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  • Need Advice Please!!!!!!

    Hey All,

    I was hoping to get a little feedback about an issue I'm having....
    I recently started billing my ONLY REAL Client for storage (after 20 days) and immediately after doing so I received this reply:

    ALL OF A SUDDEN YOU HAVE STARTED BILLING STORAGE AFTER 20 DAYS. WE HAVE BEVER DONE STORAGE INVOICES IN ALL THE TIME WE HAVE BEEN WORKING TOGETHER. I AM REQUIRED TO GIVE MY CLIENTS 15 -20 FREE STORAGE. I HAVE SPLIT THE REDEEM FEES WITH YOU 50-50 RATHER THAN PAY A FLAT FEE FOR REDEEM, INSTEAD OF STORAGE.I COULD HAVE PAID A FLAT $50 FEE TO REDEEM THE VEHICLE, BUT FELT WE ARE PARTNERS IN THIS. I MAKE A VERY SMALL PROFIT ON THE REPO FEES AND THE FEW DOLLARS I GET ON STORAGE MAKES THE DIFFERENCE. NONE OF MY AGENTS HAVE EVER CHARGED ME FOR STORAGE. IF THIS IS GOING TO BE THE CASE WITH YOU I WILL HAVE TO FIND SOMEONE ELSE TO DO MY WORK. I THOUGHT WE WERE WORING AS PARTNERS IN THIS REGARD.

    Sooooo, I've been doing sub-work for this Company for almost a year and a half and cover areas in 2 states for them. I never agreed to free storage and as a sign of good faith, just never billed since most cars got picked up within 10-15 days. They have 1 client who's cars (1-3 per month)stay on my lot for 35+ days and those are the ones I've begun invoicing for. I don't think i'm being unreasonable, the $400-$500 or so would help cover some of the rent for my lot. This company has no trucks, they pass off the work to I beleive 5-6 other Agents in and around 3 states and all but the Agent near the Company itself store the vehicles in their own yards until transported to auction. The company itself shares a lot with another repo & tow company.
    T
    heir papaer is 50%-50% and on a good month I may pick up 8-10 cars. The repo fee is lousy and the only extra revenue generated is from delivering some repos back to one of their clients who have GPS trackers in some of their cars which is always nice (when it works).
    Redemptions are pretty much non-existent, I literally can count on 1 hand the redemptions we've had this year and even from that they want half of the fees.

    Between insurance, fuel, tolls ($26-$39), routine truck maintenance, and the storage lot, I'm usually left with less than nothing.
    Thank God I've never had any serious issues with my self-loader but yesterday my truck's tranny gave out on me while enroute to deliver a repo to their Client, and in the middle of the highway of all places. Of course, I had to have the truck and the repo towed back to my place which wasn't cheap and now need to have the truck repaired if I want to continue doing business, which I'm not sure I even want to.

    I know most of this is my own fault for getting much too comfortable with this Client but I think it's completely unfair for them to think they don't have to pay storage because I never charged for it before. I love my work and don't want to shut down but I didn't like their reply to my stroage invoices and actually am insulted by it. Should I try and pretend to reason with them and explain what they should already know, that I need to charge for storage so that I can at least cover a portion of my rent on the lot, I mean storage lots aren't cheap in my area! Or should I just say NO STORAGE, THEN KISS MY ***, GO AHEAD AND TAKE YOUR WORK ELSEWHERE!

    Any input you guys may have, good or bad would be GREATLY appreciated!

    May You all and Your Families Have a Safe Holiday Season and a More Prosperous New Year!!!!


  • #2
    sounds to me like you should find more of your own clients rather than doing sub work. I have had guys in other states try to sub me work, but all that would be is taking a potential client from me. This company is trying to make a living off of your (and other agents) hard work.
    I say drop them if they won't pay storage, and probably even if they do. If you're getting less than $250-300 per repo I wouldn't do it.
    I don't know about you but I am not in business to break even, there has to be profit. We risk our lives, work crazy hours that takes us from our families and makes us unliked in the community (sometimes).... not worth all this for making peanuts or breaking even.

    Comment


    • #3
      Drop them. They don't provide you with enough to justify keeping them.

      Comment


      • #4
        Do these clients know he subs out the work and do they know and have contact with the ones he subs them to. If you know who they are dump him first then call them for yourself, just make sure you have more to offer than he does like insurance, education, storage, and a class operation. If he is telling them his insurance covers you saying you are an employee that don't happen so in conversation with the client ask that question he may have sold them a bill of goods just to be a forwarder.

        Comment


        • #5
          Originally posted by absoluterepo View Post
          sounds to me like you should find more of your own clients rather than doing sub work. I have had guys in other states try to sub me work, but all that would be is taking a potential client from me. This company is trying to make a living off of your (and other agents) hard work.
          I say drop them if they won't pay storage, and probably even if they do. If you're getting less than $250-300 per repo I wouldn't do it.
          I don't know about you but I am not in business to break even, there has to be profit. We risk our lives, work crazy hours that takes us from our families and makes us unliked in the community (sometimes).... not worth all this for making peanuts or breaking even.

