The All Access From Dent Repair Now

Ten shows away from 100, still not missing a week, still dropping Mondays at 7:00 AM Eastern. New additions to the set: a pink Dent Reaper shirt from the expo, Mack's second-place trophy, last week's Tool of the Week from Alex at PDR Original, the wood knockdown from Thad at Dentproof, Gene's judging badge, and new Dentproof and Black Plague hats (including the "Make Metal Flat Again" hat).  EDITORIAL FLAG: "Thaddle" and "the pecker" — Gene's on-air nicknames for Thad's wood knockdown. Kept as spoken in the transcript. Confirm whether the tool has an official product name you want used in notes.  01:50  The (short-ish) PDR Expo tool haul  Not a giant haul — a mix of brand-new tools, old favorites, and "old things that are new again." No Tool of the Week this episode because the whole show is tools.  02:30  Dentcraft OG Ultra Thin Whale Tails are back  Dentcraft changed the Ultra Thin Whale Tail head a while back to a design with two little tips instead of the fanned-out shape. Not bad tools — just not the same. At the Dentcraft booth, Jennifer confirmed the original-style head is available again. Gene picked up his two favorites: the 10" and a roughly 30–32" in the OG head. Great for getting down in doors, through tight braces, and out to panel edges; bend in an S-curve to bounce off the glass and get out to the panel.  Original 10" Ultra Thin Whale Tail (OGWT10) — $64.95 as of 10/4/26: https://www.dentcrafttools.com/10-ultra-thin-wt-1.html  Dentcraft Whale Tails: https://www.dentcrafttools.com/whale-tails.html  EDITORIAL FLAG: Dentcraft's homepage lists the OG 10" (OGWT10) at $64.95. I could not confirm a product listing for the ~30–32" OG-head version or its exact length. Gene also wasn't sure if more sizes came back. Verify before naming a size/price for the long one.  EDITORIAL FLAG: "Jennifer" at the Dentcraft booth — last name/role not stated. Fine as-is unless you want to credit her fully.  07:15  VIP Traction Tips  Picked up for Mack after looking at his beginner dent. Screw-on tips with a collar and a small print, similar in concept to Black Plague's micro tips or Dent Slayer's R4-style tip. What makes them special is the cast texture right at the tip — it bites just enough to keep the tool from dragging when you're pushing up and in at an awkward angle. Think micro-hedgehog, but for traction, not shrinking. Gene uses them weekly at minimum.  VIP PDR Tools — Traction Pushing Tips (#2, #4, #6, #8 sizes; from $40 each): https://vippdrtools.com  EDITORIAL FLAG: Gene calls it a "three-piece set" in small/medium/large. VIP's site currently lists the 3/8" Traction Pushing Tips individually as #2, #4, #6, #8 (plus "Mini" versions), starting at $40 — I didn't find a 3-pack listing. Confirm which product to point to.  EDITORIAL FLAG: "Peter" — VIP's founder. VIP's own site references him as "Piotr." Keeping "Peter" since that's how Gene says it on-air; your call for written notes.  10:00  VIP chain hunt + the purple leather knockdown tip  The team went looking for VIP's hanging chain for Mack's leverage point, but Andre, solo at the VIP booth, had sold out. They borrowed one from Anson instead. Then a slightly underused VIP gem: the purple leather tip. VIP labels it a blending tip, but Gene uses it as a knockdown nearly daily — it "murders" medium crowns like a standard fender crown or a hip check above a door body line. It's essentially a pool cue tip: when the leather pops off, re-glue it, or order a pack of pool tips and replace/shape your own. A new set went into Mack's kit.  VIP PDR Tools — Leather Blending Tips set ($75) / Hook Chain & Captain Hook Set ($43): https://vippdrtools.com  EDITORIAL FLAG: Gene says "I think Mack bought like a three-tip set" of the leather tips. VIP's Leather Blending Tips Set is listed at $75; set count not confirmed. Also listed: Leather Heads set ($145) and individual L/XL leather heads — confirm which one is "the purple" tip.  EDITORIAL FLAG: Transcript: "Is DBAP still there?" — unclear what "DBAP" refers to (sounds like a glue/adhesive name). Please clarify or cut from written notes.  12:20  OG Glexo full cold glue set (via Anson PDR)  Ironically, for all the cold glue pulling Gene's done, he'd never owned the full set of Glexo steel tabs — he ran the plastic KECO/Glexo tabs from his KECO days. Christina at Anson PDR loaned out a full cold glue spread for Gene's expo talk, and the one item he used that wasn't brand new was the original Glexo set, so he bought it. Skinny crease, fat crease, small round (~1¼") and big round (~2"). Black Glexo is still a weekly shop staple — light creases, finishing, and the right kind of bigger dent. Gene believes he's still on the same black stick he bought in 2019. Reminder: cold glue isn't for starting every dent. Be smart about it.  Glexo Full Set — 4 tabs and cold glue, Anson PDR ($290 as of 10/4/26): https://ansonpdr.com/products/glexo-cold-glue-pdr  EDITORIAL FLAG: Anson's Glexo Full Set page showed $290 and a backordered note when checked. A cosmetic-blem "DISCOUNTED" version was listed at $260. Confirm stock before publishing.  