1. Common Mistakes of Paintless Dent Repair NewbsBy Brian
Jumphttp://www.nodents.comSorry to say it, but if you are a
Paintless Dent Repair Newb, this article is a bitdirect, but if you
appreciate the truth, read on. If NOT, click back and get outtahere
immediately.Paintless Dent Repair is tough. And thankfully so. If
it was easy, the prices wouldfall and a typical repair would be $10
instead of $100tso let it be tough tomaster..keeps the get rich
quick geeks down the road, looking into pyramid schemes,gambling,
internet and other crap.So, I digressr.Common mistakes of PDR
Newbs. 1. Underestimation. This term is broad, intentionally.
Underestimation of theEFFORT and DIFFICULTY is primarily what I am
referring to, but there are more..A) The income. Most peeps have NO
idea what a good PDR Tech can make. When Ipersonally push, I
usually pull over $2k a day. And Im NOT talking about hail.
Whendoing hail, I get depressed if Im not reaping at least $3500
when pushing 100 sof dents in a workday.B) The competition. Most
people in PDR are horrible. And lucky for them, itusually doesnot
slow them down..until a better tech rolls into town (see our
dentrepair school for details J )C) The Market. I get emails from
new entries interested in PDR, and otherswho may have gone thru a
different school, looking for markets where they can tapthe deep
well of PDR. Let me say this clearly: Auto Dealers are just ONE
marketsegment. There are DOZENS more. I will leave it at that for
this articlem 2. Technical requirements. 20/20. Your peepers better
be 20.20 or corrected tothat level or PDR is not for you. It is a
VISUAL process, so if you CANT SEE, youcant DO. 3. TIME. This one
is commonly overlooked. Dealers send us PDR in house traineesall
the time for schooling. Then, when the student returns and asks for
time topractice and develop their skills and speed, the management
says, sure, but fornow, get back to your normal job and we will get
you practice time later, . Well,later never comes, and the dealer
tech often doesnu t get the time or attention heneeds to continue
his skills, and the in-house program goes sideways. What doesthis
mean to you, as a newb? PDR Requires TIME. ANYTHING that you do,
and want todo well, will require TIME. Give PDR Time, and you will
get RESULTS. And byresults, I mean MONEY. 4. Rushing. PDR Newbs
rush their work, and the results often suffer, Slow workmeans fast
results for newbs. Take your time. 5. Improper tool selection. For
some reason, I see techs in the field using thewrong type of tool
tip for specific damage. Remember, we are re-creating texture,so
use a tip that will best achieve that. And tape and caps on tools
are a Pro-techs best friends. 6. Massive pressure. So many newbs
like to employ massive pressure to locatetheir tool tip. Hint- DON
T! If you cant see your tip easily, take a page out ofour training
book- go get an aluminum hood and try it out for size..I wont
spoilthe fun, but you will do better than you did with the steel
iteme 2. 7. Improper tap down technique. Dent Wizard teaches newbs
to use a Mastertool which is a large dolly type of tool to push
down the entire dent.Eventually they show you how to do it like the
rest of us, with a tap down pencilor punch. Problem is, many newbs
donside of it. Take your time, and if possible, tap down by
pushing, not using ahammer. You can modulate the pressure better
when pushing. 8. Improper reading technique. Many newbs try and
jump to a board after learningon a lite. Stay with the lite for a
while..it keeps the learning consistent andtheres no reason to go
to a board until you are very proficient with a lite.Thates all for
now! There are more Paintless Dent Repair newb pitfalls Ican assure
you, but work on these to get started!Happy Pushing!Brian Jump
