[mitchellreid]

Teresa,

Sorry, I haven’t had any great success with these dashes yet. I will keep you posted if anything changes. Sometimes, trial and error takes some time.

Thanks for the post,

Mitch

[mitchellreid]

Techs and Owners,

Recently, I was installing upholstery at 3 different Arby’s in a town. While I was at my first stop, I received a call from another Dr. Vinyl who was in negotiations with the restaurant chain, Fazoli’s. He was dealing with a corporate VP responsible for several states who wanted 7 locations in his area serviced as well as a location far away from his territory in our franchise area. The Dr. Vinyl called me and asked if I would have time to look at this other location so that he could tell the VP that we could cover all the locations he was concerned about. I was surprised to hear that the location was in the same town I was currently working in. I was even more surprised to see that very location across the street from my second stop of the day. I went over to the Fazoli’s and took measurements and made patterns. It was so nice to be able to make this stop while I was in a town 2 hours away from my home. It saved me half a day of driving and at the same time brought me another account. Furthermore, this quick response made not only both our franchises look very professional but also made the entire Dr. Vinyl system look impressive. The customer realized within minutes that Dr. Vinyls were well connected to each other even if they were hundreds of miles apart. That spoke volumes to the customer who had already had a great experience with Dr. Vinyl in the past in another state.

What I am trying to say is that we not only represent each other nationally but also can impress customers by working together. In this case both franchises greatly benefited from this collaboration. One franchise looked very professional and well connected to a network while the other picked up an easy sale and a new customer while working at a location 100 miles away. Some might say it was just luck. However, it is my experience that there is no such thing. Two Dr. Vinyls met years ago and because of that relationship knew that they could call on each other when a need arose. If this sort of thing had only happened once, then maybe I could believe in the luck scenario. However, this has happened to me multiple times in the past. I have benefited by my relationships in the Dr. Vinyl family for no other reason than I have made connections with other Dr. Vinyls. Most of these contacts have been made at conventions but not all. Some of them were made through the Forums, while others were introduced through corporate contacts, owners, or even other techs.

I know we get used to working by ourselves or maybe at most, working with others in our own franchise. I promise you there is more out there…There is more out there for those who dare to reach out and make the connections to other techs and owners. I know this to be true because I have benefited from it greatly over the years. I know it seems easier to remain isolated in our own little world. I too used to be a lone wolf sort of operator. While isolation does keep our failures and mistakes a secret, it mainly keeps us from growing and prospering as a franchise. Try reaching out to someone, anyone, in the Dr. Vinyl system. See if they can help you or if you can help them. I promise either way you will gain from this experience. I know I have. There are so many Dr. Vinyls out there that are successful and want you to be also. Try and see. I think you will be pleasantly surprised by the results. If you are a new franchise or just don’t know who to reach out, to ask corporate for a contact. If all else fails, you can call me (931-252-0879). I may not have the answers you are looking for, but I probably know someone who does. I know over the years I have certainly received more help than I have ever given, but I truly believe that is the Dr. Vinyl way.

Why else would a tech in Tennessee make so many phone calls to Oklahoma, Missouri, Kentucky, Ohio, Indiana, Texas, Kansas, North Carolina, and so many others?

Try and see.

Mitch Reid
The Wandering Upholsterer
All Who Wander Are Not Lost

[mitchellreid]

Techs and Owners,

A quick follow up to this article. I was installing covers at a gym today, and the same thing happened there that has been happening at the restaurants. While I was busy installing covers on the equipment at their gym, multiple people asked me if I could work on their boat upholstery. Another person asked about working on their motorcycle seat.

Don’t miss out. The opportunities are endless.

Mitch Reid
The Wandering Upholsterer
“All Who Wander Are Not Lost”

[mitchellreid]

Owners and Associates,

Recently I have received many calls needing upholstery work for customers we have never worked for before. I am not sure why, but perhaps their previous vendors have fallen by the wayside due to attrition caused by Covid or normal marketplace pressures. Either way I want to encourage you to be ready to take advantage of this unique time in upholstery as well as the other Dr. Vinyl trades, Interiors, Paint, Dents, and Wheels. There is an enormous amount of work to be had out there. I see it in Upholstery and Interiors, and I hear about it from our techs in the other trades. Please don’t miss out. It may mean traveling at little farther or working a little later than you have in the past, but I promise it will be worth. I just wanted to share with you a couple things that have happened to me recently.