EDITORIAL FLAG: Retailer listings describe the Full Set tabs as 40mm and 30mm round plus 75x30 and 75x15 rectangular. Gene estimated the rounds at "maybe 2 inches" and "inch and a quarter" — 40mm is closer to 1.6". Fine as an on-air estimate; just don't print the inch sizes as specs.  EDITORIAL FLAG: Gene mentions other cold glue tools in passing: Sergio's Bull Kick, a small and large "shotgun," the AR auto-return hammer "from Matt at Dent Slayer," the Cold Snap, and Anson's mini slide hammer kit. Sergio Bull Kick kits are listed on dentcrafttools.com; Dent Slayer lists AR-9/AR-10 hammers and the Cold Snap. Your notes file has James Ricci at Dent Slayer — confirm who "Matt" is. The "shotgun" maker wasn't identified.  15:15  Little birdie: big-tab cold glue upgrade coming  Gene got a text (not from Kevin Bird — a different little birdie) hinting that big cold glue on bigger tabs may be getting an upgrade. Stay tuned to future episodes.  17:00  Gene's PDR Expo cold glue talk — headed to YouTube  The crew at Convexx, who recorded the PDR Expo presentations, is supposed to send a copy of Gene's cold glue talk. When it arrives, he'll post it free on his YouTube channel.  17:45  Black Plague glue-on straps + the new double-wide  Gene's been using Keith's glue-on fabric strap tabs for a couple of years — lots of glue lessons, multiple quarter panels saved from replacement. It grabs two planes and has a metal bar so the KECO tab track adapter (the blue T) slides on, and you can U-bolt it or grab it with lateral tension adapters or Mo-Clamps. Because it's fabric, it follows a door jamb return so you can grab the outside and pull. At the expo he found a double-wide version — every bit of four or five inches of throat — which replaces doubling and tripling up. Perfect for heavy collision and lateral tension pulls (think the Level Up BMW hatch). Reasonably priced: "if you don't pay for the whole order on the first job, you're not charging enough." Gene's wish: a throwaway version, since they're hard to clean.  Black Plague PDR: https://www.blackplaguepdr.com  Black Plague Lateral Tension Tools (edge straps, Big Freakin' Green Straps, adapters): https://www.blackplaguepdr.com/collections/lateral-tension-tools  EDITORIAL FLAG: Couldn't match the exact products Gene held up. Black Plague's Lateral Tension collection lists Green Edge Strap ($29), Yellow Edge Strap ($49.97), "Extended" versions of both, and Big Freakin' Green Straps, 2-pack ($42.76) — the double-wide may be one of these. Most showed "sold out" on 10/4. Confirm product names before linking directly.  EDITORIAL FLAG: Gene says "available at blackplaguepdr.com or deadrattabs.com if you can't spell plague." I didn't verify deadrattabs.com resolves to Black Plague — confirm before printing it.  23:00  Training trip to Fort Lauderdale  This week Gene heads to Fort Lauderdale for a couple of days of training at Derrick and Grace's shop, The Dent Demon. The straps are coming along for heavy pulls. Also on deck: an advanced glue pull training for body men back at the shop with a new junker teaching car.  23:20  Dentcraft x Jon Yeager x Brandon Schmitz collab tools  Saved for last: a four-piece set from Jon Yeager, Brandon Schmitz, and Dentcraft. (Mack opened the box and had them on a hail truck before Gene even got in.) Offset handle similar to Hail's Angels / Excaliburs for good drive left or right, shaved down, same feel as the whale tail material — maybe a hair thicker and a little stiffer than the Ultra Thin, but you can still put an arch in them. Built for driving out toward panel edges, like a Dent Slayer butter knife. Rough sizes: orange ~14", yellow ~16–18", blue ~24", and a ~30" that might shoot through taillights up under the sail panel. First impressions only — feedback to come.  Dentcraft Tools: https://www.dentcrafttools.com  EDITORIAL FLAG: Name spellings unverified: transcript had "Jon Jaeger" and "Johnny Yeager" for the same person — standardized to "Jon Yeager" throughout. Also confirm "Brandon Schmitz." I could not find a product listing, official name, or price for this collab set on dentcrafttools.com — confirm the product name and link if one exists.  EDITORIAL FLAG: "Hail's Angels and the Excaliburs" — transcript rendered "Hale's Angels." Confirm the tool names/makers you want referenced.  28:00  Honorable mention: Anson BLE light stand  Got it right before the expo, launched at the expo, and Vinnie covered it last week. First full week using it: love it, and there's probably a second one in Gene's future.  Anson PDR BLE Light Stand: https://ansonpdr.com/products/ble-anson-pdr-x-portable-dent-repair-lighting-stand  EDITORIAL FLAG: Transcript: "my two main stands instead of that and a DNE maybe" — unclear what "DNE" is. Clarify or cut.  29:00  PDR Marketing Minute Ep. 8 — review don'ts  From the archive: don't have customers leave reviews on your

