. And so I think to myself, am I going to be able to get this thing perfect? I’m trying to not let that show through in my face.
So I’m trying to figure out exactly how far do I need to take this dent to make this customer happy, and one way of doing that is finding another area of damage that is much, much less pronounced on the car. And seeing if they are concerned about, slash, even see the damage on the other part. So where this whatever they hit, or whatever hit this car, there was another smaller stripe towards the front of the door. And I asked him, I said, sir, are you concerned about this area, here. And he looks down, he squints his eyes. And he looks up at me, and he says, I didn’t even see that.
And immediately, dollar signs flashed in my eyes because I knew that this repair, although I could get it really close, I had doubts in my mind that I could get the repair to 100 percent. But I had no doubt, after seeing this small stripe that I could get it to the point that he wanted to. So to even instill more confidence in him, here’s what I told him. I said, you know what, we can repair this dent. There may be just a very, very, very minor flicker back here that I’m gonna see that you probably won’t even see. And I’m gonna go ahead and take care of this little stripe in the front of the door for you, too, for no extra charge.
Bam, closed it right there. I knew I could make good money on the car because it did not have to be 100 percent. And guess what, later in the day, he comes and picked it up, happy customer. So guys, just remember, when you’re selling, figure out, ask questions, like we said before. Ask questions, not only to figure out how much money you can get out of it. But even if the deal is worth doing, and how far you have to take the project to make money off of it.
Keith Cosentino: All right, so that’s a pretty good point that you make in that bit there, Shane. I do something really similar with my people when I have a dent like that. It’s not gonna come out completely. I had one just a few weeks ago that I can remember specifically. I was telling her, listen, you need a door. You need a new door on this car. But I can probably make it nice enough that you’ll be happy. But you’re gonna see a little wave.
And I said, do you see this here? And she said, well, no I don’t. I said, okay, well, stand back, stand 10 feet back here. Stand right here, and look at this spot. Now I’m gonna walk up there, but you stay here. Do you see this little wavy spot right here? And she goes, yeah, kind of. And I said, this is the kind of thing that we’re gonna be left with in the repair. And she’s like, oh, yeah, I don’t even see that. That will be fine.
So she’s becoming more confident with what to expect. And I’m becoming more confident that I’m gonna be able to make her happy. If she can’t see this, I’m definitely gonna be able to make it more flat than that. So we’re good, let’s go. And then, I can – even though it’s a repair that I know isn’t gonna be show quality,
I’m happy doing the whole thing through. And not worrying, oh, my gosh, is she gonna like it? Is it gonna be nice enough? Is she gonna stand around and bob her head all over? I know that’s not gonna happen, and it didn’t. She was super happy, she thought it was amazing. And it was a marginal repair, to be honest. But she was happy. Everybody won on that one. She didn’t have to replace a fender and a door. I got paid. She saved money. Everybody’s happy, so it was a good deal for everybody. But it’s not one that’s going on my website. And I’m cool with that.
Shane Jacks: It’s a misconception some guys have that every repair has to be 100 percent. The last time I checked, I did not get in this business to impress other dent guys. I don’t know about you, Keith, I don’t’ know about you guys, but that’s not why I’m in this thing. It’s nice to do so every now and then, show people that I really am the best there is.
Keith Cosentino: Dent Olympic Champion, 2013, undefeated.
Shane Jacks: I’m just saying, it’s really nice to show that I truly am, but yeah – but that’s not why, we’re in this to make money. Now, on the flipside, Keith, we also need to ask these questions to figure out if we’ve got a customer that we know we are not going to be able to make happy, correct.
Keith Cosentino: Yes, absolutely, and most of the time, you see those guys coming. You don’t have to ask any questions. But when they’re pointing at things that you can hardly see, and they’re real worried and shifty about it, it’s a red flag that they’re just the kind of guy that’s gonna find things to complain about. That’s why he’s here in the first place. And he thinks he wants help, but he doesn’t. You can’t help him. You can’t get him off that mindset.
Here’s my story for that, I’ll never forget this car. Back when they were still being made new, a guy had a BMW Z8. And a deer hit the quarter panel. So this is before I was really good with glue. I was still pushing everything. So it was a light hit on the quarter lip. But it was kind of a fatter quarter lip, it wasn’t real pronounced. So it was mostly into the quarter. But that’s a rare car. I don’t know how it’s built inside. You know, and it’s a convertible. So I needed to look and see what’s going on with it.
