#81 Put In The Reps
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Speaker: [00:00:00] One, two
Welcome back to another episode of the All Access podcast from Dent Repair Now. 81 episodes, and guys, I finally did it. We finally did it. You helped, I'm sure, by sharing it, everything. I finally broke the 5,000 followers mark on Facebook. Now, that doesn't really do anything for me other than helps me achieve a goal, right?
I wanted to break 5,000, and we broke 5,000. Uh, really, I believe it was at the beginning of the year, we cracked 2,000, and that was a little bit of a milestone. [00:01:00] Um, but you know, if you remember end of the year, end, end of the year last year when I put, um, AAI to bed, right? And I said I'm gonna focus on one business, one company, everything goes under this brand, and that's what we did.
Well, a big part of the problem with trying to do two and start from scratch, even though we were a few years in, right, was I couldn't focus anywhere. I couldn't get anything done. So it was a big, exciting move for me to make it to 5,000 on here, right? I remember breaking 2,000 was pretty amazing. Um, 2,500 came pretty fast, then 3,000, then 3,500, then we stalled out a little bit.
And I've been pouring gas on the fire since then, uh, and it's working. Uh, in fact, right, I seem to check it every couple of days, and this morning when I opened up my, [00:02:00] um, Facebook feed, I, I could see that, uh, it was like, oh, this person and seven other people followed you. Oh, this person and eight other people followed you from your reel.
And it was just the traction that got there. So like, thank you. Now, next goal is 10,000 because that does do something for you. I don't know if it monetizes you. Uh, and really monetizing on Facebook or on social media isn't, uh, a main driver for me. I mean, it would be great to make some money from the content.
Um, but it gives you that, like, street cred of, "Hey, Dent Repair Now with 10,000 plus followers commented on your post," right? It just, it makes you a little bit more, um, visible, I suppose. And that is a, uh, that is a good thing. All right. I gotta remember to put my phone on never lock, uh, when I do these, because inevitably, I have my notes to follow, and then [00:03:00] I forget, and then we're rolling, and then I'm like, "Shoot, I gotta find my thing."
Anyways, finally made that 5,000 followers mark. Sorry, I got headphone cables everywhere. Um, super excited for that. And it's... It was cool to see the progress of, you know, like, putting content out there and seeing what catches and what doesn't catch. And, uh, man. So that's sort of the topic of today's show is lessons learned, right?
By doing content, by doing repairs. Uh, this almost feels like a truck talk episode. Um, but I've hardly been doing any truck driving. I've har-hardly any windshield time. I've been so busy in the shop. So we're gonna get into a little bit of, uh, philosophy or, or lessons learned, or whatever you wanna call it for this show.
And that is gonna [00:04:00] be the put the reps in, right? And I've got a little special treat coming up for you, um, that, that will give you a sneak into how far I've come by putting the reps in, or at least how far I think I've come, uh, by putting the reps in. So, you know, stay tuned for that
Content, right? So, so I just cracked that 5,000 mark on Facebook. Uh, and really most of that, most of, most of our content, right, certainly our engaging content is video. I remember my first videos, um, probably pre-coaching with Keith, right? I was making some videos. I was trying to do some content. Uh, and they were like, "Set the camera up and do a time lapse."
Like, it's... If you know me, you know I love a good time lapse. That's a little joke for Melissa there. But anyways, like, I would just set it up and do a time [00:05:00] lapse, and then I would put some rock and roll music over it or some rap music or something, like very uneducational, very... I wouldn't even call it entertaining.
Like I said, I like a good time lapse, but those were not good time lapses
When I was getting coached by Keith Cosentino, he, and I'm glad, Keith, if you listen to this, I'm glad you're finally putting reps in and doing video because we sort of joked about it for years, that you told me, you're like, "Man, you gotta make more content. You've gotta get your face out on the camera.
You've gotta do this. You gotta do that," right? And I've told you guys to get your face on the camera, and I've seen a lot of you do that more. And if you haven't done it, get your face on camera and started putting those reps in, right? That's what you have to do So if you wanna go back to my YouTube channel at Dent Repair Now and go [00:06:00] way back, so it would probably be 2016, so it could be 2017 model years.
But anyways, uh, and this is really still a great idea. I should probably go do it. Um, I just don't have time to do it. So Keith gave me the idea of these model walk-arounds. So I was at... I was most comfortable at my Volkswagen store, so I was like, "Hey, Mike, uh, do you mind if I do some video? Like, can I grab some keys to new cars and do some walk-arounds?
And I wanna talk about PDR on these." And I went and bought a selfie stick. I don't have a selfie stick, but I do have my overhead mount, right? So I grabbed my selfie stick, you know, like this, and I'm holding the camera out there, and I was like, man, this is so awkward, and I'm trying to, like, make it interesting and point to things back here, and it was awful.
I had no, like zero personality coming through. In fact, that was Keith's... I think his biggest complaint was he's like, "Dude, you don't even look [00:07:00] remotely approachable, uh, on these videos. Like, you gotta smile, you gotta relax, you gotta have fun." And, uh, I feel like I'm smiling and relaxing and having fun now, but, you know, 10 years later, here we are.
