Most items attended to when servicing vehicles are not visible to the customer. They cannot tell if the wheels have been off, the suspension checked for wear or if the oil has been changed. The customer simply cannot tell, they pay their bill and drive home, trusting the job has been done and done right.
However, there is one thing they will notice as soon as it rains, their wipers! It is also the one thing they will notice if they haven't been changed or if poor quality or wrong fitting parts have been used. Customers may base their entire opinion on the service performed and the quality of the parts used simply by how well, or for that matter how poorly the wipers perform… Poor wiper performance can be viewed as poor workshop quality!
Wipers are one of the few ‘visible ‘items attended to when the vehicle is serviced ... And are all too often overlooked, at serious cost to your business reputation.
On top of this if the mechanic doesn't replace the wipers, the customer will almost certainly have to do it themselves before the next service and so the customer learns to simply replace the wiper blades themselves – lost sales, lost opportunities.
Wiper refills should be replaced every six to twelve months and more importantly the blade assembly every three to five years, or 75,000km
Windscreen wipers are subjected to a much harder workload in the drier months than in a wet winter, so just because the sun is shining it doesn’t mean the wipers don’t need replacing. In fact, in summer, we use our wipers to clear dust, bugs and debris from the screen. This requires much more effort to clear than rainwater, which places an increased load on wiper components. Don’t fall for the old habit of skipping a wiper service in the warmer months of the year.
With workshops under more pressure than ever to keep service costs low and compete in what is already a very aggressive market it is no surprise most workshops only ever change the wiper refill fearing the “additional” cost of replacing the entire assembly will drive the cost of the service up and cause the customer to complain. In fact, the opposite is true if the job is not explained, and the wrong parts fitted.
It is a little-known fact that the blade assembly is usually the cause of most poor wiper symptoms!
If the blade assembly has excessive wear, the refill simply cannot perform its job, the worn blade assembly allows the refill to ‘lay over’ on its side, significantly reducing its effectiveness and performance. If there is excessive play in the wiper blade assembly or its mounting adaptor, the blade assembly must be replaced. Simply replacing the refill will result in the refill failing prematurely, along with your service reputation.
Nearly all wiper blades and refills will perform well when first fitted. The rubber is fresh and moves well on the screen. It is when the wiper assembly starts to age in the harsh Australian environment that quality makes the difference. As a workshop, you will never see cheap wipers wear prematurely, and start streaking and squeaking only months after fitment. But your customers will, and if they believe their workshop uses inferior parts, they will make a value judgement on the quality of their service.
Selling wipers might seem like a small sale for your business but it is critically important as it is one of the only parts the customer views in operation.
TRICO recommends you only use quality wiper blades and refills. Always replace blades instead of refills if possible – bad blades wear out good refills. Most importantly, replacing blade assemblies not only makes you more money, but it also improves your ‘quality first’ business reputation.
All TRICO wiper products are engineered to meet or exceed OE requirements and have done so for over 100 years, with a global history designing & manufacturing the world’s best windscreen wiper components. TRICO use 100% natural rubber in our blades & refills, resulting in a smoother, quieter wipe. All TRICO’s locally supplied wiper blades and refills are tested in Australian conditions and will stand up to the harshest Aussie conditions. Show your customer that you use the best products on their car, choose TRICO wipers. For more information or to find the right wipers for your vehicle visit TRICOproducts.com.au today.
This article is brought to you by TRICO