I received a call…

…from our local YMCA about recovering parts of their children’s indoor gymnasium playground equipment. They had tried to purchase new pieces from the manufacturer to update their aging equipment when they found out it was just too expensive to replace everything they needed. So, they inquired about recovering with Dr. Vinyl and found it to be half the cost of new.

…from a Dave and Buster’s (not our Buster Coppage) who heard about us from one of their locations we service about 100 miles away. They needed some upholstery work done quickly before their CEO made his normal visit to their location in 2 weeks. It turned out to be a long install, all in the A.M., and one of the largest invoices I have written for a single night’s work. I thought there might be a question about the cost of the work, but I was pleasantly surprised by the reaction to the work and bill. The manager was so pleased with everything that he found some more work that he needed done. When I asked why he hadn’t mentioned this additional work earlier his response surprised me. He said, ” I needed what you did last night done first, and I didn’t want to overload you with the less important areas.” Furthermore, he gave me 2 rolls of vinyl to work with for future recovering of his store. To me that is a big step in a vendor/customer relationship. When they give you material for future work that means that you are now THEIR upholsterer.

…from an existing customer of ours, Panera Bread. They wanted to recover their aging booth backs while we there to service their normal booth bottom wear. This extra work multiplied their normal bill tenfold. They didn’t hesitate at the cost. They just asked how quickly I could get it done.

These are just calls I received last week. Please be ready the work is everywhere. Do whatever you can to be ready to receive this work.

This might even involve:
1.Seeing customers you have forgotten to check on in a while.
2.Updating your services offered or areas covered on the Dr. Vinyl website Find a Doc listing.
3.Considering reaching out a little further in the areas that you serve, not into another Dr. Vinyl’s territory but maybe beyond your own.

The possibilities are endless.
Only you will benefit from reaching out a little further.
Only you will gain from doing a little more.
Only you will know if there is more out there.

You will only know if YOU TRY.

Sincerely,
Mitchell Reid
The Wandering Upholsterer
“All Who Wander Are Not Lost”

[mitchellreid]

About 3 1/2 years ago I wrote an article about attending the 2020 Convention. Then the world stopped for a while. We were unable to have a convention for several years. I wasn’t sure when, or if, we would ever have another chance to gather together. We have a chance this year. So I thought I might take another try at encouraging your attendance at this year’s convention. I used some of my original article and tried to add some new. I hope it will move you to come. I look forward to seeing you there. I could use your help, your advice, your experience. Maybe you could use mine. All I know for sure is that it has been far too long….

Techs and Owners,

I just wanted remind everyone how important Conventions are to the motivation and success of Franchises, Associates, and Owners alike. Our Franchise has gained so much from the information shared at each and every convention we have attended. We see it as an opportunity to bring things home to add to our arsenal of skills and knowledge. The more we know and can do in the Dr. Vinyl world the more we can help our customers and, of course, the more we can earn. Our hope is that there will always be a convention available for us to go to and to learn from. Participation is the key to each convention’s success. Hopefully, all Franchises will be able to attend the next Convention. If we can bring our knowledge together in one place and share with those that want to learn, we will always be successful.

The sharing of knowledge is a true “Golden Nugget”. This happens when someone takes the time to share some aspect of a job they did with another. Then later that person retells the story and shares how much of an impact it had on them. The originator of the story often times has no idea the weight or influence they had on another. They simply talked about how they did things. Sometimes the simplest thing you tell someone else is the greatest help you can ever give them. That is underlying theme of Dr. Vinyl Conventions: To tell people simple things they can do to be successful. It doesn’t have to be a new piece of equipment or a brand new idea……

It can simply be the one thing you didn’t think of, that someone else did.

Next time your at Convention think about taking a pocketful of “Golden Nuggets” home with you.

Hope to see you at the 2023 Convention aka Golden Nugget Time.