So those reps were terrible. Um, I think it was just a few episodes ago, I showed you my, uh, glue pull tutorial video, my first, I guess, tutorial, like how-to video that I ever made. And, uh, man, not super awkward, but not super not awkward. Uh, and the video was terrible, and I, I think the lessons were good, right?
I think the philosophy was still there, but you gotta put the reps in. So Just freaking do it. Like, just grab your phone. My phone that's not locked now, right? Just grab your phone and start shooting videos. In fact, what I've noticed is it seems like [00:08:00] the more production I put into a video, or even the, the shorts that come out from this, right?
Like, we send this through an AI and it pulls out note or highlights and everything, and they do okay. Um, and I'm in a s- I'm in the studio, I've got good mic, I've got a good camera, we've got lighting, I've got my hair did. And these videos, like, they do okay. That's like going for a walk. Like, you're gonna get there.
We're making progress The videos where I literally, like, grab my phone, maybe if I have it with me, I clip a mic on so I get a little better audio, and it's just raw, and I'm just showing you something and telling you what's going on and what we're looking at. Man, those ones do so much better. So I challenge you, right, when it comes to content, quit overthinking it.
Quit worrying about the gear, right? In fact, I've got a ton of gear, right? We, we-- part of AAI was video [00:09:00] production, and I saved that because I like to produce videos and I like to make educational content. So I have it. But I heard Stefan Eschy, right, UbreakIFix or MyDentShop LLC, said, "Don't worry about all the gear.
Don't worry about this." He said, "You've got your phone. Just grab your phone and make the video and post it." Uh, I did my last, uh, couple of videos. I edited in Edits, which is free from Meta, right? I think-- I believe it's part of, uh, Instagram. Uh, and, you know, Instagram and Facebook, but it looks like an Instagram, uh, logo or color scheme.
So, but Edits is free. It's like CapCut, right? CapCut, I believe, has a free version. Or you can edit right in Instagram or right in TikTok. Um, ooh, there's another side note. So I got this traction on Facebook, but mostly posting on Instagram and sharing to both feeds with my videos, right? [00:10:00] Like, little different move with, at least with my most engaging videos.
Uh, and now, all of this to be said, uh, it's not like I'm going viral. It's not like my videos are going viral. Um, it's dent repair content. It's probably mostly technicians watching this and sharing this. Or the c-curious consumer, right? The curious customer. But it's that build, you know? Like, man, if I had five thousand people show up to see what I was doing, that would be pretty amazing.
Like, a, shoot, a full house at MTE or PDR Expo is unreal, right? When I look out and there's a couple hundred people, uh, standing in front of me or sitting in front of me listening to me teach, like, that's, like, humbling. Like, wow, you guys came to hear me? That's so cool. Uh, speaking of which, September twenty-fifth and twenty-sixth at the Rio in Las Vegas, PDR Expo Twenty Twenty-Six is [00:11:00] happening.
Um, it's gonna be a great show. We've got the roundtable Friday morning to kick off. Um, Mac has the beginners competition Friday afternoon. Now, I told him he better win or I'm gonna leave him in Vegas. He can be the new homeless guy. And, uh, he said, "Well, I'll just go run a casino." Man, the kid just there's no lack of confidence with that kid.
Anyways, uh, beginners competition, the, um,
shoot, what do they call it? Oh, the dent trials are out there, and I believe there may even be a masters competition maybe. I've heard some inklings of that. We'll see. To be decided, I suppose. Um, and then Saturday I'm doing my cold glue talk, my cold glue, um, classroom, and then hands-on session. Right? That's gonna be, uh, really fun.
And, you know, come out and support the tool companies that are coming out to the show, that are [00:12:00] spending all that money, that are packing up all their people, and they're transporting and setting it up and working their butts off. Come out, see 'em, and buy some tools, right? Go back and listen to my rant on the last show, uh, if you're wondering how I feel about tools and, and supporting the people that support us.
So, right, get out there. Come out to Vegas. And it's Vegas. It's a Thurs- or it's a Friday and Saturday. Come out, make a weekend of it, bring your wife, girlfriend, husband, boyfriend, and, and make a weekend out of it. Uh, go to the show and go to some dinners, and go to some, like, cool shows at night, or do the bar crawl, or go see the Neon Sign Museum, which is awesome, by the way.
That was my Facebook profile picture for like two years. It was so cool. Um, so anyways, when it comes to content, don't overthink it. Don't do it. Put the reps in and you will just continue to improve. You'll get used to listening to your voice. [00:13:00] You'll get used to seeing yourself. You'll get used to seeing yourself backwards.
Like, am I backwards on this one? I might be backwards on this one. It just looks a little different. You'll get used to it. When you're editing it, you'll get used to it. Poor Liv, right? When she's editing the videos, uh, she's like, "I can hear you in my face or hear you in my dreams." Like, "Hey, what's up, everybody?
