View From The Trenches

I have always been an advocate of raising public awareness about our industry. The trouble is that auto glass is simply neither sexy nor hip. What we need is a makeover. Having a national ad campaign for a single company is not enough. Auto glass needs its own show or shows that reveal the human side of our industry. With the large number of reality shows that are on TV these days, the auto glass industry should consider creating one of our very own. Since no one seems to be doing anything along those lines, I thought I should, as a public service, offer a few story lines that might gain traction.

Hacking With the Stars—We start with eight two-person teams, made up from celebrities and glass professionals and see who can stuff a windshield the best under two minutes to music. We first need to find a few techs that look like Julianne Hough and her brother Derek. I don’t see Betty White starting the season as a contestant. Also, Bob Beranek needs to work on his English accent if he wants to make it as a jury member.

The Voice—Here is where people compete via script and tone of one’s speech to convince new claimants to docilely accept their directions to use certain glass services. Contestants will be judged on how little resistance they evoke and how they handle objections. Winners will receive a gold plated headset and a job offer from a TPA call center.

The Amazing Route—The concept is a technician is given a list of installs that they must complete within a certain length of time. This may involve negotiating geographical barriers such as oceans or mountain ranges as well as political ones such as borders or undeclared wars. Using roads may be optional. The winner will be judged on both climatic conditions that they encounter during installs and the creative use of GPS. Grand prize includes the surviving contestant’s van and a job as a shop manager.

The Biggest Loser—The concept of this show is identifying the worst installer that exists in the marketplace. Nominees may come from the Wall of Shame at AGRR™ or from suggestions made by shops, who have been unlucky to have come after the offending technician. One can presume this show has the capability of exceeding “The Simpsons” for longevity. Jeff Olive can be the emcee of the show and have the pleasure of awarding the winner his prize—a job as a groundskeeper for the Nome, Alaska parks system.

Jersey Shore Techs—We could finally see the AGRR™ Forum board character XS live and in person as he leads his company into battle versus broken windshields and his favorite corporate adversary. One wonders if he could compete with “The Situation” when it comes to washboard abs or Snooki’s tan lines. I would hope that Bruce “The Boss” would provide the appropriate background music.

Top Gear AG—This is one show that I would love to do. Test drive exotic cars and then install windshields in them. 

There is no doubt that if auto glass could generate the kind of interest “American Idol” does, much of our public relations image issues would vanish. People would gladly get their windshields replaced if we could only teach Steven Tyler how to use a cold knife and not inhale primer.

Can I pose a test question to both owners and installers of auto glass? What is your main concern during a work day?  How many jobs do I have? Booked? To install? How many parts issues am I going to have to deal with today? What are my driving intervals? What is the weather forecast? These are all valid and every day replies.

How many would respond that they want to do the very best job for the customer regardless of profit to themselves?

Sad to say, from the kind of work I see performed or the products used, my guess would be that last answer would not make any top ten list. The lack of ethics in our industry is appalling, but we are not alone.

What garnered inspiration for this essay was a letter that was published on the op-ed page of the New York Times on March 14 where Greg Smith, an executive director of Goldman Sachs, publicly resigned due to what he says was a complete lack of respect by the company for its clients. He wrote about the demise of a culture of concern for their investors and how personal gain for both employer and employee became the dominate credo without regard to anyone else. One warning that he offered on his way out the door was, “If clients don’t trust you, they will eventually stop doing business with you. It doesn’t matter how smart you are.”

The auto glass industry should take heed of that very last statement. Do we ever put the need of the client first? If so, can someone prove it to me? When we remove an original windshield or tempered part, is its replacement equal or better than before? If a molding was needed, was the same kind, same density or even the same shape installed? Did the technician leave the pinchweld or inner wall in a state that would not be subject to corrosion? How much time was that technician given to properly perform his job? Did that tech even possess a conscience, much less proper training? One could go on and on.

A very real callousness exists within this industry and from a thirty plus year perspective, that dishonesty has only gotten worse over that span, rather than better. Lies or mistruths are commonplace. Never has passive coercion existed so much within the insurance sector. In my humble opinion, there are far more posers and purveyors than professionals auto glass in the auto glass business.

If auto glass were like a fast food or a home supply establishment, how long would any one store stay in business? One’s shortcomings are not usually obvious nor are the positives. We in the auto glass industry are protected by a few axioms. First of all, our services to any one individual are not something that occurs on a weekly, monthly or usually yearly basis. This means that there are few markers that exist to attract or repel customers, notwithstanding the growing social network movement. Brand recognition is neither marketed nor even acknowledged, so consumer ignorance is rampant at many levels. That fact alone frees many owners into making product choices based on acquisition pricing factors instead of perhaps overall quality. In fact, all along the supply chain the leading question seems to be, “How much?” instead of “How good?”