Mitchell Reid
The Wandering Upholsterer
All Who Wander Are Not Lost

[mitchellreid]

Techs and Owners,

Recently I have spoken with several techs who have told me some tricks they use that have been of great help to me. I believe these techs intended for me to pass this information onto to others for their benefit. All of these techs have the same unique and desirable qualities. Those qualities are their intent to help others and pass along knowledge which they have come across in their travels in this life we call Dr. Vinyl. The funny thing is all three of them called me with their “tricks” during the same week. I didn’t think much of it then, but I have always been a slow study. This epiphany eventually came to me. These techs were intentionally giving me pearls of wisdom with the hope that I would pass it on. The only problem is how to pass this information on to ALL the other techs. If I had been quicker and wiser, I would have told them of a great way to get their tricks out to all Dr. Vinyl’s. The information highway I am speaking of is the Dr. Vinyl Forums on our very own private website. Since I failed to tell them this when we were on the phone, I will take it upon myself to share their information with you now.

One of our techs, Coleman Hawkins, made me aware of a much-needed service his customers have been allowing him to do. It is a very simple but profitable one. It is refinishing rusty trailer hitch receivers. At the first dealership he did 10 hitches at $48 each in 45 minutes! At the next one he did 14 hitches. That is about $1,150 in under 3 hours time. I started to notice the rust on hitches at my dealerships and thought “I sure wish Coleman was here”. Then I realized I could do the same thing. It was as easy as refinishing rusty wiper arms. I already had everything I needed to do this repair. Then I started seeing them on every lot I worked. While you might think that hitches are only on trucks, I am here to tell you they are on SUV’s as well as cars. A little cleanup and refinishing and they look brand new. Coleman calls this “Gettin’ Rich on the Hitch!!!” Coleman is never one to shirk away from work or making money. We can all learn something from this Young Gun!

Another one of our Techs, Bruce Dockery, told me of some difficulty he had starting a perforated leather repair because the tear went to a seam in the seat. He used some carpet tape on the underside of the perforated leather to hold it long enough that he could get leather filler to cure and hold in the damaged area and then proceed to finish the repair by our normal procedures. Sometimes all you need is a little ingenuity to get past a difficulty. I call Bruce “The Innovator” because when faced with a situation where some would say “It can’t be done”, Bruce finds a way. That is Innovation!

The third tech is from another Franchise, and I have to admit that he is really more than just a tech. He is Bill Hubbard. For those of you who know Bill you know what I mean. He is more of a legend. We were talking one day when he hit me with this idea that has made things so much easier when dealing with scratches in plastic. Many of you are probably familiar with heating up plastic to minimize the scratches that are so prevalent in cargo areas, center consoles, door panels, near ignition switches, etc. In black or really dark gray plastics with deeper scratches or heavily discolored areas I would have to take some extra time to mix up a color to redye. While this would redye the area it would not camouflage the extra damage as well as I would like. Bill let me know something that he has been doing that not only redyes these areas but also helps to disguise the more damaged plastic. It is Satin Black Chip Guard (item #39813) in an aerosol can. You can shoot it straight on the affected area if you need heavy texture or heat up the can to make the texture finer. I am here to tell you it works so well! I have been able to hide more damage and make things look much better than prior to this info. I would highly recommend this to any interior tech. Thank you, Bill! I am forever in your debt..

If you have any tips or tricks you use during your Dr. Vinyl work week, please share these on the Forums so all of us may learn from you. It has been so long since we’ve been able to get together at a Convention. There is no need to wait to share your knowledge. The Forums give us a way to share things NOW! If you’ve never been on the Dr. Vinyl Website or looked at the Forums, please call Buster Coppage at the Corporate Office (816) 525-6060 Ext. 130. Buster has been able to get even the least tech savvy guy, myself, on them. If I can navigate the site, then rest assured you can as well.

We in the field eagerly await your Posts of Wisdom on the Forums.

Mitch Reid
The Wandering Upholsterer
All Who Wander Are Not Lost

[mitchellreid]

Techs and Owners,

I am not sure why, but this year has brought work my way which in many cases I have never done, and for that matter, have never even been asked to do. For the most part I like to stick with what I know, but to be honest I got into the Upholstery side of our business because I was looking to challenge myself. I would like to claim that I continue to learn knew things and involve myself in more complicated work to keep up the challenge. That, however, really wouldn’t be the whole truth. The reason why I involve myself in more complex upholstery work is due to the great support I get from other Dr. Vinyl’s that have done similar work and encourage me to try it. Even if the others haven’t had experience with the exact scope of work I am currently looking at, they give me the confidence to move forward into the unknown.

