The All Access From Dent Repair Now

 SUMMARY  

A joint episode with the PDR College Podcast. Gene and Keith Cosentino dig into the original PDR College topic, pricing. When do you hold the line, and when do you deal to fill the shop? They also cover sales skills vs. price guides, why your estimator shouldn't be your technician, customer acquisition cost, the takeaway close, and whether chasing Brice Kelly-level perfection is worth it as a business owner. The episode closes with an archive PDR Marketing Minute on knowing your average ticket.      

TIMESTAMPED NOTES

RESOURCES

Take two. After losing the first recording to a muted mic, Gene gets real about the six things he struggles with as a PDR business owner, and how some of them turned into his biggest wins. Shiny object syndrome, focus, saying yes to everything, letting go of the work, switching it off, and perfectionism. Plus an archive PDR Marketing Minute on video marketing, and the new Dent Reaper Upper Brace Angels on Tool of the Week.

A quick personal note: Gene's mom is recovering from a difficult surgery. If you're the praying type, say a prayer for her. If not, send some good vibes her way.

TIMESTAMPED NOTES 

00:00  Cold open. Seventeen minutes into the first take, Gene realizes the mic was muted the whole time. Zoom warns you when you're talking on mute. Why doesn't this software?

02:12  Why this one's recorded Thursday night: the promise not to miss a week all year.

02:40  An update on Gene's mom and a request for prayers and good vibes.

⚑ EDITOR FLAG: I kept the mom update to one line with no medical details, as you approved. Delete it from the summary if you'd rather leave it in the audio only.

04:43  The shop is booked into December. A full schedule, and a weekend off that he needed.

05:25  Studio upgrades: the sign Keith Cosentino sent (now on a dimmer), a moved shelf, a new spotlight, the Reaper and the Porsche cup courtside, and red accent lighting. Some of it was inspired by the Dent Slayer podcast. Got lighting tips, James Ricci?

06:39  Last week's "When is enough enough?" episode hit home, including with several people outside PDR.

08:04  #1 Shiny object syndrome. Not just shiny tools, but shiny opportunities. A Google Ads management service for PDR? A PDR-specific CRM? "Focus, Gene." Gene is a quick start with weak follow-through, and he knows it.

09:52  Teaser: next week is a dual episode with Keith Cosentino of PDR College, dropping Monday on both channels. It's already recorded, and their pre-call produced its own shiny object.

10:33  #2 Focus. John Lee Dumas of Entrepreneurs on Fire uses the acronym F.O.C.U.S.: Follow One Course Until Success. A real-world example: at the end of last year Gene shut down AAI (Automotive Appearance Institute, his training-only company) and merged it into Dent Repair Now. With one brand to focus on, the content, followers, and email list all grew.

12:20  #3 Saying yes to everything. Every yes is a no to something else. Are you saying yes to the crazy hardcore repairs because they're good business, or because you've seen Brice Kelly, Arlison Guedes, or Jay Ma pull them off?

13:47  The flip side: a call from John Highley inviting Gene to advise PDR Nation. Then a yes to speaking at MTE alongside Myke Toledo and John. He hadn't given a speech since grade school and delivered a 20-minute talk in five. Without those yeses, there's no KECO relationship and no podcast. The takeaway: don't say yes to everything, don't say no to everything, and say yes to the things that make you uncomfortable.

16:14  #4 Letting go of the work. "Good enough and done is better than perfect and undone." Around 2010 Gene micromanaged his first full-time tech so hard it held that tech back. He did it differently with Louie, and it worked. The most freeing hire he ever made was someone to answer the phones. Someone whose whole job is the customer will do it better than an owner who's trying to get back to a dent.

⚑ EDITOR FLAG: On air, Gene credits the idea "if you wait till it's perfect, it'll never get done" to Jeff Bezos, and he hedges ("I think it was"). I couldn't confirm Bezos said it, so the written materials use Gene's own phrasing with no attribution. Add Bezos back if you want.

