|
Recently there has been alot of talk and interest regarding the Specialized, One on One Paintless Dent Repair Courses offered by the Superior Auto Institute.
We had a moment to talk with Brian Jump, Superior Auto Institutes President about the courses and, more importantly, the results.
Les Chung:
Brian,
there has been alot of excitement and even some confusion about the One on One Specialized format PDR courses...can you shed some more light on the program?
Brian: Sure thing.
Les: Since we are also going to have this interview on the website, what can you share with everyone specifically about the Paintless Dent Repair Training program changes that you brought about just over a year ago?
Brian: Well, after seeing our own field techs soar into the field with a more focused, one on one format..we decided about a year ago to offer the same opportunities to our students, and now, after looking back at the successes of both students and our own techs, hands down the one on one focused program produces techs that frankly, kick the other ones around the block and back again.
Les: What is it specifically that has changed within the program?
Brian: Well obviously we went from 5 to 10 students in a class session to one! But by doing that, the real heart of the training success comes in to play. Since we dont have a room full of guys to tend to, we can open up the course curriculum to cover alot more tasks.
Les: Such as?
Brian: Well, a typical PDR class would usually involve students go thru an orientation, get acclimated, watch some demos, and then work on a hood for three, four or even five days. At that point most schools would either try and bump the students up to a two or three week class since they really havent learned anything close to what they will need to know to survive in the PDR world.
Our Specialized class is nothing like that at all...
Monday is hands on, focused on soft dents. Most techs are already doing dime to nickel sized dents by the end of the first day, which is quite miraculous, since that is usually the skill level where most trainees are at on Friday at other schools.
Les: Doesnt the Pretraining program have something to do with this success too?
Brian: Yes it does. Pretraining allows for the students to not only practice and prepare for the course, it is also a great barometer for the students to let them know they will be ready for the course, and if they want to get out into the field making money, they can even do so, faster...all they need to do is simply invest some time practicing the simple skills set in front of them.
Les: Why dont other schools prepare their students with a similar pretrain program?
Brian: Good question...it requires more work for the school, and they have to ship products and communicate with the students prior to the course, and it also lets a student know if there are any vision problems they werent aware of etc...basically it is more work and money that most schools dont want to hassle with. Most schools simply just dont care.
Les: So the Specialized course involves one on one training, the pretraining program to prepare the students, but what else can they expect?
Brian: Well, like I said, other schools will have their students in a classroom environment (due to the size of the classes..they cant cart around 10 students to an auction, set them all up on 5-10 cars, then rotate all of them etc etc!), so that is one main difference. We start our students in a classroom type environment, that is true. For the first 2-3 days, students are with the instructor working to develop the fundamentals. For the next 2 days the instructor has a variety of vehicles set up to work on - SUV's, Trucks, Sedans, Coupes, Convertibles etc etc.
There is no way someone can work on a hood for 5 days, then go home and expect to have any idea how to navigate a truck tailgate, a door side impact beam, avoid a side airbag, etc etc. Its laughable how other schools can have group courses and students can expect total results.
Les: So why do some people go to these group classes?
Brian: Another great question! Ive been told alot of these schools preach constantly about the great money in the biz, and make the focus of the conversation about money, rather than how they are going to get to making money. Its true there is money to be made in PDR..its why we all are doing it,
but without a bridge to get there, they wont ever see the money.
Les: Some people think that the classes are where students go with a tech out to work at the auctions, and the tech is there to work first, and train them second.
Brian: Yeah Ive heard that before too indirectly from other schools guessing how we can have access to auto auctions to do training there. Face it...its a threat to other schools to have a situation that is so clearly more beneficial for students, and lies are often made about us since there is no other way to measure up against our training courses. The training sessions are solely for the students. We dont take students out on routes to work and then train them on the side. We do have our own techs, but most of them enjoy the money they make and dont want to be bothered and slowed down by training. They make great money just pushing metal. Having the opportunity to learn in a real world situation, on many vehicles, is a HUGE benefit over learning in a classroom, on a hood panel, There is just no comparison.
Think about this Les, If you only worked on a hood panel, and then went home and were expected to make a living the next week working on total CARS, not hoods, where would you begin? I mean, how would you avoid deploying an airbag?? How about access on dual pane glass vehicles..would you know which ones they were and how you dont want to push on the glass or it WILL break?
That is just the tip of the iceberg, and its a tragedy that many people are being sold on some of these classes where they are going to come up short in most instances.
Les: Here is a question I hear alot: "How are your prices so low when compared to others?"
Brian: Well I dont know if our prices are much lower..I've checked recently and we seem to be about in the middle. Think about this...if you go to a school, and for conversation sake they charge $6000 for tools and the course, and there are 10 people in the class, or you come to us, and its the same price, but there is one person in the class. We obviously are not making as much money.
Quite frankly, our courses should cost alot more since we are giving alot more, right? But they dont. Keep in mind we offer training at locations across the US and internationally, so we can attain volume business, but at each location, only one student per session.
Another way we create income in this business is simply by having technicians actually DOING the things we teach! Its amazing but many schools do not. We have our very own hail team, and route/dealer technicians servicing auctions, rental agencies, dealers and more.
Les: Dont forget about the tools too!
Brian: Of course! We also manufacture our own PDR tools and have done so for over 15 years. We sell to retailers across the USA, and are proud to have customers on almost every continent. That is one reason why people get larger sets from us. They're buying PDR Tools from the manufacturer...most schools do not manufacture PDR tools. It is alot of work, and a very tedious business.
Les: Didnt you mention something about pricing...are you going to raise prices anytime soon?
Brian: Well the cost of business is not going down, and what is weird, people really only beleive that they are getting more often only when they pay more! So with both of those facts in mind, yes, a price increase is due soon.
Les: And how far booked out are you now, typically in most locations?
Brian: Well the one on one format does put a damper on scheduling! But we are often booked out anywhere from three weeks to two months, depending on the time of year and location.
Les:
Well Brian I think this will probably clear up some of the confusion and make people even more excited about the course.
Brian:
I hope so...so far the results have been nothing short of amazing Les.
Back to Top
|