It is amazing what you can do if you just try. Putting your mind to a task is not just challenging, it is also rewarding. In an old Anthony Hopkins/ Alex Baldwin movie
(The Edge) I remember one of the memorable lines was “What one man can do, another can do!” For that matter, for the ladies out there… a woman can probably do it even better.

Get out their and try. I think you will be surprised or amazed or even shocked at what you can do, but most of all I think you be proud and rewarded for your efforts.

Mitch Reid
The Wandering Upholsterer
All Who Wander Are Not Lost

[mitchellreid]

Owners and Associates,

I just wanted to update you on our progress with one of our newest customers, The Chop House, as documented in previous posts on this forum topic listed above.

Not only were we given the opportunity to recover the entire store’s backs, top caps, and end caps which only happens about every 6-7 years, but we were also given the more lucrative work of recovering the booth bottoms which occur throughout the year, every year. This customer made us aware of a few very important facts about their previous upholsterer. He was not interested in recovering anything but booth bottoms. He was older and getting close to retirement. However, the most important thing we learned was that he removed the booth bottoms from the store and recovered them off site. There were DAYS when the restaurant was without these booth bottoms and just had to wait for them to be returned to seat customers. The last fact we learned when they declared their amazement that we were recovering not only the bottoms but the backs, etc. right there ON SITE! They had full use of every booth the entire time we worked at their store. This was something totally new to them.

This information is pushing us to look for more accounts in this upholsterer’s area. An upholsterer retiring, being particular about what work they do, and removing booths from their location for days at a time ARE all things we can improve upon when approaching a new customer. These tidbits of information from customers are GOLD DUST. Use this information to not only grow your upholstery business but to leapfrog into more accounts in your area. I know we will use it every chance we get. This job was such a windfall. By the way, they have already asked us to come and take a look at another location they own. Our tech’s one cold call keeps on paying dividends. Please take a chance and inquire into work in your area. Why can’t your Franchise be the beneficiary of the next big job?

I hope this story encourages you to keep going after the work. This customer needed this work done long before we arrived on the scene. They had people come and look at the job but they never returned. There are customers out there just waiting for you to come and show them what you can do. Show them. I promise you won’t be disappointed!

Sincerely,
Mitchell Reid
The Wandering Upholsterer
“All Who Wander Are Not Lost”

[mitchellreid]

Will,

Thanks again for the heads up. I will keep a look out for the Isopropyl the next time I am getting supplies. That is a great price. I put some up on the shelf when store inventory was low. Looks like now would be a good time to stock up again. I appreciate the info.

Mitch

[mitchellreid]

Will,

Thanks for the info. Many of our guys like the Durafill as well.

Mitch

[mitchellreid]

Owners and Associates,

This is a quick followup to a post on August 21, 2021, just a few scrolls up on this very forum topic. This post was about one of our techs, Ryan McGann, who cold called a Chop House restaurant in his area. Not only did he get a huge upholstery job out of the deal ($14,220), but in addition, the Regional Manager asked if he could do the same type work at ANOTHER one of their locations! Now that truly shows the reward that is out there. This reward is for those who take the initiative to go after the work that is waiting for us all. It just goes to show what is possible for those who are willing to go look.

This pandemic has shut down many upholstery operations as well as other trades. Please understand many businesses, restaurants and otherwise, are desperately looking for someone to do the work for which you are more than qualified to do. Please go out and see for yourselves if what I am saying is true. I think you will be pleasantly surprised.

Sincerely,
Mitchell Reid
The Wandering Upholsterer
“All Who Wander Are Not Lost”

[mitchellreid]

Owners and Associates,

This morning while I was bringing my daughter to school I passed some of the restaurants where I take care of the upholstery. I realized since Covid came to town I have gotten out of the habit of checking on these locations quarterly as I had done faithfully for years. I pulled the files of 3 restaurants that I carry with me in my van and noticed it had been 3 months since I had worked any of the locations. At 8:00 a.m. no one was at the first or the second locations. The third location had employees on site including a manager. Even so, I held little hope for work at this location. I was counting on the first two restaurants to provide me with the majority of the upholstery on this day.