          I competely agree with you absoluterepo! My mistake was getting a bit too comfortable with this one Client and not pursuing any other work for fear I'd spread my self too thin and not be able to provide a quality service. I was determined to branch out on my own and have to admit that when I started my company a year and a half ago, I didn't give much thought to the extreme demands of running a repossession agency. The fact that I was a single father didn't help my cause any either and that was a big factor in my not pursuing other clients. Fortunately, now I'm involved with someone and she helps out a whole lot so I now have an opportunity to get to knocking on some doors and try to drum up some real business.
          If I decide to move forward, this time around, whether I do direct work or on a sub-contract basis for a Client, it will be made clear that a repo fee does not include storage and redemption fees do not belong to them!
          We all that know that storage and redemption fees are a crucial part of the repossesion business in terms of generating revenue to sustain a productive and profitable operation and feel it's unreasonable and even feel insulted for my client to think he is not only entitled to free storage even though he gets paid for it, but also wants half of any redemption fees. He mentions we are partners in this but not only am I'm the one who incurs all the fuel, toll and maintenance expenses associated with each repo, but I'm also the one paying for the storage lot that he's cashing in on! And that's in addition to the close/cure fees he thinks I don't know about.
          If I were receiving repo orders in volume it may not be such a big deal but I average less than $250 a repo (unless I transport Unit) and when you factor in those expenses, I'm left with nothing but Peanuts, real stale ones.



          Originally posted by FlRepoMan View Post
          Drop them. They don't provide you with enough to justify keeping them.
          \

          I wholeheartedly agree with you FlRepoMan, my dilemma is, he is my only Client at the moment and I need the work to stay afloat til I can solicit new clients. I'm just having a real problem with the email response to my storage invoices, specifically saying he'll have to find someone else to do his work if I want to charge storage. I'm not one to kiss a** but for the sake of my business don't know if I should hang on a bit longer til I'm in a position to tell him to take his work and shove it!


          Originally posted by jclark View Post
          Do these clients know he subs out the work and do they know and have contact with the ones he subs them to. If you know who they are dump him first then call them for yourself, just make sure you have more to offer than he does like insurance, education, storage, and a class operation. If he is telling them his insurance covers you saying you are an employee that don't happen so in conversation with the client ask that question he may have sold them a bill of goods just to be a forwarder.
          As far as my work is concerned, I take great pride in what I do as a professional and handle my business accordingly. I take no short cuts in any aspect of the business and usually go above and beyond my responsibilities to accomodate Client and Debtor alike. I meet all the insurance criteria the major lenders require and as of now, I feel I'm over insured considering my Client base, which is just this one POS company!

          I do know some of their clients don't know about the work being subbed out. One of their Clients is a Nationally known name and in July I'd signed up with them to cover their work in my area. Shortly after being signed on, an account manager called and said one of the reps at the company recalled hearing of my company's name, I think maybe from the transports. Anyway, they called to find out who I'd done work for because as far as they know, the 2 companies they assign their work to in my area aren't supposed to sub-contract their company's assignments. They said since they were very happy with the service and amount of Units being picked up in my area that it was in both our interests if they just assigned the work to me directly. The problem for me there was that they needed to know which company they were going to pull the work from, and I didn't feel comfortable naming my Client even though they actually mentioned him as one of the 2 companies.
          There's no question my company could've benefitted a great deal from acquiring that direct account but felt that I was stealing a Client and as stupid as this may sound, I just don't do business that way...

          I've also on occasion spoken to a few of the other Agents that do work for this Client and have thought about asking them about the whole storage thing but feel it's somewhat intrusive to ask how they do business with this particular client.

          BTW, DOES ANYONE HERE THINK A CLIENT THAT SUB-CONTRACTS WORK IS ENTITLED TO FREE STORAGE AND HALF OF ANY REDEMPTION FEES?

          WHAT WOULD YOU GUYS/GALS CONSIDER ACCEPTABLE?

          Comment


          • #6
            From you post it seems you have insurance. Stop being a sub and go direct with clients.

            Just keep working for the guy to make your bills until you secure enough clients to replace him.

            Comment


            • #7
              Try getting free sauce from mcdonalds. They charge for it. I wouldnt do much,if anything, for free. Unfotunately i dont own my own business anymore but when i did own my own business(which i will say was not a repo company)i did what i wanted. Named my price and if my customers didnt like it then they went elsewhere. Most liked myy prices. I never worked for free and dont think its fair to make others work for free either.

