Build A New Revenue Stream with Mirrors
By Bill Castleberry
Your customer likely doesn’t know you can repair/replace their sideview mirror. They know your store, know your logo, but more often than not, they go to a dealership to fix their broken mirror. You could be losing thousands of dollars in revenue each year because the customer doesn’t know you’re their best option. Effectively communicating to your prospective customer that you offer sideview mirror replacement will lead to a lucrative new revenue stream to your business.
Market size. More than 15 million sideview mirrors are broken each year. This number does not include broken mirror housings which are serviced primarily by the body shop industry. This translates to 15 million opportunities each year for the auto glass retailers to add significant revenue to their business.
Who gets the business? Seven out of ten times the dealership gets the mirror sale. The dealership will charge between $250-$600 for an OE installed mirror replacement. One of these seven customers may have just had their windshield replaced by you the week before. They have no idea you offer a high quality, lower cost alternative. Auto part stores, body shops and online sellers also enjoy a large share of this market. The ARG industry ranks fifth in market share.
How does the consumer find you? Most times, the customer reaches out to a local dealership to repair their sideview mirror. The consumer is then hit with a quoted price of $325 and it will take 2-3 weeks to get the part in stock. At this point the consumer remembers the local glass shop they drive by every day. They contact you and ask the question, “Since you offer auto glass replacement, do you offer auto mirror glass repair too?” Great news; You just got a call from the one person out of ten who reaches out to an AGR shop for their sideview mirror replacement.
Increasing awareness in your market. Here’s some homework. After reading this article, search on Google with the key words “sideview mirror replacement” and then add your city or zip code. Do you show up? Odds are you don’t, nor does any other auto glass company in your local market. Here are some quick and easy steps to communicate to a potential customer, “We do sideview mirrors too!”
1. Have your website developer quickly add sideview mirror replacement as a core service and include it in both the title tag and meta description. Now, you’ll show up on Web searches. You can further enhance awareness by employing images. Digital graphics and messaging are readily available through sideview mirror manufacturers.
2. Add “We do mirrors, too” messaging to all other advertising media.
3. Add some storefront mirror replacement messaging on your marquee or door signage.
4. Look for countertop displays to support messaging.
5. Contact your insurance and commercial customers to educate them about mirrors.
Quantifying your new revenue stream. The average glass shop replaces one side view mirror a week. Haidet’s Auto Glass, an independent retailer in Canton1 , Ohio, once replaced 500 sideview mirrors in one year! Haidet’s successfully implemented many of the aforementioned methods of advertising mirror replacement. It’s up to you what your average installed price will be, but keep in mind your customer was just quoted $200-$500 from the dealership. Now take what you would consider a fair market price and multiply it by 300-500. You now realize the revenue generating power of side view mirror replacement.
1 Canton, Ohio has a population of 72, 329. The median household income is $31,714. There are nine new car dealerships in Canton.
Bill Castleberry is sales director for Burco Inc.
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