It's Gene Fetty. How you doing?" Um, and I've been trying to do less of that, but I think I may have scarred her for life. Poor thing. Putting the reps in, in, in this trade, right, in PDR is the same thing. Like learning how to, like learning how to glue pull, learning how to become proficient at glue pull, right?
On small stuff, I'm fixing sharper, deeper damage, uh, than I ever have before, and I just keep getting better and better at it because I'm putting the reps in and paying attention to what I'm doing and getting after it. When it comes to, right, like more [00:14:00] complex repairs, try and sometimes you fail, right?
Sometimes you're just gonna eat shit on a repair. You know, I still joke with my customers that I'm like, "I'm just too dumb to tell you no, so all right, here I am." Right? It's, it is what it is. Uh, you know, like you just gotta put the reps in and figure it out. I had frustrating cars this week. So one of my videos that did really well this past week was the brand new 2026 11th generation Civic.
Had a really sweet Type R in here. Had like 1,700 miles on it when it came in. I think maybe 13 or 1,400 when he was damaged and he, you know, came to see me For the estimate. And the quarter panel on those, if you haven't seen it, go to, go to my Instagram or my Facebook. Uh, may have put it on TikTok, but certainly Instagram and Facebook, uh, and look at that 11th [00:15:00] generation video.
The construction on these quarter panels is just horrific. So the car comes in, nasty, I don't know, maybe 8, 10, 11 inch crease in the quarter panel. Looked it outside, looked at it outside. It was the end of the day. It was white. I should have looked a little closer. I should have put a light on it. Uh, but I was, I looked at it and I'm like, "I can, I can fix that.
I think I can fix that. I'm gonna see why not." And I said, "Well, I'm a little worried about this quarter panel." But then I reached up in and I'm like, "Oh, there's a pretty good gap," you know, between the outer skin and the inner wheelhouse. I'm like, "Oh, we'll get in there." I said, "You know what? I'll probably pull the bumper."
Um, I think I may have even laid underneath maybe and saw the vent or whatever, however it did. I was like, "Oh, we're coming through the vent. We're coming through the taillight. I'll be okay
I was not okay. So I bring it in, look at it, [00:16:00] excuse me, look at it under the light. The little bit of, um, heavy paint scuffing, not really scratched, not really a gouge, but, like, some pretty significant clear coat damage. But the guy's like, "I literally have, like, 1,300 miles on this car, and I don't wanna get it painted."
He's like, "I really don't wanna paint it. If we can just get it looking good, I'm not gonna paint it. It's on the passenger side." And I'm team don't paint the car, right? Like, I cannot stand-- I would rather a flaw on factory paint than a refinish, uh, everywhere. Like, ugh, just can't, can't handle it. Sorry, auto body guys, auto body gals, painters.
I just don't like paintwork, man. I just can't. My brain just will not tolerate it. It's dumb So I'm like, all right, pull the bumper off. Uh, not anything crazy, like just... Actually it was a pretty straightforward bumper once I got it all figured out. Lots of screws, uh, but nothing crazy. [00:17:00] And I'm like, oh man, the vent's here.
Like, I'm gonna have great reach into here, and I stick my arm in and I go up, and I, like, hit a wall, and it drives it straight to the outside, and I was like, "Dude, this is gonna suck." So tried some ultra-thin whale tails and kinda could bend in, but just the way the bends were, it's not like going down a door where you can go against the glass, which pushes you out to the skin and then bend back and slide down straight in between the skin and the, the brace.
This was, like, around and then, not a 90, but like, probably like a 45, and then it would've been straight from there to get out into the panel. And I'm like, "Oh." I could reach, like, maybe two inches, two and a half inches at the end of the quarter where it met the bumper, which was good, um, but I could not get past there.
Not, certainly not make any good pushes. So jack it up, pull the wheel, pull the wheel liner, and it's... Again, you gotta go watch the video. [00:18:00] They almost like... It's almost like a double skin, and then in the almost at, like, 12 o'clock, they put, like, a five by eight square where you can touch the outer skin. Like, if the dent's there, you don't even need to really do R&I.
Like, pop a couple clips out and move the liner and you would push on it, but I was down inside of there. And I'm like, "What are we gonna do?" Like, all right, we're just gonna put the reps in. And I really liked the customer, was really cool. Car guy, fanatical about, um, not wanting paint work. Has a 981 Boxster, and I want a 981 Carrera.
Like, or 980- I want a 981 Cayman. He has a Boxster. He's talking about how nice the car is, how fun it is. It's an S. Like, we just, like, just connected with the guy. So not only do I have the, you know, the weight of the PDR world on me and all the people that work here at [00:19:00] Dent Repair Now, like, this customer's really cool too, and I don't wanna let him down at all.
Like, a little extra. I'm like, man, what am I gonna do? So, right, because I've gotten myself into plenty of jams and I've just pushed through and pushed through and pushed through, I'm like, all right, here we go. So it was, like, mostly pinky and black whale tail, you know, from Dent Craft. Like, up and in, and these little, like, just tiny little tweaks the whole time, smoothing it out.