Lo and behold, the third restaurant, Buffalo Wild Wings, had 4 long booths with damage and the manager wanted all of them recovered as soon as possible. I was very surprised to say the least. I had already made plans for the next 2 days work so I told the manager I would be back as soon as possible. It was 8:15 a.m. when I left the restaurant. I double checked the first two locations. They still had no one on site. Then I realized a few things, it was ONLY 8:30 in the morning, BWW’s doesn’t open until 11:00, and I had their vinyl on the rack at the shop! I drove directly back and started to trace, cut, and sew those booths. I got back to the restaurant by 10:00 and installed all the covers by 10:45. I wrote them an invoice and was out the door a full 10 minutes before they opened for business! They were not only surprised but extremely happy that their store upholstery was back at 100%. They thanked me for “having kept a stock of their booth covers on hand”… their words not mine.

When I started today, I had no idea or intention of doing any upholstery work. Normally, I would have scheduled that work for another day later that week. However, the opportunity presented itself and I took full advantage of it. So instead of starting my day off with a zero before I went to my car lots, I started off with $700. I knew I was going to have a great day no matter what happened during the rest of it. I bet you can’t guess what I am going to do tomorrow morning. I am going to check on those other two locations!

You never know what you can accomplish until you get out there and try. Good hunting to all you Dr. Vinyls and remember those rocks don’t turn themselves over. That’s up to us.

Sincerely,
Mitchell Reid
The Wandering Upholsterer
“All Who Wander Are Not Lost”

[mitchellreid]

Owners and Associates,

I don’t usually follow a post of mine with another especially so closely, but this one just fell into place.

Within a week of the post listed above, the tech that took over Ryan’s interior accounts, Kyle Roberson, was looking to also boost his sales and called me to ask about pursuing some upholstery jobs he was aware of in the same area. Kyle is one of our newest techs and has no experience with upholstery work, but he does have experience with developing new customers and hard work. We will be looking at this job soon and you never know what it may lead to….maybe another customer. Honestly, even I was surprised at how quickly word had spread about this type of success. We will see how this, as with any job, works out. I will tell you though, without these techs trying and reaching for this work we may never have known about it much less have had a chance to do it.

Something we have noticed is success without pursuit is often not maintained. The tech that goes out and pursues accounts is much more motivated to maintain those accounts into the future because he knows how much work was involved in finding them. He also knows how rare it is to keep them and is more determined to do so. In contrast, work that is handed to a tech, even myself, is more often than not, taken for granted. As crazy as it seems the easiest work to obtain sometimes demands the least amount of attention. Hence, the saying “The squeaky wheel get the grease.”

In our Franchise we have adopted a philosophy of trying to maintain all customers regardless of the difficulty it took to obtain them. We base this philosophy on the fact that it doesn’t matter where the sales come from because “All their money spends the same.” Something to think about. Good hunting to all those techs in the field.

Sincerely,
Mitchell Reid
The Wandering Upholsterer
“All Who Wander Are Not Lost”

[mitchellreid]

Owners and Associates,

I just wanted to pass on a note of encouragement for all those Dr. Vinyl Techs out there.

One of our techs(Ryan McGann), looking to increase his sales, was investigating a lead I had given him on a restaurant (Beef O’Brady’s) in need of booth repair in his area. Apparently, he was there a little early and no one was at the restaurant yet. Now he could have given up and gone on to his normal daily route of car lots, but due to the inclement weather that morning he thought “What other restaurant can I go to that is close by?” He picked the nearest one (The Chop House) and thought at least this will kill a little time until the first restaurant’s staff arrives. Little did he know what an opportunity he was walking into.

The Chop House manager surprisingly was very anxious to show him her booths that were in dire need of recovering. Her area manager had given her to the end of the month to have them recovered, but she had been unable to find anyone who would do the work they so badly needed. The quote for the work on the “cold call” restaurant was $14,220.00!

