Does An Old Van Affect Buisness?

mnjconstruction

I have a question that I have been wondering for awile now. I drive a new 2008 ford f-150. Very nice looking truck. had it 4 or 5 months now and already have 16k on it. So sometimes to save on milage i drive my old 1989 dodge cargo van. My question is this. Does it matter to clients what I drive. My old van is a workhorse. Runs great, but doesnt look the best. Sometimes I feel funny pulling into a clients yards with it. I feel like there going to look down on me cause of it. But to tell you the truth, most of the time i prefer driving that old van. I was thinking about slapping a new paint job on it this spring to make it look a little better, what are your thoughts on this matter? Am I right about this or is it all in my head?

D.A.S.Anthony

I would have to say you are right about this. Drive the nicer van on your first visit to make the sale. "You never get a second chance for a first impression!"

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mrmike

I would think the looks of your service vehicle would reflect on you. My van is 1997 Dodge 1 ton 3500 & it is also a workhorse. . I try to keep it clean & presentable as I think it is important. I wash all the salt & dirt off of it at the local car wash. Seeing where your from ,you have the same crap. It's starting to rust a little so I will have to address that, as you can't be running around in a rust bucket that looks like it "come out of the hills" Wait a minute, it is all hills (mountains here) but you know what I mean............Mike

Heritage

Definitely drive the truck to estimates, leave the van for work time. I don't think you should dump any more money on the van though, drive it into the ground.

It's always good to keep a beater for work. I'm in the market for a 16' cube van beater...that won't be showing up for estimates either

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Mike Finley

It depends on your customer base.

Some customers see an old vehicle and think they are dealing with a one man shop, good ole boy, cheaper guy which is what they want, others see a redneck, broken down contractor who isn't competent at what he does so he has to drive a beater.

Some customers see a new vehicle and think they are dealing with a bigger, successful operation, that is professional, this company will be more expensive but that is what they want, others will see somebody who obviously charges outrageous prices in order to drive a nicer vehicle then they have.

This is the yellow page syndrom - there are some people who only hire somebody with a full page ad, because that's a company they feel is big enough and successful enough to know what they are doing and get the job done right, they know they will be more expensive but they expect that for what they will get, some people go to the small ads because that's a company that is smaller, and will be cheaper.

This is the catch 22 of business, you can't be all things to all people. Some people shop at walmart for their clothes, some people shop at Nordstroms for their clothes.

You must pick your customer and focus your business activities to appeal to them.

neolitic

There was a sub-division
I built in, several builders had
lots, models, offices.
One builder wore khakis,drove
a new Chevy wagon.
Another drove a Lincoln, wore
a Stetson with a feather band,
@5 or six rings, one with a diamond
could choke a horse.
Houses that they built pretty much
mirrored their persona.
Customers who bought from one
would never give a second look
at the other.
Both of them sold roughly the same
number of houses in that development.

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HomeSealed

I don't think that the age of the vehicle is as important as keeping it clean and presentable. Any customer that is looking for a "dude in beater truck" is someone I don't want to work for because they are probably looking for "beater prices" and will accept "beater work". People look at how you keep your appearance and that of your company (trucks, etc) and they assume if you can't take care of yourself then how will you treat their home?....Also, if you go to a quote looking shiny and clean, but then some bums in a rust bucket show up to do the work, what does that say? What kind of image will neighbors and passers-by have of your company who only saw the dirty workers, and not the nice clean estimating vehicle? To me it is important to keep the most professional appearance possible through every stage of a project.

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silvertree

I have a 2000 Silverado 80,000 miles, had it repainted 2 years ago and that works for me. Keep it clean and most people will get a good impression.
As Mike said, you can't be all things to all people. I do dress well, especially for first time appointments.

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Grumpy

If you look like you are a broke down piece of trash that's what customers will think you are. perception is reality. I always thought this to be true, but had a customer cofirm it for me one day actually coming right out and saying it: Some people will make decisions based on the vehicle you drive.

It's not just your vehicle though, you've got to look clean and professional yourself also. I had a customer tell me flat out he would never hire anyone with a broke down beat up old truck. Infact after he hired me he said to me "know how I make my choice of contractors? I look at their truck." Mind you this was a couple weeks after I got my new truck. But to be honest I was so emberrased driving around my old truck. I couldn't sell a job to save my life it seemed, I wasn't confident in myself and that effected the customer, not to mention first impressions are important, and driving around with a dented rusted old van gives off a bad first impression.