Episode 89 — PDR Expo 2026 and the Competitions  Gene recaps PDR Expo 2026 at the Rio in Las Vegas, recorded the day after a red-eye home, and brings back six interviews from the show floor plus a Tool of the Week and the competition results.  00:00  Intro — Recorded in the basement after the red-eye home. Heads up on audio levels: the on-camera mics were running hot at the show, so some segments may be louder or quieter.  00:01  PDR Expo 2026 at the Rio — Likely the biggest PDR Expo yet and the first at the Rio. Comparison to the Plaza and Fremont Street. Lunch in Chinatown, the food hall, the lobby bar where everyone gathered, and the rooftop cigar bar.  ⚑ FLAG: "Dave Chalotte" (lunch in Chinatown) — first-time name, spelling unverified.  00:03  Shout-outs and the small-show advantage — Thanks to Mike Glidewell (Dent Mate) for the cigar and Jon Videen for the drinks. Why smaller shows give more networking and unhurried education.  ⚑ FLAG: Verify "Mike Glidewell" spelling and whether "Dent Mate" is his company (it's also the name of estimating software referenced later).  00:03  Round table and glue pull talk — Friday round table of about nine techs, led by Keith Cosentino and organized by Kevin Bird. Saturday: Gene's glue pull double session, roughly an hour and 45 minutes with plenty of Q&A. Feels like old-school MTE in the early 2010s at the Caribe Royale.  ⚑ FLAG: "Kevin Bird" — verify spelling.  00:05  Competitions preview — GOAT competition damage was brutal; beginners damage much harder than last year. PDR Marketing Minute returns next week.  00:06  New shaved tools from DentCraft — John Yeager and Brandon Schmitz collaborated on a new set of shaved tools through DentCraft. Gene ordered a set after seeing them in the elevator line; expect a future Tool of the Week.  ⚑ FLAG: Verify "John Yeager," "Brandon Schmitz," and "Deacon" (one of Matt Boyette's sons). Also confirm Matt's surname spelling — the transcript uses both "Boyett" and "Boyette."  00:07  Interview: Žan Vidic — GOAT competition — The GOAT competition is open to top-three finishers from Dent Olympics in Orlando; five competitors. Sixty seconds to view the damage, no lights, no touching, no photos. Two hours of repair split into two one-hour blocks with a 10-minute break. The damage: a hood hit perpendicular to a body line with a tight, sharp crown driven down into the concave and a secondary impact, roughly 8" x 4". No wet sanding. Žan's plan: glue-tab tension on the body line to help the metal flow, with soft pushes, the same approach taught at Level Up. Tension costs setup and cool-down time, but without it push marks are almost guaranteed.  ⚑ FLAG: "Wei Wu" (competitor, won in Canada) — spelling unverified. Žan's "Trying to stay ahead of Jack" joke left as-is — not sure who Jack is.  00:12  Interview: Vinnie D'Alessandro, Anson PDR — BLE X light stand — Debut of the BLE X light stand, a year-long collaboration with BLE, who flew in from England. Height range roughly 3.5 to 9.5 feet, strong locking joint, push-button height adjustment, integrated battery tray and water ballast bag. Works with X-Factor or Stuckey lights.  Pricing (from ansonpdr.com): stand only $849. Combos with Elimadent lights and Never Loose run $1,675 to $1,751. Listing specs a 45" minimum and 9.5 ft maximum height; batteries not included.  ⚑ FLAG: Product listing still says "Available Mid September" — confirm it's shipping. Vinnie says 3.5 ft on-air; the listing says 3.75 ft. The blog says "about three and a half feet" per Vinnie; adjust if you want the spec.  00:14  Battery on board and plug lock — The Elimadent battery on board (previously the Hail Stand Receiver Adapter) is getting a clamp mod to fit the new stand. The plug lock keeps the light's male plug from popping out while you adjust.  ⚑ FLAG: Transcript had "Limidant" / "IllumiDent" — corrected to Elimadent (the brand Anson carries). Confirm "plug lock" isn't the same product Anson sells as "Never Loose."  00:16  Tequila Compact HUB line — Grew from about two tools to around 130–135 in six to eight months, heading past 200. The Econoline handle locks solid with no play, converts to a mini T-handle, and gives a thumb-push position Gene likes on hand tools. 3/8" shaved tools deliver strong drive on European cars.  Swoop Compact HUB Interchangeable (link provided): $99 (17"), $109 (21"), $119 (24"), all 3/8" diameter, with a Black Gold morph tip.  ⚑ FLAG: The Swoop link is a 3/8" compact hub tool. Verify: "Econoline" handle name, "Hail's Angels" (Dent Reaper — transcript says "Hales Angels"), and "Craig Dyer."  00:19  Anson app — Order through the Anson PDR app to get the glue of the month.  00:20  Interview: Noah Hebert, Dent Ops — Match-O-Matic — Built internally to match insurance approvals against your estimate line by line, even across formats (MobileTechRX or DentMate to CCC or Mitchell). Spot the gaps, generate a supplement, get a documentation checklist of photos and invoices needed, and use Payout Splits to allocate line items to techs, glass, or body shop. Works for PDR and body shops; free trial available. Dent Ops estimating and claim services also have free trials.  ⚑ FLAG: Noah said "match-o-matic.io" on-air, but I couldn't verify that domain. Links above point to dentops.com only, per your list. Add match-o-matic.io if you can confirm it.  00:23  Interview: James Ricci — Dent Slayer and Dent Repair Jax — On pronunciation: the family says "Ritchie," but Ricci is the spelling. Dent Slayer started when Matt designed a one-off tool with A1 that turned into a product. Friends for 20+ years; Matt got James into PDR. Matt designs the tools; James handles videography, design, web, and podcast production.  00:26  Color blindness and the gray card — Both James and Gene are color blind. Gene's wedding-photography hack: shoot a gray card at every new venue and set white balance from it in software.  00:28  Making the Dent Slayer podcast — James refused at first because of the editing load. The fix: hire a production company that sets up, films, and edits. Around 22 episodes so far. Gene's approach: no heavy editing, just sit down and talk.  00:31  Glass cleaner for cold glue — James picked up a tip in Gene's cold glue class: clean the panel with glass cleaner. Gene learned it from Ryan Campbell out of Cleveland.  ⚑ FLAG: "Ryan Campbell" (Cleveland) — verify spelling.  00:32  Process over intuition — James on Gene's class: the value is a clear, repeatable process. Gene's veteran philosophy: like a race car driver, you're chasing the tip that gains a hundredth of a second per lap, and it compounds over a career.  00:34  Dent Repair Jax — James's local PDR company. 50K+ on YouTube and about 96K on Facebook. Future episode planned on his social media strategy.  00:35  Interview: Mack — beginners competition — Mack felt less nervous but more intimidated than last year. The damage moved from a hood to a trunk lid on a stand: harder light setup, harder positioning, a bigger and wider dent. His advice to future competitors: be ready for anything, and if you did the best you're capable of in 30 minutes, you won.  00:38  Interview: Keith Cosentino — ClaimConnection — Keith built the company he wanted for his own shop. Scope the car, fill out a simple form, submit photos through the portal. The ClaimConnection team writes the estimate in CCC (catching R&I operations techs miss), submits it, and becomes the adjuster's point of contact, with status visible in the portal. Written PDR or conventional, depending on your preference and state. Working name was Back Office Bulldog.  Pricing (as stated on-air): $1 card verification to sign up, $199 per estimate written, 6.9% of total claim value for full claim support.  ⚑ FLAG: ClaimConnection's site is a login app, so I couldn't verify pricing on the web — figures are from Keith on-air. Also: the estimator's name "Tammy" is unverified, and the site brands itself "ClaimConnection" (one word) — I used that in written sections.  00:44  Thad, Dentproof and the Panel Beaters Club — Sticker haul, T-shirt, hat, and a "thaddle" from Thad. The Panel Beaters Club Discord feels like old-school PDR forums: organized by topic, no algorithm feed. Join: https://discord.gg/7DUezhDBS  ⚑ FLAG: "door ding dot com / doording.com" — the old PDR forum Gene references. Verify the name before it goes in any written copy (I left it out of the blog).  00:46  Coming up — Plans to interview Sheldon (PDR Expo and MTE) and possibly Casey about the shows. Gene will teach glue pulling again at MTE.  ⚑ FLAG: "Sheldon … Convex" — transcript is garbled here. Confirm Sheldon's surname and company, and Casey's full name.  00:47  Tool of the Week: PDR Original custom tool — Custom hand-built, hand-ground tool from Alex at PDR Original (https://pdr-original.com/, https://www.youtube.com/@pdr-original, and Instagram https://www.instagram.com/pdr_original_canada). Arched shape for reaching into braces and panel edges, rolling-style tip, custom-stitched black leather handle, copper ends with a Canadian flag, plus a red tool hanger in Dent Repair Now colors. Alex works with Josh Kidd in Canada; Miroslav used one of Alex's tools in the GOAT competition.  ⚑ FLAG: Verify: "Alexander Yefremenko" (Gene says on-air he's not sure of the pronunciation), "Josh Kid/Kidd," "Bryce," "Miroslav/Miro," and "Ken Clark, the Man of Steel."  00:52  Competition results — Honorable mention to Seth for an incredible door repair on stretched, smoked damage. Gene encourages him to enter Dent Olympics.  00:53  Awards announcements — Full results as announced at the show — watch or listen for every placing.  01:00  Wrap-up — Congrats to Vladimir, the new GOAT. Gene did play-by-play with Lee Roth and judged the GOAT competition; no cleanup was needed on the GOAT hoods. Mack takes 2nd in beginners after 3rd last year, the first tech under a year in to podium. Us old guys better watch out. 

