The Profit Report - November 2006
Uview Ultraviolet highlighted its Terraclean fuel and emission cleaning system at the 2006 SEMA Show in Las Vegas.
Terraclean is generating unprecedented interest in the industry because of its use of modified gasoline instead of chemical detergents and solvents, and the wide nature of its benefits.
On Tuesday, October 31 Stephen Whate, Product Manager of Terraclean from Uview Ultraviolet officially received Terraclean’s Top 20 Tool Award from Motor Magazine.
The award further verifies the company’s claims of new benefits beyond those of traditional chemical treatments. It also shows that Terraclean is a new tool that allows technicians to solve customer problems and generate new revenues.
The award lead to a great buzz for the product at the show. New distributors were added, a large number of units were sold to shop owners and evaluations of the system was initiated at a number of OEMs.
The effects of the product’s higher profile in the press has been seen as sales of Terraclean products in the Chicago market for the last 3 months of fiscal 2006 are on pace to quadruple those of the same period in 2005.
Also announced at the SEMA Show was the launch of its new MIST ventilation system anti-mold and anti-bacterial service.
New Product Spotlight: Healthy Profits with MIST
As vehicle systems are engineered for longer and longer life the service industry has to develop new non-repair services that offer real value at lower price points.
Terraclean’s new MIST (Mobile Interior Sonic Treatment is just such a service.
A low cost machine introduces a very effective anti-bacterial, anti-mold treatment into the ventilation system. The system kills mold and bacteria and deodorizes the vehicle.
Professionals who use their vehicles for clients, and/or spend a majority of their time in their vehicle, the elderly and mothers with small children are expected to be the primary markets for this service.
Price point for the service is expected to be under $30, and can be completed in under 10 minutes. This is a service that can be sold to a customer more than once per year.
Mold and bacteria in the ventilation system of a 4 year old Porsche with 18,000 miles.
Customer Spotlight
Terraclean was approved by Merlin’s corporate equipment evaluation in February 2006. In April 2006 the system was introduced to the Merlin Store in St. Charles, IL.
Mike Geringer is a hands-on franchisee who is familiar with turning a wrench and he has been known to race a car or enter a truck pull on the weekends.
Mike is also the type of operator who is not interested in sales pitches. If you believe in your product, let him try it, and if it works he will make sure that he recommends it to his customers.
From May to the current time Mike has consistently been one of the top sellers of the Terraclean service in Chicagoland. His 5 bay shop outperforms far larger dealerships with more techs, writers and higher vehicle counts.
What do we attribute his success to? Knowledgeable techs, excellent counter help, a nice shop, and an owner who has seen the benefits of the product and genuinely wants his customers to enjoy those benefits. They don’t buy what you don’t tell them about.