I, I was able to get a couple of the, um, their Dent Craft tool. They're like the shaved red and yellow set, the Call to Answer, right? I was able to... Because they're even skinnier than a whale tail, I was able to sneak up and just get a little bit further into that brace from the, the tail. But, like- Being able to keep going and putting the reps in, even when it
sucks, really helps you grow, right? So put the reps in when you suck at [00:20:00] content. Put the reps in when the repair sucks, and when you suck at estimating and you get it wrong, right? Another frustrating car, uh, and I shot some footage of this, probably gonna make a video, uh, kind of be like my Audi rant. The Audi when they did that five-point, uh, Torx bit, 'cause you need a different Torx bit.
Yeah, I'm s- or something. Like give me a freaking break. Anyways, it This BMW. I stopped counting at 20 10-millimeter bolts to take the wheel liner down. And not only were there 20 10-millimeter bolts, thank goodness they were all 10s, but, like, the head of the bolt... I wish I had one. If I make the video, if I edit the video, it would be like...
I'll show you. This is, this is a shitty tool, by the way. I would not recommend these tools. So if this, um... And these are not Ultra [00:21:00] tools. I'm not talking smack on Ultra. These are knockoffs, uh, that I got off of somebody. Anyways, if this were a bolt, you see, like, the, let's call the top of that a standard bolt head, right?
That hex head up there. These BMW bolts were, like, half as tall. What? Wha- Germany, why do you feel the need to complicate everything? You have amazing cars. You have amazing engineering. The, the mechanics are sound. The performance is amazing. And you do dumb shit like put way too many bolts in, 'cause it's overkill, and then you make the head half as tall.
The problem... That doesn't sound like a big problem on paper until you're in a rounded wheelhouse with recessed ones that, like, go into a cone, and you're trying to work around, even with the wheel off, 'cause you have to take the wheel off. We'll get to that in a [00:22:00] second. You couldn't, uh... You had to be perfectly on the, the bolt head, right?
If you were off by just the slightest little degree, it was like it was stripped out. You felt, felt like it was the wrong size.
Speaker 2: Ugh,
Speaker: just dumb. Just fricking dumb. So frustrating car. Still a little frustrated. I really wanted to fly off the handle on Friday and make a great fly-off-the-handle video for you, but Shannon took half a day, and I was under the gun, and this is a frustrating car.
We'll talk about that in a second, right? Putting the reps in, make it happen, grind through it. In the... Once I get the wheelhouse down, um, there's a, the washer fluid bottle, which is the whole reason I had to take it all the way out. The washer fluid bottle is in the fender, right? And in, like, like, the length of the fender damn near.
I'm like, "Dude, come on." So [00:23:00] at first, I was trying to cheat it out without pulling the wheel off 'cause I didn't wanna have to pull the wheel off. I don't have to pull the wheel off. The way these washer bottles work is so dumb. It, it goes up and in right if you... It's passenger fender, so, like, bottom left is the bottom of the tank, and it, it's like a boot shape.
Like, it's an L. It comes up, washer no- or washer filler area, no big deal. It was one little push pin. And I guess this design is probably for pressure release, but the top of that leaks. It's not airtight. And again, it's probably for expansion. However, when you're bringing that down, because it leaks, it wants to rain washer fluid on your head.
So it comes down and hit- hits the tire. And I've got a light back in there. I'm sticking my head in. I've got my phone in there with the camera. I'm like, "I can't see any bolts." All I could see is this little clip, and I'm like, "Man, does it rotate? Does it twist like something [00:24:00] on a, like a carrier plate?" So I call my...
I do phone a friend. I go get Jeremy, uh, my body man buddy that works at my buddy's body shop, and we'll call each other for tech support. I think he... I owe him now, right? I've, I've got too many calls in this week. Um, but anyways, I'm like, "Hey, dude, what... Like, have you seen this? It's the new X5." Uh, and he's like, "Ah, I think it, I think it rocks forward."
He's like, "If you can't find a 10 down at the bottom holding it, it rocks forward." So I pull the wheel, and then, right, it wants to fall out.
And then, and as true German over-engineering goes Three washer nozzle or three... No, I'm sorry, two water pickups, two liquid pickups, right? And I'm sure that that's one for the, um, windshield and [00:25:00] either... Well, maybe they should've had more. Maybe there's another bottle. I didn't explore that much. And then the other one probably feeds the headlight washers, or maybe it runs to the back of the car and does the, you know, rear hatch or camera or, I mean, it's a BMW, they got squirties everywhere.
So, but those connections are sandwiched in against the inner frame rail. And then there are also three, three electrical connections, and there are three different pumps
All of this on a fender that in the, like, you know, dirty confessions of a busy PDR shop, we were busy and I may have even been on the road or wasn't-- I was out doing a car at a body shop or something. The car had come in. Shannon wrote it. Shannon normally writes a pretty good sheet. And, you know, she was like, "Hey," we- and we're scheduled out pretty far, and she's like, "Hey, can you [00:26:00] just...
This guy's gonna come back. He just needs you to take a peek at the damage to see if it's repairable." And I'm like, "Okay, cool." So right, like he parks out back, I'm in the middle of 50 cars and, uh, I run back and I look at it and I'm like, "Oh, what happened?" He's like, "Oh, a kid was riding his bike, ran into the side of the car."
