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I’m
happy to report to you tonight that your IGA is on an even financial
keel. Thanks to your pledges, our vision of market access, a buying
group, and marketing support will become a reality. I’m proud of our
Executive Committee’s dedication combined with the good stewardship,
hard work, and dedication of our CEO, Tim Smale, and Administrator,
Jenna Smale.
Financial Condition of
IGAI
Last year I proposed two business plans
for IGA members. The network model . . . or a new path—self-reliance
combined with cooperation and unification. Ten months ago, few if any
of us imagined the financial decline we’d witness in the auto glass
industry. I’m absolutely convinced that without the intervention of
the IGA in this industry over the next several months, it could be
years before we see real improvement. This industry’s problems are
such that only the active involvement of a strong association voice
and united spirit of its membership, working together will reduce the
recovery time.
Recently, I heard President Clinton’s
state of the union speech. Economic "boom" was his theme . .
. and rightly so. It’s pathetic that in a time of national
prosperity, our industry is in its current financial condition. I want
a piece of that prosperity for independents!! The auto glass industry
is in a free fall; giants are falling, just as we witnessed the fall
of the Soviet Union a few years ago. Why did the USSR fall? The powers
in control lost the support of commoners; where real power resides.
You, the independents, are
the real power base. Let’s tap that power.
Tonight, I have an announcement to
make. I’m turning my back on the auto glass industry and challenging
all of you to embark with me on a journey to create a new, strong and
respectable auto glass industry. How do we accomplish this? We need to
change how we think about our businesses and unite by participating in
the IGA’s programs. We need to look to what Henry David Thoreau
called "civil disobedience." Thoreau described it as "a
form of protest involving deliberate and public refusal to obey a
law." Now, I’d never ask anyone to break our state or federal
laws. But what I am
asking is that you refuse to obey the "laws" of the old
auto glass industry that we all so meekly accepted, from those inside
and outside our industry.
I say those laws don’t apply to
anyone not in that old
industry. Let’s stop supporting the corrupt institutions that are
destroying our businesses, our profitability, and the safety of the
American consumer. Just say, "No. I’m not of that
industry and those rules don’t apply to me!"
People, a new auto glass industry is
all in the minds of each of us. Lets make it happen!
The problems facing us aren’t unique
to our industry. A friend of mine who owns a residential home cleaning
business told me he was at an association meeting, listening to a
speaker who was encouraging the members to drop their prices to the
insurance industry. The speaker went on to explain that the insurance
industry was just like any other business and it needs to make a
profit, too! Well, it was more than my friend could take. He got up
and said, "Since when did it become a sin to make a good profit?
I don’t clean up people’s dirty carpets, sewage backups, and soot
filled houses because it’s fun!
I do it because I want to make a profit!
Well, I expect most of you don’t go
out in subfreezing weather, handle broken glass, and go out on a
Sunday afternoon to help customers with emergencies because it’s fun.
We need to put the profit back in this business!!
Vision
You know, the pendulum swings, things
will get better. . . we’re just going to give that pendulum a little
push. The IGA will be the catalyst, so that united, we can change the
financial landscape of a new auto glass industry. Here is my vision
for next year:
We’ll put the insurance industry
on notice about financial condition of the auto glass industry at
wholesale, retail, chain and independent levels.
We’ll establish a task force to
investigate the current pricing system and create a new one based on
common sense, and profitability.
This task force won’t stop working on
this, until we have an acceptable alternative to the current system!
We are in the "information age" and information is power.
We’ll make the Beacon a quarterly
publication and use a regular "flash fax’ system to keep
members informed on a regular basis.
Very soon we will roll out the buying
group that will serve as a financial and unifying platform for future
programs.
We’re creating more than a
"billing system. We’ll develop a comprehensive claims
processing system.
It will serve consumer and each glass
shop’s Customer Service Representative. It will be a "cradle to
grave" system that will teach shops’ CSRs how to sell auto
glass and how to handle claims effectively. And, yes, it will have a
focused legal arm. You won’t be alone anymore! Face it folks,
we’re in the claims handling business, so let’s admit it, train
for it, and excel at it!
We’ll establish a task force of
CSRs and glass shop owners that will become a think tank,"
providing ideas and methods for dealing with access, billing, and
financial issues.
This year we’ll adopt the AGRESS
saftey standard program for our new industry that protects our
technicians and the consumer.
We’ll roll out the first ever truly
nationwide warranty system for consumers through IGA member shops.
We’ll produce a marketing program,
through the buying group, that will educate and help our members
effectively market their business.
We’re going to produce an auto
glass convention combined with a trade show that is like nothing
ever imagined.
Instead of just seminars, we’ll have
workshops so you come home with something you can implement in your
business. Instead of just a trade show, we’ll have an all-day,
hands-on event that will teach our technicians to be efficient and
help shop owners experience what our support industries have to offer
us.
Finally, tomorrow we’ll unveil
AmeriGlass, the entity that will focus everything I’ve just
mentioned in a system that we can all be proud to be part of. It
will mark the birth of the new auto glass industry.
Conclusion
Last year we all pitched in with
pledges. We can be grateful to those who came forth when they were
needed. Well, this next year and the next several: we need you!
You need to become involved as a State Coordinator or
secretary and start a state chapter. Or get on a task force,
committee, or even become a board member.
I know, you’re thinking, "I
can’t do that, I don’t have the ability or time." Well, if
you don’t, who will? Gerry Zwart and Larry Hamilton, IGA members
out in Iowa decided last convention to start a state chapter, and
today that little organization is making changes in Iowa and
for IGA members in other states. If you think you can’t do it ask
Gerry and Larry their "secret"!
Tonight, you
will decide how long it will take to build a new autoglass industry.
We need you to volunteer!
I’m asking everyone in the IGA to
make a commitment: bring two new members into the IGA over the next
year. We can double or triple our membership and thus our power! The
IGA is becoming an association that will be the driving force for
our new auto glass industry, and it will serve and protect those who
participate and support its programs.
During the convention, I want anyone
who hasn’t had a chance to sign our Declaration of Independence to
come up and place your signature on this document. It hangs in our
association office and is an inspiration for all of us.
I want to encourage everyone in this
association to stop thinking about the consequences of failure.
Focus, instead, on the dream of success!
Let me close with this thought: my
daughter, whom my family almost lost a year ago, told me, "You
know, Dad, optimism is like a rubber ball. The harder it falls, the
higher it soars!
Reprinted with
permission of Beyond Parts & Equipment, March 2000, ©
2000, Millennium Publications, Inc. Other use or publication is
strictly prohibited.
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