So I open up the door. And right when we opened up the door, this dude takes a huge, deep breath, like somebody just scared him. And he drops down to both knees, rips his shirt out from stuffed into his pants. Licks the shirt and then, starts wiping the door sill because it’s like a brushed, stainless thing that says Z8 and it’s backlit. And I’m like, whoa, what is going on. He’s like, I just replaced these. These are $600.00 apiece, they’re handmade in Italy. And people keep dragging their feet on them.
I’m like, okay, I got a little concerned. And then, I said well, to be honest, there’s not a lot of Z8s floating around. That’s why this one is so cool. So I haven’t had a lot of experience taking out the interior trim. So I wanna have a peek in here, and see what’s going on.
So everybody who works like we do, knows when you’re taking a piece of weather stripping out, there’s one way to do it, grip it and rip it, right. That’s how you pull weather stripping out. You don’t use a tool. You’re gonna scratch something. You just grab it with your hands, and you pull really hard to get it out. So I reach in with a Kung Fu grip to grab this weather stripping and start pulling it.
And he freaks out again. And he goes, oh, hey, hey, this is hand-covered leather on this interior trim panel. So I’m like, wow, yeah, that’s really nice. So I make my hand into a fist and it pop that weather stripping all back in there, nice. And I said, you know, I just wish I could get this dent out. But I just know that this isn’t gonna come out.
And I was so happy when I left. I felt like I made $1,000.00 because I’m sure I did. He would’ve come up with something that I did to that car. The dude was just crazy. So figuring out where their pain threshold is before you start working is really important. That scenario’s not gonna happen very often. Most of the time, it’s gonna be the opposite.
But when that happens, you’re gonna save yourself some money, too. I mean that was probably the best paying job I did all year. I didn’t have to buy back a Z8, [inaudible] $25,000.00 repair. So yeah, just a little bit of education. You’re educating the customer, and you’re helping them educate you, as to what they really need, expect or want.
This all comes down to asking questions. Did you see this, how about this? Are you selling the car? The more questions you can ask, the more you’re gonna understand about the scenario, and you can custom tailor your repair, and your response for that scenario. So that it sounds that this is obviously, the only choice I should make. I mean, this is the perfect, tailor made solution to my problem.
Oh, you’re selling the car. Okay, I know exactly what we need to do. We need to submit as little as possible, and make this thing look nice enough that nobody sees it. But we’re not trying to turn this into a show car. Am I understanding this scenario right? Yes, Keith that’s exactly what I want to do. Okay, so in that case I’ll say, if we needed to make this into a show car, I could do it. And here’s what the cost would be, 500 and some odd dollars. Okay, well, I don’t want to do that.
I absolutely understand you don’t wanna do that. I’m just telling you if it needs to be perfect, I can do it. And that’s what it would cost. Now I know we’re trying to make it just nice enough to sell. So I think the minimum that we need to spend on this and make it presentable is $265.00. Which if you would have come right out of the gates and said, hey, yeah, I can do that, $265.00.
Well, that kind of sounds expensive, but when you set the stage properly, and you say, here’s what it takes to be perfect. I understand what we’re doing here. I’m gonna help you accomplish this goal. We’re gonna get this car sold. And I’m gonna do it for just about half of what we could spend on it. And everybody’s gonna be happy. All of a sudden, this is a great solution.
And I do that all the time, all the time. It’s probably 15, 20 percent of what we do is when someone’s trying to get ready to sell a car. And how do I know that? I ask the question. And once I know that, I can tailor make that repair experience for that person. And I close them all, almost all of them, you guys.
Shane Jacks: Absolutely, and remember, these people, most of them are calling you, and they are not – your price, the two prices Keith just gave, the $500.00 and the $265.00. There may be another guy in town that is gonna do the $500.00 repair that Keith talked about, the perfect repair for $265.00. But they don’t know that on the phone. You’re setting the stage, you’re giving them perceived value. And then, they’re buying.
Keith Cosentino: It’s pretty easy guys. So what’s the takeaway, Shane?
Shane Jacks: Ask questions, figure out what your customer is after, and figure out if it’s worth what they’re after to you, to do the repair.
Keith Cosentino: Pretty easy, guys, this is just practical stuff you can use today, and put some more money in your pocket.
Shane Jacks: For sure.
Keith Cosentino: Until next time, fellas –
Shane Jacks: Get better.
[End of Audio]Duration: 13 minutes