And I'm like, "Well, is the kid okay?" "Yeah, he's good." And I look, and again, I should have brought it in and put a light on it. But no, I'm just not that smart, I guess. Not that disciplined, I suppose. So I look at it, and it really looks like just a big old... I mean, it was probably the kid's head, but not a hard impact, but like a big soft round impact, right, and a little bit of a roll, and it just sort of buckled out a little bit.
And I looked at that and I'm like, "I don't know why anybody was worried about this. I got this." I missed that it was aluminum. Again, you would think at this point in my career, I would know, one, to check all cars for [00:27:00] aluminum, but two, like it- it's a BMW. Like it's probably freaking aluminum. The hood's aluminum, the fenders are aluminum, the doors are aluminum.
Why didn't you verify that that was aluminum, Gene? Well, I don't know, Gene. Maybe next time we'll get it right So I'm like, "Well, we'll put the reps in." I'm gonna do it set up my lateral tension, start pulling and the dad just starts to walk out. I'm like, "Oh, this is beautiful," right? And I'm really just locked in on this
Then it stopped moving. And then that buckle that was in the concave above the impact just, like, froze. It did not want to... It took me forever to knock that thing down. I almost, right, like, I was probably two hours into this repair, and I almost called the guy and was like, "Listen, bro, I can't fix this. I was wrong.
I can't do it." Well, and then I decided to [00:28:00] say, well you can't see it on the cup, "DBAP." I'm like, "I just gotta fix this fricking thing. I just gotta put my head down and get after it." So I'm cranking and I do have great access once I took half the car apart, you know, all 873 screws. Melissa comes in to run payroll, and she's like, "Ooh."
And I'm like, "Don't say ooh when you're looking at my job. Like, this thing's kicking my ass. I don't need you." And she's like, "Nah, I'm just messing with you." So she goes upstairs to do the, uh, paperwork, and she came in to run the phone for a little while, which was great. So I'm cranking and going and going, and, uh, she happened to walk back down, and I had the light away, and I was sort of just eyeballing the panel.
She goes, "Oh, that looks a lot better with all the light on it." "Thanks, babe. Appreciate the support." She's like, "I'm just busting your balls." Anyways, because I've put the wrap... Like, a- again, it, it, moral of the story is [00:29:00] maybe I need to put the wraps in on writing better sheets, not missing shit. But anyway, the moral of the story that I wanna talk about here is because I've put the wraps in on hard to repair cars, on locked up metal, on tight, hard to move panels, on aluminum
You become just sort of able to shift into another gear, and you're like, "All right, we've done this before. It's gonna suck, right? Here's your big old suck sandwich." But all right, you just put a little mustard on that bad boy and keep pushing and make the car look good. Like, that's just what you gotta do.
You've gotta put the reps in and grind through when it sucks, when you don't wanna do it, when you missed the aluminum on a panel. Like, it's my bad, so you just push through the suck and, and get it done. Like, that's just what you gotta do. Here's a little tech tip for you. The repair looked good. I mean, it really did look good, but it [00:30:00] wasn't like...
I mean, it wasn't like Bryce Kelly good. I mean, like, Bryce is the man, and I was no Bryce Kelly on this repair. But here's a little tip, and I was talking to somebody else about this this week. Even when you aren't thrilled with the repair, don't set the customer's standard at, like, "Man, I don't like that repair.
I don't know, I'm not real happy with how this came out." Because it really did, like, from what it was, came out amazing. I'm just super OCD. So a customer comes in. I'm like, "Hey." He's like, "How'd it go?" I'm like, "Man, that was way harder than I thought it was gonna be, and I forgot that it was a kid that wrecked into it."
I'm like, "Was that a shopping cart or what?" He's like, "No, it was a kid on a bike." And I'm like, "Oh, I remember that. Yeah, you said he, like, flipped up and..." I'm like, "Listen, there was some damage down here that, that we missed when we looked at it, like the, really the whole fender, we had a little buckle to it. I fixed it.
It looks great." I said, "Man, for as hard as it was, I'm super thrilled." And he's looking at it. He's like, "This looks [00:31:00] amazing. I can't believe you saved my fender." So your tech tip is Now, asterisk, this is not a pass to do shit work. This is not a pass to put out work like we talked about on the last episode.
If you can't do the job and make it look good, don't do it. This was not that case. This looked really good. It just wasn't perfect, and I like perfect when I'm trying to do perfect, and I just couldn't quite get there. So anyways, when you're delivering to the customer, tell them how amazing it looks, tell them how amazing it went.
You can tell them that it was difficult, but look at how well it worked. Let them look at it. Let them be the judge, right? That's-- I picked that one up from Keith years ago. Uh, I think it was on the PDR College podcast where he was talking about... He was joking with somebody, a, a friend of his or an acquaintance at, at one of his dealerships, and he was [00:32:00] like, "Hey, um, man, I don't know.