Episode 88 - Gene's Back to the Future joke included. He and the team leave in a couple of days for PDR Expo, which he says feels like old-school MTE: you can slow down, sit and talk with friends, and not feel like you missed everybody.  Roundtable Friday morning with a stage full of knowledge  Saturday: two-part cold glue class - classroom talk first, then live demos pulling people up from the audience  If you have not bought tickets yet, what are you waiting for?   02:00 - Shout-outs   Eric, the Bearded Dent Guy - Gene picked up some gear from him this week and is wearing the hat  Hat tip to the Ginger Bros, specifically Brandon Schmitz and his wife Mandy. The industry is stepping up to help them; Gene encourages listeners to check out Brandon's social media and lend a hand if they can   03:00 - Topic: mentorship  A 10-year technician came in for a class this week. Good tech, but like so many of us, he went through training and then spent his career trying to figure it out. He told Gene, "You've got this." Gene's answer: he spent 14 years (2002 to 2016) not having it figured out - and is not claiming to have it all figured out now. These are just dent guy problems and we all have to solve the same stuff. 04:00 - Keith Cosentino and the 12-week program   Gene and Keith connected on doring.com, saw each other at MTE, and Gene is a big fan of the PDR College podcast  When Keith announced business coaching, Gene signed up - he thinks it was a 12-week program  Gene calls it perhaps the most formative 12 weeks of his career. Not so much on the physical repair side - on the business side and the life side; it changed a lot of his processes  Big takeaway: you can beat your head against the wall, or you can find a mentor and buy your way into knowledge  He says he would not have made it into the shop with employees without Keith. Hiring Jennifer to answer the phones and take phone work off his plate was 'priceless'   06:00 - Elite performers have coaches  Tiger Woods and Michael Jordan both leaned on coaches. If the elite still rely on coaches to improve and stay sharp, why aren't more of us investing in ourselves? Gene recalls a conversation with a friend, Dave: in PDR you go to school, maybe have a mentor for a while, and then you get kicked out of the nest to figure it out on your own.   07:30 - The student who had never used a shrinky box   The class was all physical skills. The student had never seen or used a shrinky box  Shrinky boxes have been out about 8-10 years (Gene bought his around '17-'18) and many techs still do not know how to use them; most do not come with instructions  Gene credits the Black Plague box for shipping with instructions, and thanks Keith for putting one out there that works so well  Glue pull: on nearly identical damage the student needed about 12 pulls to Gene's one. After Gene showed his technique, the next dent took a couple of pulls instead of a dozen   09:00 - Training options at every level  You do not have to pay for advanced training - but you do need to know you can be better and faster. Gene names a range of places to learn:  Advanced training: a week with Bryce, or a day or two with Gene or Matt Boyett  Hail: a program from 'Jean' called Hail Pro, packed with the tips he uses to be an efficient hail tech. Gene says the guy shuts shops down because everyone wonders how he moves so fast, and a friend said he is like having three really good hail techs in one  Myke Toledo's Dent Trainer - tons of tutorials  Advanced Skills Seminar - Gene has been to all but two. The last one, at Anson, may have been the best yet; he learned a lot watching how Bryce worked. Not sure Keith and Chad will bring it back. Skipped: the first one, and the one at Corey Kleinfeld's shop in Sacramento  Business coaching: Gene's own coach Becky, who was in Pittsburgh for years, has hung it up and is splitting time between Florida and Pittsburgh - so he needs to find a new business coach   12:00 - Discussion: are you investing in yourself?  Gene thanks everyone who texts about the topic of the week - it is why he does the podcast. The question for the week: are you investing in yourself and learning, and if not, what's holding you back?  PDR pays so well that it is easy to think we are better at business than we actually are, and get lulled to sleep  You can make more in a day and work fewer hours by building skills - physical, and business (sales, marketing, advertising, bookkeeping, finance)  The trade gives us a really big shovel (Dave Ramsey line) to make big moves when we are smart about it 14:00 - The rant, and the moral  Gene calls it a ranty episode, but only because he cares. He wants more people to make the changes he sees in his students and mentees - and is not saying they have to come to him. Some conversations have changed people's outlook on business and life, how they run their shop, brought more money through the door, and gotten rid of their head trash. Moral of the story: find a mentor in business and in life, use them, and let them help you be a better human. 