              Comment


              • #8
                Originally posted by TheGrimRepo View Post
                I competely agree with you absoluterepo! My mistake was getting a bit too comfortable with this one Client and not pursuing any other work for fear I'd spread my self too thin and not be able to provide a quality service. I was determined to branch out on my own and have to admit that when I started my company a year and a half ago, I didn't give much thought to the extreme demands of running a repossession agency. The fact that I was a single father didn't help my cause any either and that was a big factor in my not pursuing other clients. Fortunately, now I'm involved with someone and she helps out a whole lot so I now have an opportunity to get to knocking on some doors and try to drum up some real business.
                If I decide to move forward, this time around, whether I do direct work or on a sub-contract basis for a Client, it will be made clear that a repo fee does not include storage and redemption fees do not belong to them!
                We all that know that storage and redemption fees are a crucial part of the repossesion business in terms of generating revenue to sustain a productive and profitable operation and feel it's unreasonable and even feel insulted for my client to think he is not only entitled to free storage even though he gets paid for it, but also wants half of any redemption fees. He mentions we are partners in this but not only am I'm the one who incurs all the fuel, toll and maintenance expenses associated with each repo, but I'm also the one paying for the storage lot that he's cashing in on! And that's in addition to the close/cure fees he thinks I don't know about.
                If I were receiving repo orders in volume it may not be such a big deal but I average less than $250 a repo (unless I transport Unit) and when you factor in those expenses, I'm left with nothing but Peanuts, real stale ones.



                \

                I wholeheartedly agree with you FlRepoMan, my dilemma is, he is my only Client at the moment and I need the work to stay afloat til I can solicit new clients. I'm just having a real problem with the email response to my storage invoices, specifically saying he'll have to find someone else to do his work if I want to charge storage. I'm not one to kiss a** but for the sake of my business don't know if I should hang on a bit longer til I'm in a position to tell him to take his work and shove it!




                As far as my work is concerned, I take great pride in what I do as a professional and handle my business accordingly. I take no short cuts in any aspect of the business and usually go above and beyond my responsibilities to accomodate Client and Debtor alike. I meet all the insurance criteria the major lenders require and as of now, I feel I'm over insured considering my Client base, which is just this one POS company!

                I do know some of their clients don't know about the work being subbed out. One of their Clients is a Nationally known name and in July I'd signed up with them to cover their work in my area. Shortly after being signed on, an account manager called and said one of the reps at the company recalled hearing of my company's name, I think maybe from the transports. Anyway, they called to find out who I'd done work for because as far as they know, the 2 companies they assign their work to in my area aren't supposed to sub-contract their company's assignments. They said since they were very happy with the service and amount of Units being picked up in my area that it was in both our interests if they just assigned the work to me directly. The problem for me there was that they needed to know which company they were going to pull the work from, and I didn't feel comfortable naming my Client even though they actually mentioned him as one of the 2 companies.
                There's no question my company could've benefitted a great deal from acquiring that direct account but felt that I was stealing a Client and as stupid as this may sound, I just don't do business that way...

                I've also on occasion spoken to a few of the other Agents that do work for this Client and have thought about asking them about the whole storage thing but feel it's somewhat intrusive to ask how they do business with this particular client.

                BTW, DOES ANYONE HERE THINK A CLIENT THAT SUB-CONTRACTS WORK IS ENTITLED TO FREE STORAGE AND HALF OF ANY REDEMPTION FEES?

                WHAT WOULD YOU GUYS/GALS CONSIDER ACCEPTABLE?
                You are getting the short end of the stick here. You need to drop them ASAP, not just for the financial impact it is having on you and your company, but for the potential legal issues as well.

                I understand they are your only client right now, so make it your new years resolution. Start doing that research, get your marketing materials in order. Do your research on your local finance companies, banks, and credit unions. Find out who the decision makers are and visit them in person. Dress professionally, have an idea of what you are going to say before you get there. Put yourself in there shoes, and be as prepared as possible for the questions that are coming your way. You dont want to be caught off guard and be having to think of an answer. Regardless of weather or not you land them as a client, send a hand signed thank you note to each one after the meeting. That is something they will remember.

                All you need to get you out of this rut is 1 good client to start, work your *** off for them and word will get out. Word of mouth is still the best form of marketing out there. When you find this client make sure you both understand all fees, and services etc up front. Contracts never hurt, it is very inexpensive to have an attorney make you a professional contract that has all of the requisite info in there to cover your ***, and properly cover your fee schedules and everything else.

                Sub contractor or not they are not entitled to free storage and half of the redemption fee. You provided the service, you stored everything, you did all the work, DONT GIVE AWAY YOUR MONEY AND PROFIT!!

                You seem to realize the problems you have and that is half of the battle. The other half is fixing them. Best of luck to you.

                Comment


                • #9
                  Word of mouth in my opinion is the best marketing tool, I can say that 90% of my clients came to us because of other clients spreading the word, I agree with Patriot 100%

                  Comment


                  • #10
                    Word of mouth and dress up and go knock on some desks. I have had a pretty good run at getting new clients and that is all I have been doing. Happy hunting

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