While what is written above is exciting, it is not the most encouraging part of the story. The tech’s main work is and has always been on car lots. However, we try to cross train as many of our techs as possible in the different trades offered by Dr. Vinyl whether that be interiors, paint, dents, wheels, windshields, or upholstery. While this tech had done some booth recovery work in the past, he had never done this type of work. However, he did not let this discourage him. He asked how early they were there each morning and told the manager he would have to come back when he could devote enough time to measure the entire job. While she was worried he would not return, he reassured her he would call her and let her know exactly when he would come back with enough crew and time to quote the entire job.

He did everything mentioned in the paragraph above having no idea of how to quote or even recover the work shown him in this restaurant. He knew something that we try to instill in all our techs, he knew he had people in his Franchise and in his Dr. Vinyl family that he could draw on to get this job done. He called me and we both went to this restaurant together. We disassembled and reassembled the booths enough to not only quote it but make a solid plan of attack on how we were going to do all the work involved.

Ryan McGann has been an interior tech for our franchise for years. Recently, he passed on his interiors accounts to a new tech and went to further training at corporate to become a paint tech in the same area and at the some of the same accounts he used to work interiors. Ryan was THE FIRST TECH we moved from our hub in Cookeville, TN some 225+ miles away to start a new area in the furthest NW corner of our territory. We call that moving to the “Wild, Wild West”. Picking up roots and starting a route 100% from scratch takes a special individual. Ryan was the first of several we have transplanted into other areas 2-3 hours away from where they were living to become very successful in the Dr. Vinyl trade.

It is people like Ryan that make our Franchise successful. Please encourage your techs; for they are the ones who will make your Franchises even more successful.
You never know when that next stop, even an unexpected or unplanned stop, will be the next piece of the puzzle that makes your business soar. I hope this story will encourage each of us to strive to overcome any roadblocks that may get in our way.

For the record, I did not know how to recover this upholstery either. I called on other Dr. Vinyls like Nina and Brian Greenfield and Jason McCurdy to give me as much guidance as they could. Their input was not only invaluable and encouraging but empowering. I don’t know if all Dr. Vinyls out there realize how much their advice and instruction gives us with less experience the confidence to learn and grow in this trade. Thank you to those who helped us in this endeavor as well as those other Dr. Vinyls that help each other everyday.

Please know there ARE other Dr. Vinyls that are willing to help you. It may be someone you met at a Convention or that you heard about from a fellow associate. If you don’t know who they are or how to get in contact with them call 1-800-531-6600. Corporate can give you their contact info. Help is only a phone call away.

Sincerely,
Mitchell Reid
The Wandering Upholsterer
“All Who Wander Are Not Lost”

[mitchellreid]

Owners and Associates,

I have observed another Covid pattern. Along with receiving calls from existing customers again, I have also received calls from NEW customers. This group of customers includes restaurant chains that we were previously unable to get into, even locally. This was due to restaurant chains where corporate had set up contract agreements with vendors to do their upholstery work. One restaurant in particular was Cheddar’s Scratch Kitchen. There were 2 reasons this restaurant chain called us. One was their contractual vendor did not survive the restaurant maintenance shutdown for Covid. Two was that we did work for a sister company of theirs, Longhorns. Both chains are owned by Dardin group. We have long done work for several Longhorn restaurants but never any Cheddars. This was a mutually beneficial arrangement. They needed someone to fill the gap immediately and we gained a customer that is very loyal to its vendors.

I say all this to encourage you to look for the gaps in upholstery accounts you may not have previously serviced. It may be at a Cheddars or almost any other restaurant chain in your area. We have also had calls from medical facilities and playground rental companies. These are all brand new customers to us. They are searching for someone to fill the gap of a displaced upholstery company. Whether we like it or not the last year and a half has been a time of attrition. Many small businesses have not survived. I would encourage you to take advantage of this time and scoop up as many customers as you can take care of. I know we will be looking for them. It is always a good idea to be looking for new customers, but there will probably never be another time like this with so much potential new business. Whether it is the biggest accounts in town or the ones that have always turned you away, now is the time to knock on their door. Your next customer may just be waiting for you to drop by. You never know when you will arrive just in the knick of time to fill a gap for a customer you may have for years.

Please take advantage of the time immediately following this Covid catastrophe. Your business can surely benefit and grow during the weeks and months to follow.

Sincerely,
Mitchell Reid
The Wandering Upholsterer
“All Who Wander Are Not Lost”

[Author]

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