15:45 - Tool of the Week: Elimadent X-Factor Flip Light   Warm and cool LEDs, use one or both. Gene says it is still a very misunderstood tool  Yes, it works as an inspection light or an R&I light set on the dash - but its real job is seeing down inside a deep, dense dent  Gene says it is around $219 on Anson's site and will pay for itself on the first job. Regular lights (he names Stuckey and Limit Dent) cannot get down and show the bottom of the dent  How to use: set it on the panel (magnetic ring; suction cup option for aluminum), fold it down, and flood the dent with light so you can watch your pushes  Tech tip: use it to see, not to do too much pushing. Bring the bottom up, move it back a bit, then get rid of it and go back to your regular light - overworking with it takes a little detail away  Available at ansonpdr.com   19:15 - Coming up   Brand-new light stand Anson is carrying: Gene has not unboxed it yet but plans a build video and first look on the Dent Repair Now socials. Christina says he will use one in his Expo class, and they should have them in the booth  A Limit Dent X-Factor setup with the battery  Gene admits that after a two-week vacation and getting sick, motivation was hard to find this week - now back on the regular schedule   21:15 - PDR Marketing Minute #7: ask for the review  Replayed from the archive (Gene listened to it because he had audio problems). This installment of the review series covers the simplest strategy: just ask.  Everyone uses reviews to shop but few of us leave them. Build rapport during the sale and repair, then ask  Pick the platform to match the customer: Yelper -> Yelp; Gmail address -> Google; older, less tech-savvy customers -> PDR Nation   23:45 - Gene on reviews today   Google is where all his reviews come from now  His old text (phone text replacement 'PDRV') thanked the customer for letting him repair the car, and linked to a website page with Google, Facebook, Yelp and (back in the day) PDR Nation review links  No CRM? Set up a keyboard text replacement on your phone. But the best way, hands down, is a CRM - $100/month gets you started, and it can automate the ask and send multiple reminders  In person: when the customer picks up, confirm they love the result, then say Shannon will send a link and ask for a quick review  Hundreds of reviews is run-of-the-mill; the ones killing it are in the thousands. Gene lost his Google listing when they moved into the shop and is behind where he would be  Dad joke: it's the word of mouse, not word of mouth  28:00 - Sign-off  Thanks for all the messages. Next week's show is not live from the Expo but interviews shot there - flying with cameras and mics. Until next week, or when Gene sees you at the Expo.

Timestamped notes for episode #87, “We Need More Passion.” Editorial flags call out anything that needs Gene's eyes before this goes out. [00:00] Welcome back  Gene kept the once-a-week streak alive despite the show going out a couple of days late. He and MeLissa just got back from a trip to Europe, capped off by both of them getting sick with some kind of bug partway through and Gene running a fever for the first time in 15–20 years. [00:02] The KLM/Delta travel saga  A delayed flight out of Venice, a missing bus driver, a plane that “has to kick-start the engines,” and a missed connection in Amsterdam turned a planned Sunday recording into a Thursday one. Gene and MeLissa ended up rerouted through Boston and got home Sunday afternoon instead of Saturday night — and came home to a surprise 25th anniversary party Elena had put together. [00:06] This week's topic — the PDR reach problem  Gene's core frustration: most people who walk through the door have never had PDR before and don't know what it costs or what it can do. He believes that if the world understood what PDR could really do, the industry would need far more technicians than it currently has. [00:08] Story #1 — the Rome butcher shop  On a Rome food tour, tour guide Giordano brought the group to a third-generation butcher shop and deli open since 1970. The grandson running the tasting — passionate, animated, all-in on describing where the meat and cheese came from — is what stuck with Gene, more than the tour guide himself. EDITORIAL FLAG: “Giordano” is the tour guide's name as Gene said it on the recording — spelling unverified, please confirm before publishing.  [00:12] Story #2 — Francesco and the Chianti winery  On a Tuscany wine tour, the first winery felt rushed and unenthusiastic. The second stop, led by a guide Gene names as Francesco, was the opposite — passionate about the wine, the winery's concrete aging tanks, and the estate's aged balsamic and olive oil. Gene called out how engaging and infectious that passion was for the whole group. EDITORIAL FLAG: The winery owner is referred to only as “let's call him Michael” — Gene used this as a placeholder name, not a confirmed one. Also confirm the spelling of “Francesco.”  [00:14] Story #3 — Chef David's pasta class  In Florence, Gene and MeLissa took a pasta-making class with Chef David, who taught using his nonna's recipes. Gene singled out how contagious Chef David's passion for teaching was — especially his enthusiasm for pappardelle, which Gene says he'll now associate with the class for the rest of his life. [00:18] The challenge — more passion in PDR content  Gene ties the three trip stories together: what made each experience memorable wasn't the information, it was the passion behind it. He references a recent content challenge — the Great Yap Challenge, run by a coach he names as Jesse Jean — that taught him hooks and on-camera delivery techniques that improved his video performance. Gene is challenging himself and his audience to bring more of that raw passion into PDR content instead of just before-and-after shots. EDITORIAL FLAG: Coach's name given as “Jesse Jean” — spelling unverified, please confirm before publishing.  [00:20] The Maverick story  Gene shares a recent repair on a customer's newly-purchased Maverick with door damage. When he brought the customer out to see the repair before the door panel went back on, the customer asked for a hug. Gene uses this as the kind of moment he wants PDR content to actually capture. [00:22] PDR Marketing Minute — reviews (rerun)  This segment is a rerun of an earlier PDR Marketing Minute episode focused on reviews as modern word-of-mouth. The four places named to focus on: Google (My Business), Yelp, Facebook, and PDR Nation. The host in the rerun clip introduces himself by name. EDITORIAL FLAG: The rerun clip's host introduction is transcribed as “Gene Fedde” — corrected to Gene Fetty per house style before publishing.  Fresh commentary after the replay: Gene now says to focus mainly on Google reviews, since Facebook reviews are hard to find, PDR Nation no longer exists, and he's not a fan of Yelp. He also shares a tactic from his outside-sales days — screenshotting reviews, printing them at Walgreens, and handing out physical copies in sales folders — along with his standing advice to reply personally to every Google review. [00:27] Tool of the Week — Keco K-Power Gen 2  Gene's pick this week is the Keco K-Power line, with a focus on the Gen 2 full-size lateral tension tool. He prefers the full-size over the mid-size for shop use because it offers more reach, though he notes the mid-size is a better call for mobile techs. Key upgrades from Gen 1 to Gen 2 that Gene calls out: angled (rather than straight) legs for roughly three extra inches of reach on each side, and a replaceable set-screw pin design that fixes a failure point where Gen 1 units would break at the leg threads. He also walks through the tab strap attachments — glue-don't-glue markings, long and short straps, double-wide blades — and an adapter (included with the system) that lets the K-Power pull Black Plague straps (Gene refers to these as “Keith's straps”) for jam and return-edge pulls. EDITORIAL FLAG: Keco K-Power Gen 2 full-size lateral tension tool priced at $944.95 USD on kecotabs.com at time of research — web pricing can go stale, please confirm current price/availability before publishing. Black Plague strap pricing was not independently confirmed for blackplaguepdr.com/deadrattabs.com.  [00:32] Wrap-up — PDR Expo 2026 preview  Gene previews next week's PDR Expo 2026 (September 25–26, The Rio, Las Vegas). He'll be on the Friday morning round table and doing a cold glue talk with live car demonstrations on Saturday morning. He also mentions lunch plans in Las Vegas beforehand.

Episode 86 — Part 3 of the Mobile vs. Shop trilogy. Recorded from the Atlanta airport en route to a vacation in Italy. Gene covers the evolution of the shop over six and a half years: which add-on services worked, what the new location and build-out changed, the biggest operational mistakes, and how the approach to scheduling repairs has shifted. Intro — Live from the Atlanta Airport (00:00)  [00:00] Gene opens from the Atlanta airport, on the way to Rome with MeLissa. Frames this as Part 3 of the shop-vs.-mobile series — after Part 1 (shop vs. mobile comparison) and Part 2 (opening the shop, pitfalls and wins) — now covering what the shop has evolved into six and a half years in. ⚑ EDITORIAL FLAG: Transcript renders the name as "Melissa" — corrected to "MeLissa" per house style.  Adding the First Shop Tech (02:00)  [02:00] The first big evolution after opening the shop: bringing on Dave as a technician, which freed Gene up to work on the business instead of just in it. Gene notes he's bummed to have lost Dave as an employee but glad he's still around in the industry — calls it a catch-22. The shop is currently down a tech and actively looking for apprentices. Trying to Supplement the Shop (03:00)  [03:00] No matter the model — mobile or shop — bad weather kills demand. The team tried a few add-on services to diversify revenue during slow stretches, with mixed results. Add-On #1: Ceramic Coating (03:30)  [03:30] High margin, short learning curve — but the shop only had two real working bays, and coatings needed roughly 24 hours to cure. In bad Pittsburgh weather that meant tying up a bay for a full day, the opposite of the added production they wanted. Gene also says he never found a coating brand or warranty program he fully believed in. Ceramic coating was a no-go. Add-On #2: Paint Protection Film (05:00)  [05:00] Gene first tried PPF in Pittsburgh back in late 2006/early 2007 (around when Mack was a baby). Found a good product and got decent at installs, but struggled to sell it — customers balked at a $2,000–$3,000 full front wrap. Years later, with better patterns and materials, he and techs Dave and Jake gave it another shot: Dave picked it up quickly, but low volume meant the team stayed rusty, and selling it was still a fight. They eventually scrapped it a second time. [07:00] At an MTE round table, Matt Moore mapped out the numbers and found the runway to get a tech proficient and profitable in PPF was almost identical to the runway to train a new PDR technician — reinforcing the decision to invest in PDR talent instead. ⚑ EDITORIAL FLAG: "MTE" is used without expansion in the transcript — likely an industry round table/event name. Confirm the full name/spelling before publishing.  