You don't need to spend alot for a good solid used van, especially in today's market. You also may be thinking it doesn't matter what your crew drives however it does. Sometimes they are the first impression of future customers, the neighbors. I say this while owning a very emberrasing old 1998 van, it runs great but I can't find a buyer so I still own it. My production manager drives it and hopefully I can get him a newer used van or truck this year, cause it's ugly!

mnjconstruction

My van I was talking about above isnt really that bad. Mechanicaly its just about perfect. The van only has 98k miles. It has no rust at all. But the paint job was done in flat black, which I believe make it look a little older. So now my question is this, Pay for a new paint job , have it relettered or just buy something newer. The van also needs a couple little things, rear brakes, shocks, and weather stripping should be replaced. And thats it. I have many nice trucks in my fleet, but ol reliable is my favorite, And I dont know why. So put a little money in this one, or buy something a little newer?

Tom Struble

age of the truck not that important so much as how its taken care of,how neat the stuff inside is kept ,that's how you can tell the kind of person is.
i see guys here all the time big diesel dually pick up shiny racks and boxes new dewalts and brakes and the workmanship well....


And what does that say about the customer who is more swayed about how new your truck is as to how good your work is.

roof-lover

Most of them, unfortunately.
Big beautifull truck? workmanship must be good..
Giant ad in the yellow pages? workmanship must be good..
Good looking, great talking salesman? workmanship must be good..

Most people are not that bright.
Reminds me of a recent election.

Grumpy

How do they know how good your roof work is until they hire you? INfact even after they hire you they still probably won't know because most problems aren't that obvious. I hear the argument that of the roof will leak it'll leak the first year and while there is truth to this... I also find that the minor short cuts taken usually pop up around the 5-7 year mark.

Truth be told these peopel are not roofers and need to base their decisions on something. Why give them any reason at all to exclude you in their decision making process?

Grumpy

Roof lover can we have any posts from you that do not include politics? Although I agree with everything you said in your post, except the last line which I have no opinion one way or the other.

Rx8

When i pull up in my rx8 I get considerably less call backs than when I pull up in a '94 celica. Granted it COULD be counsidence, but I realy doubt it.

My dad was working at a power plant the other day, had a guy pull up in a bently to give the workers there a quote, as soon as the guy left they threw it away without even looking at it.

It is very stupid for people to make assumptions on your price/work based on what kind of vehicle you drive, but thats how ignorant some people can be.

480sparky

The flip side to this is:

Big beautifull truck? He's gotta be expensive.
Giant ad in the yellow pages? Must be overcharging customers.
Good looking, great talking salesman? Makes too much money.

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Stone Mountain

As some of you know, I drive a screaming yellow 04 Mustang Cobra convertible. I have never had a bad reaction. I get "nice car, Mister" from 8 year old kids and 80 year old chinese grandmothers. I have had people ask for rides, even ask to see the top go up and down. I've had men (and women) ask me to start'er up so that they hear the exhaust. (it's loud).
I had a sweet young thing last year ask me if I would give her a ride if I do the job. I asked her, if I give her a ride will she give me the job.

As long as I've been in business, I've always had a sharp car. For one thing, I'm a gearhead, and for another it separates you from the herd, so to speak.
All my trucks are clean and well lettered. I have had many calls just from the lettering. In fact, last season, I drove my truck as much as I drove the Cobra.

As mentioned by others, first impressions are everything. A clean attractive car or truck isvery important, as that says to the customer what kind of person and company you are.

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Grumpy

Sure. You can't be all things to all people. But who wants to go after the type of customer you described? If they want to hire the low bidder I hope they stop me in the door when I pull up in my truck. It's nothing overly fancy, but it's a nice decent truck. Dodge Ram 1500, 4 door, big horn series. So I spend my time catering to the customers who are willing to pay. Spend my money going after those customers who want to spend a few bucks more to get it done right. I also spend my energy trying to make myself look like and act like the kind of person they are comfortable hiring.

I could buy a beat up old truck and advertise lowest prices guaranteed but then I'll be left with a mess of my own making and probably go out of business like the other guys driving beat up 15 year old rust buckets and working too cheaply.


Stone, I'm curious, are these same "people" your customers? What do your customers think when you pull up in that ride on your very first visit to their house? I couldn't see myself driving up to a customer's house in a Porsche 911 GT, although that's the car I see myself driving when I close my eyes.

roof-lover

So they think this company charges top dollar! that's correct.
Then they assume that the workmanship matches that.

It couldn't be any further from the truth.

HomeSealed

As its already been stated, you can't be everything to everyone, but you should to portray the image that will resonate with MOST people, or at least with whomever your target market is. For me, I make sure that myself, my crews, and my vehicles show professionalism and respect for ourselves and therefore for our customers and their homes. At the same time I wouldn't feel right overdoing it. I'm not going to roll up in a Benz with slicked back hair and jewelry, etc....I pretty much try to be as vanilla as possible so that I don't have to overcome any perceptions that a potential customer may have about me or my company.

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