I'm just really not happy with it. That was tough." And like, in actuality, it came out, and the dude went out and looked at his car, and he was just super bummed the whole time, and he's like, "Well, it looks okay, I guess. It'll be all right." But because he, because Keith had set the, um, scene for, "Hey, this sucks," the guy's mindset going to, into it was, "Hey, this sucks."
Ooh, speaking of Keith, I talked to him. I think two episodes ago, I teased that he was coming in to do an AI meeting for the 20 Group. Him and Shane actually both came into the meeting and did it, and we learned a lot, and it was great. Uh, I believe that their plan is to release it as a video. They're-- Actually their first video episode.
Uh, so I had to have Liv do some editing, uh, to get it to them. I got it to them mid last week. Yeah, mid last week, 'cause you're listening to [00:33:00] this tomorrow. And, uh, I believe they are working on it. So that, to clarify, because I had a couple people that were like, "Hey, where's the Keith episode?" Well, it's not an all-access episode It's gonna be a PDR College episode.
So keep an eye out on that PDR College feed. Um, we'll see if they're gonna s- where they're gonna send it and, uh, I'm excited to go rewatch it. Also excited to see and hear, uh, some of their commentary, uh, to see what, what they've got to say there. Now I told you, you gotta put the reps in. Even when you suck, you gotta put the reps in.
Well, guys, I've got a special treat for you. So we are working on that new beginner's podcast and filming on good quality equipment all back here that you can't see, 4K, huge files, great audio. Um, [00:34:00] Liv was running out of room on her hard drive that she works on, right? Like the, the working hard drive. And we've got a lot of time and effort and energy into this, so we're trying to do backups.
Anyways, pulled out an old hard drive to let her use, and I found a folder from a while ago, circa 2020. 2016, not 2020. Circa 2016. I think it was late 2016, or was it '17? Might've been '17. Anyways, I found the original, at least some of them, some of the first episodes of the PDR Marketing Minute. So I have episode one.
There is an episode zero zero, but I have an episode one for you. It's about four minutes long. So for the next four minutes, hang out with me here. Uh, I'm gonna be quiet. Uh, in fact, I think I'm gonna mute my mic, [00:35:00] uh, just to make sure that it doesn't, um, echo or anything. Um, here is episode one of the PDR Marketing Minute
Speaker 2: And now it's time for the PDR marketing minute, your weekly quick tip to help you build your PDR business.
Speaker: Hey there I'm Gene Fedde, your host. What are we gonna be doing here on the PDR Marketing Minute? We are going to be giving you weekly quick tips that you can put into place to drive more leads, and more importantly, more qualified leads right to you to help drive your retail PDR business. So I wanna give you a definition of marketing that, uh, that a great marketer that I like to follow, uh, gives, and that is marketing is everything that you do to help bring in new clients and new leads [00:36:00] before you start the sales process i- in a one-on-one nature, like on the phone or, or through email or text.
So I want you to think of your marketing as what, what it takes to get people to, to pick up the phone and give you a call. Uh, our main focus is going to be your online presence and how to maximize each and every portion of your online presence. This week I'm gonna give you a, uh, a, a retail online marketing checklist.
Uh, these are things you need to have in place, and then as we go through them, shows to come, I'm gonna show you guys and teach you guys how to maximize each and every step. Where I wanna start or where you have to start is a website. If you don't have a website now, y- it's almost like you're not a business.
You need to get a website and have a web presence. I want you to think of this like a tree trunk. All of your marketing [00:37:00] and, and advertising efforts are gonna be the branches. It all needs to come back to somewhere, and, and the website is the trunk of that, uh, of that picture. After your website, right there and almost as important as your website is your Google My Business listing, uh, that used to be called Google Places.
Uh, I think if you search for either one, you'll be able to find that. Uh, whether you operate out of a fixed location or you are mobile retail tech like myself, you need to have a business listing. Uh, if you don't want 'em to come to your home, right, you can, uh, you can get in there and, uh, set a radius. But you wanna get that going, and it takes about two weeks for Google to get you out a, uh, a postcard and, uh, and confirm it.
You need to have a Facebook page, not your Facebook personal profile. You need a business page. Get into Facebook, log in, and create a page for a local business. And a quick rant here, do not ask a bunch of dent guys to [00:38:00] like your page to get your likes up. Uh, they're not your customer. They're not gonna be your customer, and it will help mess up your targeting later down the road.
This next one, Yelp, different parts of the country, it's more popular than others. All across the country, Google looks at Yelp as very, very important. It will rank you, uh, locally. Uh, it may even outrank your website. It's another place for people to find you even if you don't have reviews. And last but not least, that brings me to my last point, is you need to start asking your customers for reviews.
Uh, if you're a wholesale guy making the transition into retail, uh, what I did is I went and asked all of my long-term customers, all of these dealers that I've been servicing for years, "Hey, I've been here busting my butt. Can you guys please go onto..." In my case, I started with PDR Nation. "Can you go to my PDR Nation page?
Here's the link. Please leave me a review." That got the [00:39:00] ball rolling, and, uh, and it continues to snowball. We get new reviews on a weekly basis. All right, that's your PDR Marketing Minute for episode one. On the next episode and the episodes to come, we're gonna start diving deeper into each one of these points on the checklist a- and give you your quick tips how to maximize everything.
