Windscreen repair highly profitable according to Esprit

As a motor factor, you’re probably looking for ways to promote new products to your customers. Well, windscreen repair is a simple way for customers to add a profit line to their business, according to Esprit Windscreen Repair Equipment Director, Victoria Evans.

PMF asked her how windscreen repair can add value to a customer’s business, and how you can promote windscreen repair to them:

“At Esprit we have sold through distribution lines since the company first started 40 years ago,” said Victoria. “We do sell to individual garages and workshops, but we also love dealing with motor factors, as they know what their customers want, and we can always offer great deals on our products as they tend to have a greater spend with us every year.”

When pressed on how you could promote windscreen repair, Victoria responded: “Many garages and workshops will already have some knowledge of windscreen repair; they might already carry out some repairs or have done windscreen repair in previous places of work. If they’ve generally had a previously good experience, then talking about the profitability of windscreen repair is a great way to get a customer interested.”

Victoria then offered details about the prices and profits available: “Well, it does depend on geographical area and what your competitors are doing, but generally we recommend that £25 to £35 per repair is a reasonable amount to charge. We calculate that with the Esprit system, each repair costs around £2 to £3 to carry out, so the profit margin is quite considerable. There is the upfront cost of the kit, but this is soon made back in the costs of the repairs, and then you only have to replace resin and other consumables.”

New to windscreen repair? No problem!

But what about selling the idea of windscreen repair to a technician that had never carried out this type of repair before or, even, had a bad experience with a different kit? Victoria said: “The Esprit kit is very straightforward to use, and our free training video is available on our website. We are also very keen on training our customers and we can train motor factors, who, in turn, can show their customers how to use the kit. Once they see how easy it is, they’re normally sold. A product that works really well, is simple to use and makes a good profit is difficult to say no to.

“Sometimes people have been turned off repair if they’ve tried to use an overly complex kit in the past, or not had instructions or training. We’ve tried to take away any room for error with training, videos and an instruction manual. Plus, we’re UK based, and we have expert staff who you can just ring up and ask for help if you need it.”

‘Repeat business’ is obviously the endgame, and Victoria believes windscreen repair falls neatly into this category – focusing on the Elite kit: “In the Elite kit, there is enough resin for 40 repairs, but after that, customers will purchase resin packs, syringes and other consumables on a regular basis, which ensures that they’ll be regularly coming to you for their supply needs.”

Distribution model flawed?

Given Esprit supplies both factors and workshops, this could be seen as a conflict of interest, but Victoria was quick to dispel this theory: “We primarily avoid the clash simply by providing our distributors and larger customers with great value, based on the amount that they buy from us. We do sell retail through our website, but we also have a number of pricing tiers to ensure that motor factors and distributors can remain competitive. We’re transparent with them, so they know that if they sell a certain amount, they’ll be eligible for certain discounts. This is how we have maintained such good relationships with both retail customers and motor factors throughout the company’s history.”

How can you get started?

If windscreen repair sounds like something you would be interested in pursuing, Victoria recommended that you “just give us a ring”, where its head of technical training, Dean Proctor, or key account manager, Sam Moore, will be awaiting your call. They can advise on kits, pricing, training and how windscreen repair can become part of your product menu.