20:02  #5 Switching it off. Gene once took customer calls at Disney World. His trick now: when he gets home, he changes out of the Dent Repair Now shirt and any other dent shirt. Vacations should be required. Your dealers, your customers, and the body shops all take them. Also see the mindset episode from two weeks back, especially the abundance segment.

23:03  #6 Perfectionism. It's part of what makes us good at this crazy little job, and part of what holds us back. Be wise about what you ask of yourself.

24:25  PDR Marketing Minute #14 (archive). Use YouTube to educate customers and build a local-celebrity brand. Customers who call already convinced you can fix their dent are the best kind.

⚑ EDITOR FLAG: This Marketing Minute is an archive segment. The original plugs a PDR College webinar that's long over, so nothing here promotes it. Gene says the clip ran out of order: #13 airs on the Monday show.

27:21  If you don't have a YouTube channel, go get one. Gene wants James Ricci on the show to talk about how his PDR Jax channels blew up. The only way to get decent on camera is to put in the reps.

29:02  Tool of the Week: Dent Reaper Upper Brace Angels. A variation on the Hails Angels with an extra upward kick for reaching upper-door dents around braces. Alex Harken brought the design to Dent Reaper. It's a 3-piece set: a left and a right with pink handles, plus a straight-shaft universal (brown and black handle) with the same double kick. It has the same Hails Angels blade tip: "a soft push, a sharp push, all in one."

⚑ EDITOR FLAG: I couldn't load dentreaper.com to check the price. A-1 Tool lists the same 3-piece set at $259, so I left the price out. On air Gene hedges about Alex ("don't quote me on that"). A-1's product page confirms Alex Harken brought the design to Dent Reaper, so the notes say that.

32:01  MTE (Mobile Tech Expo) is February 11–13, 2027. Episode 100 is about six weeks out and will be live. Gene wants listeners on: DM, text, or email, but no faxes. Smoke signals are fine if you warn him first.

⚑ EDITOR FLAG: Episode 100 has no date yet. "About six weeks" puts it around mid-to-late December. Add the date and time once it's set.

RESOURCES 

Episode #93 — When Is Enough, Enough? 

No outline, no prepared notes — just Gene working through something that's been weighing on him. A big Phoenix hailstorm and a few conversations with friends who aren't sure they even want to chase it lead to a bigger question: what drives us to always push for more, and is the growth actually worth it?

00:00 — Intro & the New Background 

01:55 — Phoenix Hail 

02:20 — When Is Enough, Enough? 

09:55 — Capacity & Choosing Not to Chase 

11:30 — The Simplicity of a Tech in a Truck 

13:20 — Volume vs. Writing Each Car Right 

14:55 — Why No Show Yesterday 

15:55 — Throwback: PDR Marketing Minute, Episode 12 

18:55 — 10 Years Later: Owning Your Market 

21:05 — AI Search Is the New Frontier 

22:15 — New Tool of the Week: Milwaukee M12 Palm Nailer 

Milwaukee M12 Palm Nailer: https://www.milwaukeetool.com/products/details/m12-cordless-palm-nailer-tool-only/2458-20

A-1 Milwaukee 3 Piece Tip Set: https://www.pdrtool.com/products/dent-slayer-cold-snap-set-of-4-tips-copy

28:05 — MTE 2027 

28:45 — Wrap-Up 

Gene almost didn't record this week. Between his mom's broken leg, a surgery delayed by a day, and eight-plus hours in a hospital waiting room, he was running on fumes. But you don't only do it when you want to do it. So he sat down, and what came out was a rapid-fire tour of the mindsets he believes separate the techs who make it from the ones who don't.

00:00 Intro: what a week

Gene walks through Thursday's X-ray, Friday's 6 a.m. "my leg's broken" call, and Saturday's long surgery. Mom is doing well. A missed duck hunt and some bad Saturday cafeteria food were the price of admission.

04:30 Showing up when you don't feel like it

He nearly pushed the show. He doesn't phone episodes in, so the question became: what's the lesson here? The answer was mindset.