Thanks for listening. We'll see you next week.
Not bad. Really not as bad as I thought it would be. That, uh, beginning, uh, like the very intro had me a little nervous. Full, uh, transparency, I did not listen to that whole episode. We just re-listened to that whole episode together. Um, man, like most of that advice is still good. Like you gotta have a website.
That's still my philosophy, like the, the whole [00:40:00] tree trunk. Um, Google Business listing, I don't wanna say that trumps your website, but it's right there. Like you've gotta have those two. Uh, the Facebook page thing, mm, I don't know much business that really drives. Uh, and you know, likewise, likes-wise, follows, um, dent techs, dent guys, dent gals, body guys, body gals, Joe Schmos, anybody.
Just get followers. Build that, build that street cred. I, I think that would be different advice now, like more engagement is better, more is gooder or, or something like that. Uh, but yeah, anyways, do that. Uh, Yelp still sucks. Still hate Yelp. Um, but if you're on the West Coast, still might be relevant. Uh, but I think even at that, it's still not as relevant as it, as relevant as it used to be.
Um, do you [00:41:00] guys want some Marketing Minutes thrown in here? Do you want a whole episode of all the Marketing Minutes? Could we do that? All the Marketing Minutes I could find? Would you be interested in that? Let me know, right? I know a lot of people listen to the Marketing Minute, in fact, you know, one, because it, uh, for a bunch of episodes sorta rode on the tail or as the caboose on PDR College, um, and then like standalone when they sorta dropped off There weren't as many podcasts back then, so I know I had a ton of listeners.
Like I still, still today, people are like, "Oh, you had The Marketing Minute. You had The Marketing Minute." I love that logo, by the way. I'll have to find a... See if I can dig that logo out. Anyways, I'm not saying new Marketing Minutes, but do... Oh, maybe new Marketing Minutes. Hmm. Do we add the PDR Marketing Minute?
Do we do the PDR Marketing Minute podcast again? [00:42:00] Just the archives, just here? Do you want it as just one long YouTube video? Let me know. Are you interested? Would you even go listen to it? I'm curious. But we could bring it back here. Could be a segment. Do you know what? It could be a segment just like this other segment we do.
This one right here.
All right, new... Oh, I'm looking at the wrong camera. New this week. Uh, now I did get to put some reps in with this, but I haven't got to put reps in with these yet, but they are awesome. So, uh, we talked about that Econo line handle from Anson last episode, two episodes ago. Anyways, I told you the T handle was coming.
Well, guess what we got? A T handle right there, baby. So right as the Econo line, I think you guys can see in there. This side, [00:43:00] you look in the... There we go. Look in the handle itself. That is what locks you in. Just like that little thumb nut I showed you with the, um, Hales Angels and everything. So the Econo line T handle is in here, and they've come out with a new five-piece set, and I messaged Craig, and I was like, "Hey, these things are pretty sweet."
He said, "There's more to come." So all right, they keep coming. We've got a five-piece set of 9/32nds, so slightly larger. Hmm. About a 32nd larger than a quarter inch, um, set of, uh, tools. Uh, what I'm hoping for that will come out is a straight handle, right? So these can be like a pick, but a great set. Here's the mid-size.
So this would be like the 14-inch, 45-degree kick, stainless like all the other Tequila tools. [00:44:00] Beautiful with that compact hub right on there. Uh, man, these are ni- I like these smaller tools like this for sneaking in the end of a door, like for the door handle, and up, and then you get a little twist and a little push.
Um, sneaking out into, uh, some open spots on hoods. Uh, right, you could go... Oh, wait, if we're gonna go this way. Right, we could go single handle and just push, right? Or T handle it up, make it a T, and then lock that bad boy in. And again, the Econo line's nice. Uh, one, it's a little bit ch- little bit less expensive, but two, um, zero play.
I mean, like zero play because you're locked in. But man, just a great little tool. Right, like, so the five-piece set is 8 inch, 8, [00:45:00] 11, 14, 17, and 20. Right? Middle, smaller than middle, shorty. That little shorty right there. Right, these three, and then four. Right, that's a 14-inch, 17-inch, and a 20-inch. Look at that
You know, when I got into this... Here, how about that little ASMR? Beautiful tools clanging together. You know, when I got into this, I, I had spent like $3,000 on tools, on a whole tool set. And, uh, that was part of the appeal of the business, was like, "Man, I wanna buy a gun case full of tools. I got a fluorescent light and I'll be off to the races.
We'll just be printing money." Well, that's not how the, that... That's not how my, uh, learning curve went in business. However, [00:46:00] uh, man, these tools... And again, this, this really goes back to, uh, last episode, right? Like, these tool companies, uh, now make no mistake, are in business to make money, right? That's what they do.
But they are constantly innovating and bringing us new tools to make our jobs easier, to make it easier on our bodies, to reach into more places, um, to carry less weight around. Like, all these hub handles, my, my cart, my main tool cart, I'm probably now Better than three-quarters of the way around the cart, uh, of all hub tools, right?