Corporate glass works off of metrics. They have all sorts of acronyms to designate and to isolate profit. Customer Doe is assigned a number at first contact and once the RPU is finally tallied after the job was completed, whose interest was best served? The technician? His shop manager? The district manager? We can move further up the ladder but what about the client? Was the vehicle returned to “pre-loss condition?” Or did the customer get an install designed to maximize the company’s bottom line?

Small auto glass concerns can be worse. Far too many try to win a bid by using the lowest priced products and settle for a thin profit margin as well. The only benefit to the customer is usually a lower expense. In short, a poorly installed, cheap windshield may cost the person far more in the long term. It could prematurely crack upon a low speed rock impact, leak water which then creates electrical or mold issues or is distorted, which makes driving an optical challenge.

The real challenge is to be conscientious. As a technician, can you strive to be your very best? As an owner, can you make money and give your customer the best installation possible? I firmly believe the answer to both parties can be a resounding, “Yes!” But under the present circumstances, due to the existence of far too many participants that only take a short term perspective, it will take much time and effort to do so.

The secret to long term success is not how much one can soak them for but how good a job you can do. It really may sound old-fashioned but I still try to operate my business under the “Golden Rule” principle:  Do unto others as you would want them to do unto you. Try it sometime. That concept may not get you a job at Goldman Sachs but it does help one sleep soundly at night.

There is a very pervasive belief of “I want it now!” American business has bought into that sentiment. Food stores stay open 24/7. Gas stations do too. One can buy clothes, dishes, pet supplies, gardening and home repair items on every day of the week. Until recently, if you had a craft you usually had at least one common day off and that was on a Sunday. It seems auto glass is slowly and sadly becoming mainstream and inching its way into becoming a seven-days-a-week industry. Have the bean-counters gone mad?

May I pose a question? Is nothing sacred anymore? When did working on a Sunday become commonly accepted? Did our ancestors “get it right” when they passed laws preventing all sorts of commerce on the “Lord’s Day?” What has changed so much that too many of my fellow tradesmen feel compelled to open on a Sunday? It is an attitude that comes with as many shortcomings as without.

I am all too aware that auto glass is a service business. However, someone should take note that there are humans, not machines, who are responsible for the efficient implementation of those services. It is my personal belief that there is no real need, except greed, to offer glass service on all seven days of the week. Sunday is the most commonly accepted day off and it should remain so.

Who is to blame here? Is it a faceless international corporation that feels it can direct its minions to capture what business may offer itself up since it can’t stand having its facilities idle one day per week? Is it the business person who is a member of a particular cultural or ethnic group that has no need or obligation to respect a Christian or Jewish Sabbath? Or is it just a poor slob trying to make ends meet by working as much as is available?

A very effective roadblock existed for decades when glass distributors closed on weekends. Unless you had stock or pre-ordered a particular lite, one could not conduct much business on those days. As competition grew and margins shrank, suppliers started opening on Saturdays which fanned the flames for glass shops or mobiles to open. Today, in some areas, it is understood that the nation’s largest distributor will service their own internal needs and very few of their best wholesale customers—how that will play out in future years is unknown. Don’t think that other glass distributors are not considering matching number one’s actions as the thought of losing market share or potential customers loom large on balance sheets. It may be only a matter of time.

Safelite experimented with a 24/7 glass service a few years ago in the “city that never sleeps,” Las Vegas—and it only ran for less than a year. One presumes that it was not an economic success or it still would be operational. If it did not work there, it would certainly not play in Peoria or anywhere else.

I realize that the need for glass replacement can occur at any time due to the prevalence of auto break-ins and vandalism. I also understand that Californiaand much of the Southwest is not like the rest of the nation when it comes to weather. A vehicle missing a door glass can get pretty chilly in New England or North Dakota in February as opposed to Newport Beach. Still why is there such a push to fulfill every potential customer’s desire at the moment they need or want it?

For nine years I worked six days a week and 12 hour days with a one way daily commute of an hour. I also could at any time be called to do emergency board-ups. It helped cost me a marriage, I missed events in my son’s life and it did nothing for my overall health or wealth. What are we doing to ourselves and our families?

I see being open seven days a week as either for need or for greed. Certainly there are times a company is buried with jobs and one has to “make hay while the sun shines.” However, it is a whole different equation if a CEO or an owner heads off to church, golf or just sleeps in, while their fifteen or five thousand employees are out slapping glass in on a Sunday.

Good techs need rest. Plow horses or mules have great strength and endurance but they can collapse under heavy or lengthy loads. There are far too many folks out there that equate auto glass technicians with the back part of equine anatomy. It is a verifiable truism that you get what you pay for in auto glass, and with the concept of being open seven days a week, but it has done nothing and will do nothing to raise the level of quality or craftsmanship in our industry. Then again look what sheer greed, shoddy parts and easy entry has done to it. We all should be heading to one’s personal faith center and praying for auto glass’ salvation. Amen.