Add-On #3: Window Tint (08:00)  [08:00] An employee who wanted hands-on work rather than office tasks tried PDR first but didn't take to it. The team pivoted to window tint, found a trainer about two hours east, and brought in Dave and a team member for the full class, with Mack sitting in on part of it. Tint turned out to be the easiest add-on by far — short learning curve, cheap materials, low-cost mistakes. ⚑ EDITORIAL FLAG: Transcript names this employee "Dana" — spelling unverified; not previously confirmed in the roster. Please confirm before publishing.  [09:00] Mack eventually stepped up and took over tint, but once he got fully absorbed into PDR, there wasn't enough tint volume to justify a dedicated employee. The team dropped it as a service and now refers tint work out. ⚑ EDITORIAL FLAG: Transcript consistently spells this technician's name "Mac." Corrected to "Mack" per house style.  Growing Into the New Shop (10:00)  [10:00] The move went from roughly 1,500 sq ft total to a shop of about 1,700–1,800 sq ft, plus a customer area and a studio, with better parking and a better location. Location: Reachability vs. Walk-In Traffic (11:00)  [11:00] The prior shop had great reachability but poor walk-in visibility — Gene used to believe you could just advertise your way out of a bad location. The new shop sits on a main secondary north–south route in the South Hills, in a higher-income area with strong schools, next to a busy gas station, Sherwin-Williams, and other retail neighbors. Walk-in traffic matched six years' worth of the old shop's growth within the first week. The Build-Out (14:00)  [14:00] Unlike the short-term-lease first shop, this location came with a 5-year lease and first right of refusal for another 5 — a real runway to invest in the space. The building had 30 years of embedded mechanic-shop grease that took serious scrubbing (one door frame never fully came clean). The team built a proper customer lounge with bar-height tables, comfortable seating, Wi-Fi, plants, and a picture window looking into the shop floor, plus a dedicated studio space for filming and training separate from repair work. [18:00] Gene shares a story about a tricky one-inch dent on an Atlas that took roughly 15 passes to get flat, with the customer watching the whole repair through the shop window — and how being able to watch built trust even though the repair took longer than expected. Go Big If You Can Swing It (20:00)  [20:00] Gene's take: if the new shop's expense level had been attempted back in 2018, the business likely wouldn't have had the runway to survive while still learning the ropes on repairs and insurance workflow. His advice for anyone shop-shopping today is to go big if the numbers support it. The Estimates-Only Phone Mistake (21:00)  [21:00] A previous front-office employee, Jennifer, chose not to continue with the company when the team moved to the new shop. Shannon stepped into the front-office role. Early on, the team tried switching the phone close to a body-shop style — "come in for an estimate" instead of quoting over the phone. Gene calls it the second-biggest mistake in shop history (after a bad Google Ads outsourcing experience), driven by high no-show and cancellation rates on scheduled estimates. ⚑ EDITORIAL FLAG: Confirmed against the team roster: Shannon is front-office and non-technical, consistent with prior notes.  [23:30] The team re-trained on phone skills through Keith's phone skills course and moved back to quoting over the phone, which is working well now. Could AI Scheduling Be Next? (24:00)  [24:00] Gene mentions a peer, Dan ("the dent guy" in New York), who's testing a self-service scheduling window for estimates. Gene is intrigued by the idea of a customer-facing qualification chat/AI flow but isn't sold on it yet, especially after how badly the estimates-only phone experiment went. Holding Cars Longer (24:30)  [24:30] Over the last 18–20 months, the shop has shifted from trying to complete every car in a single day to holding bigger or more difficult repairs across multiple days. Benefits: a no-show doesn't wipe out a full day of revenue since the job is spread across days, and repair quality has improved because Gene isn't grinding through smashes while exhausted. He notes body shops rarely turn cars in a single day either. Wrap-Up (27:00)  [27:00] Gene signs off ahead of a vacation trip to Italy, noting the episode may get uploaded from Rome depending on Wi-Fi. Tool of the Week: DJI Mic Mini (27:30)  [27:30] Gene's pick this week is his own gear: the DJI Mic Mini and receiver. He keeps it on the workbench for quick run-and-gun videos where a phone mic alone isn't good enough, especially outdoors or in a noisy shop. The kit includes a charging case, chargers, magnets, and windscreens ("dead cats").