Common Mistakes of Paintless Dent Repair Newbs

By Brian Jump
http://www.nodents.com

Sorry to say it, but if you are a Paintless Dent Repair Newb, this article is a bit direct, but if you appreciate the truth, read on. If NOT, click back and get outta here immediately.

Paintless Dent Repair is tough. And thankfully so. If it was easy, the prices would fall and a typical repair would be $10 instead of $100…so let it be tough to master..keeps the get rich quick geeks down the road, looking into pyramid schemes, gambling, internet and other crap.

So, I digress….Common mistakes of PDR Newbs.

1. Underestimation. This term is broad, intentionally. Underestimation of the EFFORT and DIFFICULTY is primarily what I am referring to, but there are more..
   A) The income. Most peeps have NO idea what a good PDR Tech can make. When I personally push, I usually pull over $2k a day. And Im NOT talking about hail. When doing hail, I get depressed if Im not reaping at least $3500 when pushing 100’s of dents in a workday.
   B) The competition. Most people in PDR are horrible. And lucky for them, it usually doesn’t slow them down..until a better tech rolls into town (see our dent repair school for details J )
   C) The Market. I get emails from new entries interested in PDR, and others who may have gone thru a different school, looking for markets where they can tap the deep well of PDR. Let me say this clearly: Auto Dealers are just ONE market segment. There are DOZENS more. I will leave it at that for this article…
   
   
2. Technical requirements. 20/20. Your peepers better be 20.20 or corrected to that level or PDR is not for you. It is a VISUAL process, so if you CANT SEE, you cant DO.
   
   
3. TIME. This one is commonly overlooked. Dealers send us PDR in house trainees all the time for schooling. Then, when the student returns and asks for time to practice and develop their skills and speed, the management says, “sure, but for now, get back to your normal job and we will get you practice time later”. Well, later never comes, and the dealer tech often doesn’t get the time or attention he needs to continue his skills, and the in-house program goes sideways. What does this mean to you, as a newb? PDR Requires TIME. ANYTHING that you do, and want to do well, will require TIME. Give PDR Time, and you will get RESULTS. And by results, I mean MONEY.
   
   
4. Rushing. PDR Newbs rush their work, and the results often suffer, Slow work means fast results for newbs. Take your time.
   
   
5. Improper tool selection. For some reason, I see techs in the field using the wrong type of tool tip for specific damage. Remember, we are re-creating texture, so use a tip that will best achieve that. And tape and caps on tools are a Pro-techs best friends.
   
   
6. Massive pressure. So many newbs like to employ massive pressure to locate their tool tip. Hint- DON’T! If you cant see your tip easily, take a page out of our training book- go get an aluminum hood and try it out for size..I wont spoil the fun, but you will do better than you did with the steel item…try it.
   
   
7. Improper tap down technique. Dent Wizard teaches newbs to use a “Master tool” which is a large dolly type of tool to push down the entire dent. Eventually they show you how to do it like the rest of us, with a tap down pencil or punch. Problem is, many newbs don’t locate the highspot tip and tap down the side of it. Take your time, and if possible, tap down by pushing, not using a hammer. You can modulate the pressure better when pushing.
   
   
8. Improper reading technique. Many newbs try and jump to a board after learning on a lite. Stay with the lite for a while..it keeps the learning consistent and theres no reason to go to a board until you are very proficient with a lite.
   
   That’s all for now! There are more Paintless Dent Repair newb pitfalls I can assure you, but work on these to get started!
   
   Happy Pushing!
   
   Brian Jump

Top