Getting away from the, the loop handles. Now, I, I do love how a loop handle feels, but when we're talking about space and weight, like the cart is so much better with the hubs sticking up through the tool holder like this, right? In fact, if this were a tool [00:47:00] holder, right, we can stack three tools in something the size of my pointer finger, and there's no handles in the way, right?
It just makes organizing easier. Now, what we do need, and if anybody has any organization tips, let me know. John Vidin, I think you used to have a sticker pack for Reaper stuff. I need some way to identify these things from the top, because the downside of the hub is, mm, there's no colored handle for me to look at and be like, "Give me black and yellow.
Give me red and orange," right? "Give me that black handle." I'm just like, "I need a shiny tool." So somebody come out with that. I've got a couple ideas. I don't know that I can execute on it, but I've got a couple ideas. Um, let's figure out how to identify all these hub tools quickly. But anyways, like the innovation, like it just keeps coming.
Energy just keep getting tools. Uh, I also picked up the, uh, new fast PDR [00:48:00] shotgun. Um, I think it came in Wednesday or Thursday. I think it came in Thursday. I have not had any small cold glue repairs since then. I may have one tomorrow. I can't wait to try it. Um, I played with it, right? I was like, bam, that's pretty cool.
But I haven't got to pull with it yet. So I don't know if it'll make a tool of the week, but it'll be a tool review coming up also, right? PDR Marketing Minute, tool of the week. That's great. Do you guys wanna see some tool stuff just randomly on social, right? Doesn't need to be part of the podcast. I don't know.
Let me know. Anyways, that is our tool of the week, that new Econo line T handle compact hub and the five-piece 9/32 Tequila sharp straight 45-degree kick. Cool tools. Very cool tools. All right, back to the show. All right. That was a good edit there, [00:49:00] huh? All right, so guys, put the reps in. Like, that's what it's all about.
That's what you gotta do. Just grind it out. Even thinking back to, like, learning, right? Because I've been talking about beginner stuff so much on this other podcast. You gotta put the reps in. Just keep doing reps. When you suck, keep doing reps When it's not fun, keep doing reps. When it's difficult, keep doing reps.
It's the only way you're gonna power through. When you put enough reps in, success is mandatory. Like, if you just won't quit, if you can't beat me, I'm gonna win, right? Tortoise and the Hare. No matter how many times I read that book, that fricking tortoise keeps winning 'cause he just keeps grinding. So guys, get out there and grind at it.
Just put the reps in and get better. What do we got going on? So we talked [00:50:00] about PDR Expo. Uh, that's at the Rio, if I didn't say the Rio, in Las Vegas. Uh, hopefully we've got the AI podcast coming out with PDR College Coaching is open, right? Got a few clients in coaching, and I love seeing the progress. If you're stuck and struggling in your business, um, hit me up, man.
We've-- We do-- We can do one-on-one sessions. We can do in-person sessions. Hell, I'll fly out to you and do an in-person session with you and walk through your day or days and see what that looks like. And we've got, uh, term sessions, multi-session, uh, you know, where we work together for a couple of months. Hit me up.
I've got openings for coaching. Uh, just send me a DM here, shoot me a text message, comment, whatever you wanna do. Also, share this for me. In fact, I will make sure this gets cut out as a little clip. [00:51:00] Here at Dent Repair Now, right, you know, we lost Jake and Dave. We lost a couple technicians. Mac is doing amazing.
Louie's always a killer. We are looking for two apprentices. I'm looking to bring on two new apprentices to learn this amazing trade of PDR, uh, right here at Dent Repair Now in Pittsburgh. Actually, technically in Canonsburg, about twenty miles south of Pittsburgh. But like, Pittsburgh's the town. Um, really looking to give a couple of people some great opportunity to start an amazing career at what I think is an amazing company for what I know are amazing people.
Um, anyways, if you know somebody who might be a good fit to be an apprentice, uh, to come and work with us, share this along, share the show. Um, give 'em our contact info, right? So it is official, [00:52:00] putting it out there. Looking for two, at least two, right? If I had three people come and they were right, I would do it.
But I'm looking for at least two apprentices to join the Dent Repair Now team, right? So what are you waiting for? Business is great. The trade is great. The, the life that we get to have doing this is amazing. Um, yeah, hit us up. Well, man, I think that is about it for today. So guys, thank you so much. Thank you again.
Thank you, thank you, thank you for all of the followers on Facebook. Uh, really appreciate it. Onward to ten thousand followers is our next goal. Um, I will keep putting out content. And let me know what you want. Do you want more Marketing Minutes? Do you want some more old school archival stuff? All right, let's get after it.
Um, how do you want it? If you want it. Do you want new ones? Do you want more tool videos during the week? You tell me. Anyways, guys, that is episode eighty-one in the books. I can't see where it is. All right, bye.[00:53:00]
Well, like I said, I broke the outro. So until next week, thanks for watching. Liv's on vacation. We're gonna have to wait until she gets back to fix that, so you'll have one more episode unless I can find that outro. All right, now for real, bye.
