View From The Trenches

One of the most tiresome and annoying actions that I see is the amount of technician bashing based on not how the guy works but where. It is a valid point that craftsmanship and pride are not the exclusive elements of any one company or even of brick and mortar. The one truism that should be noted is if anyone is going to lead our trade-craft out of the wilderness of Hackdom, it will be the technicans themselves and not any single business establishment.

Quality and professionalism start with technicans. I will not argue the point that greedy or ignorant employers can and do dictate techniques and work loads. However, as a technician opens his toolbox to begin any install, “the buck starts and stops” with them as to the manner and excellence of that job.

What I see missing is any sort of general craft kinship among technicans. I have always taken the attitude that in order to receive respect, one has to earn it. In my case, it has gotten harder and harder to give respect as the quality of installs has generally decreased from my regional perspective.

What worries me is how many of us are creating a schism within our craft by talking smack based on employment and not by performance. I am speaking specifically of bashing Belron technicans. I strongly believe both corporate and independent technicans who generally trash others’ work based only on employer are making a large mistake. I personally congratulate Brad Wilmoth for winning the “Best of Belron US” competition. No doubt that he won that honor over a high number of company technicians and, for that act alone, respect needs to be shown because he earned it. Should I suggest a “thane off” between Brad and Jamie Browning from Glasspro, who won the Auto Glass Technician Olympics this year?

There is nothing wrong with old-fashioned ribbing and company pride. However, what makes us professionals should cross employer lines. Those who have served in the armed forces have become quite aware of the inter-service rivalries that existed during their enlistment. However, add a term in a war zone and then a return to civilian life and you would find that a fraternal bond in many cases grew between veterans from any service arm due to a shared experience. That sort of connection exists in all sorts of craft guilds and alumni groups of all kinds.

That pride and esprit de corps is missing in the auto glass industry and for good reason. Despite sharing common experiences such as cold weather or difficult installs, there appears to be a huge gap in what constitutes a “true” auto glass professional. The argument revolves most around one question: what makes a hack? Who are the real craftsman and who are just pretenders?

Let’s face it; independent glass shops can be just as bad (and perhaps worse) than many corporate stores. I see such a complete lack of professionalism in so many Indies in my area of California that it has become extremely disheartening. However, a shiny new van and a Blackberry® are not proof-positive either that a craftsman lurks nearby. A national branding campaign can’t change the work habits of some. Between techs, the discussion should never be about where you work but instead how you work. Competency and having a conscience should be the two top measuring points on who should be deemed an auto glass journeyman. If that cannot be ascertained, it would not hurt my feelings to see some sort of regulatory avenging angel arise to thin out the growing herd of hacks or nobodies that pose to be called technicians who lower public esteem of our hard-earned skills.

This year will mark 30 years for me in this trade and as a businessman in this industry. (Please note the separation.) I still work the tools and it is a 24/7 occupation. I can walk through a parking lot and spot for the most part a windshield replacement based on glass bugs or mouldings, which, to me, is a sad fact. I am angry because a craft I hold in high esteem has been devalued by the installations and actions of others. I am just getting tired, as are many others, of being lumped together with the growing number of crude hacks that exist in this tradecraft and work for either corporate or Indie stores.

I simply believe that every auto glass technician shares a fraternal bond with others not only here in the States but throughout the world. Installations are tough and not getting easier in many cases. For that reason, we all should be open to respecting our brethren.

As a baseball fan, the San Francisco Giants are “my” team. I have made it a life’s work to detest Dodger “Blue” and those who wear it. However, even the most ardent of Dodger “haters” have to acknowledge that Sandy Koufax was one of the greatest left-handed pitchers that ever played the game.

It is my humble suggestion that we apply the same principle to other auto glass technicians. Judge them on their ability and install quality and not on who signs their paycheck. We need to respect our craft so others will as well.

Anybody who has a run a long-distance race such as a marathon knows that there is a stage in that event known as “hitting the wall.” It’s when your body’s reserves have been put to the test and thoughts of quitting well up in your brain. When vying for entry into the elite military groups such as the Navy Seals, physical and mental exhaustion is purposely induced so that those who can’t meet the high demands and standards of the unit are identified and weeded out. Thanks to the length and depth of the recession, one is hearing that more and more practitioners of auto glass are being put through a different kind of stress test, have hit a wall and are thinking aloud of doing something different.

Times are tough for most of us. The trickle-down theory of economics have certainly rained on many of our parades and in truth, something more than an extension ladder made be needed for some to be able to climb out of the hole that has been dug for us. Then it becomes an excellent question to answer if it would be better just to stay there. The trouble is that there are far too many of us who would be topside ready to pick up a shovel to bury those below.

This industry is one of the strangest and most illogical that exists. Perhaps one could cite the auto glass business as physical proof of the existence of the Chaos Theory in economics. There are practically no barriers to entry at any level especially in the installation or wholesale distribution sectors. That in of itself has caused a multiple host of related problems in pricing, quality and longevity.

Where does it say, “When the going gets tough, the tough get cheaper?” That concept is embraced first at the manufacturing level and it almost becomes Natural Law by the time the product reaches the retailers. Free market economics recognizes that intense competition lowers pricing and, in theory, the consumer should benefit from that bidding process.

What our industry is quickly evolving into is more of a Caveat Emptor one: “Let the buyer beware.” From manufacturing to Main Street, the expectation of quality has declined along with the pricing models. All parties along the supply chain have contributed their share to this deterioration so for the most part, the consumer receives little value in both product and installation quality if his choice is based on price alone. Making things worse is that there is very little discretionary income for auto glass replacement in most people’s budgets these days. That makes price an all too important factor in people’s choices these days

How can order be brought to this chaotic industry? The problem starts with numbers. Here is the chicken or egg question for the auto glass industry to answer: What creates the profit chaos? Is it the over production in the world of auto glass? What about the high number of glass distributors that sell that product? Or is it the fact that anyone can and does profess the ability to install auto glass and therefore be able to buy and sell it? This “perfect storm” has seemed to emerge to buffet recession-weakened shop owners into thinking thoughts of submission.

A friend in the business made the astute observation that having a glass wholesaler open up in town is a bad thing for retailers. Having two open up is twice as worse and make plans for retirement or bankruptcy if three distributors like your city. He was not asking for an end to the free enterprise system and the start of restrictions but just acknowledges that those wholesalers need customers to sell to and survive and that process creates a set of circumstances that can have negative consequences which tend to hurt small stores more than any large chain.

There are battles elsewhere. Many retailers have simply lost control of their profit structures. Pricing is dictated to us and not the other way around. Insurers aided by competitor owned TPAs are one reason. The high numbers of independents that are doing survival pricing (many coming under the “caveat emptor” umbrella) inflict as much pressure (if not more damage) to their retail peers than corporate shops do.

It is just not an economic struggle. Many techs feel the effects of work after a few years. The installation work has not gotten easier over time. How many techs would rather do a DW1341 over a DW847? There would certainly be fewer cases of Carpel Tunnel Syndrome if we could remove a windshield in a FW173 instead of a New Beetle.

Weather this year has also added to the burden. Record cold, while increasing business, has also made it harder and slower to work. Earlier on, many areas had record highs that also made it painful to install.

The end result is having our bodies, minds and wallets hitting against an invisible wall. With typical ironic cruelty, many of us have grown tired and, while needing a break, can’t afford one. All of this conspires to generate thoughts of either moving on to doing something else or retirement.

There is no right answer. Contrary to what one hears, misery does not like company. No one likes to be in a lifeboat and have to listen to whiners. The bigger problem is that those in that predicament choose not to row. It’s been said that defeat doesn’t finish a man, but quitting does. A man isn’t finished when he is defeated. He is finished when he quits.

The passing of Joe Kellman last week sparked note and comment in the auto glass community, for it was Joe who will be remembered for being one of the first people who was able to take a few shops, in his case from his native Chicago, and build it into a company that could be called a national auto glass firm. Indeed, he was a pioneer and a person of vision. Up to that time, the auto glass business was rather fragmented and regional. He helped changed that, for better or worse.

Today, as we start the second decade of the 21st century, we have seen a seismic shift in auto glass from Main Street to Wall Street and, sad to say for many of us, the “good old days” are just that: old and soon may be a distant memory. The nature of our industry is indeed changing.

The attempt to build a national brand is not a new one. Mr. Kellman may have been one of the first pioneers for expansion, but he was not the only one. Prostars and Glass Doctor are just two recent names that come to mind. Glass manufacturers like LOF acquired installation facilities in the 1980s. For most, those lofty goals of national branding and bragging rights for number-one ended up either failing spectacularly and their bones being picked over in bankruptcy or they were simply acquired.

Today we have a single corporate entity, Belron US, an internationally owned firm that has captured a significant slice of the American auto glass pie. They did so not just by scratching and clawing for market share. They did so by appealing to the not-so-altruistic nature of the once most profitable retail segment of the auto glass market: insurance companies. Ironically that firm contains particles of Kellman’s corporate DNA and legacy.

It does not take an MBA from Harvard or Wharton to provide one with the most salient reasons why Belron US has made so much headway in this area. Belron US has lowered glass claim costs for its insurer clients. By contracting out virtually all administrative costs to Belron US and by receiving guaranteed limits on the claims that are serviced, insurers have found a way to lower expenses and gain order in a once very chaotic sector of casualty claims. It is a classic case of finding a need and filling it for a very significant group of clients. Doing so provides a road map and, for the short term, a guarantee for corporate growth and profit.

So in what direction is auto glass going these days? Does the rapid, well-financed ascent of Belron’s entry and effect on the American market portend a one-sided David and Goliath battle for the U.S. consumer?

Certainly from an institutional view, it does. Independent shops have and will continue to have uphill struggles to match resources and attempts to control customer choices over its ensconced rival. To make matters worse, many insurers have openly supported Belron and its practices to satisfy their insureds’ auto glass needs.

Auto glass up to now has been much like politics: a local product. There is a very good reason why there are so many independent shops or regional chains in this country. Consumers felt assured by seeing their neighbors in business and patronized retailers who had community ties. Those with insurance often contacted and relied on the suggestions of their agents or their staffs to provide recommendations of shop names that would handle glass claims.

That is changing. Today, in many instances, insurers sell their product directly and orchestrate claims through centralized call centers, removing the need for agents. In my opinion, the contractual employment of third-party administrators by these insurers has allowed certain companies to steer some customers like lemmings toward their in-house installation services. It is a trend that will continue to provide a steady stream of sales and guaranteed income unless legal challenges arise to alter, amend or even close off the funnel effect of its operations.

In the 90 or so years that this industry has existed, change and innovation have been its most consistent features. People have been the key to that evolution. Kellman has secured a place in auto glass history and, if it existed, a spot in its Hall of Fame. A challenge should go out to us all to pick up the torch and make an impact in an area in which we work. For many of us, our behavior may only affect our neighbors and our local community. For a few, the effect may be much broader and may even become historical. My hope is that despite the current trend of declining overall quality of both parts and craftsmanship within our industry, people of character and integrity can regain the upper hand in auto glass to halt and reverse that negative direction and restore esprit de corps to an industry that sorely needs it.