05:45 Mindset #1: There is no quit

Gene doesn't understand quit. He'll die on the hill first. He believes the reps it takes to learn PDR filter for people who don't give up, and he points to a story from last week's Dent Slayer episode: a group of techs at a restaurant after a toy drive got mistaken for veterans because they looked like a brotherhood that had been through war together.

08:45 "Whether you think you can or you can't, you're right"

The Henry Ford line, and the Little Engine That Could. If you think you can, you'll figure it out. If you think you can't, you'll find the reasons.

11:00 Doubting a dent, and why your price feeds your mindset

Even Gene looks at a dent and starts stacking doubts: tough access, deep, aluminum, sharp body line. He switches himself back to "you're gonna fix it." Then the tie-in to pricing, from the training at The Dent Demon with Derrick: sell a brutal edge repair for $1,200 and the end of a hard day one sounds like "I'm not making anything, I should be doing something else." Sell it near replacement cost (around $3,000) and that same moment sounds like "rough day, but it's coming back. Back-to-back $1,500 days doesn't suck." Same tech, same repair, different dollars behind the decision.

16:15 Zig Ziglar and the moral obligation to sell

Gene's favorite Zig Ziglar idea: if you truly believe in your product or service, you have a moral obligation to sell it. He admits he used to think he didn't need that because he "could sell." He couldn't. Once he wholeheartedly believed in PDR, he started walking out the door to every customer, hailstorm, and dealer from that place.

18:45 Believing in what you sell: the KECO system

Back when he worked for KECO, Gene still believed nobody had a more complete, well-thought-out glue pull system, and that made it easy to sell. He feels the same about DRN's work. Find your moral belief in what you do, and you can't be stopped.

21:15 Mindset #2: Scarcity vs. abundance

Scarcity says hide it, don't show anybody. Abundance says there's enough for everybody: the more techs out there, the more people find out PDR exists. Gene says every decision he made from scarcity or fear went bad, and every time he trusted abundance, he won.

23:00 Chris White and the KECO Tabs 10th anniversary

Gene met Chris White at a seminar and got invited as his guest to a training in Oklahoma City, followed by the KECO Tabs 10th anniversary celebration. (KECO Inc. itself just hit 60 years; the tab and body repair division started in 2009.) He booked the flight that day. Chris's abundance-focused speech stuck with him, and Gene credits that mindset as part of KECO's growth. He announced on-air that he's going to get Chris on the show to tell how they hooked up.

25:45 Mindset #3: Burn the ships

The pirate flag on Gene's bay wall says "Burn the ships." Land on the island, burn the boats, and now it's win or die. Nobody's actually dying (you can always call Dent Wizard or CarMax), but going all-in changes how hard you fight. MeLissa is the backup-plan person. Gene is not.

28:45 Mindset #4: The Gene Fetty effect

MeLissa, Dylan, Dana, Shannon, and Mack named it: Gene expects things to work, and they usually do. Customers come in, the computer gets fixed, it works out.

30:30 The Amsterdam airport story

Coming home from Venice on KLM, a delay blew their Amsterdam connection. Kiosk offered tomorrow. A number-and-line desk sent them through passport control (where Gene's passport wouldn't scan) to Delta, which was literally taking the open signs down. What MeLissa didn't know: their daughter had a surprise 25th anniversary party set for the next day. One extremely nice Delta agent and about ten minutes of keyboard-banging later, they had a flight to Boston that night and Pittsburgh the next morning.

⚑ REVIEW: Your daughter is transcribed as "Elena." Confirm spelling. I only used "our daughter" in the public copy.

36:00 Throwback: PDR Marketing Minute #11

An old-school Marketing Minute on professional image: a clean modern website, a real uniform (no cutoff camo shorts and flip-flops), a clean vehicle, organized tools, and a welcoming voicemail. Treat your business like a franchise and people will ask which franchise you bought into. Gene notes Derrick and Grace at The Dent Demon get that same question.

40:30 Tool of the Week: Finesse #155w & #154w

Two 7" long, 3/16" diameter hook T-handles from Finesse, sold separately. Gene's purple-and-black one gets the most use (his first one, a yellow-and-black "Bumblebee," dates back to when Louie started). Great through brace holes, in through the end of the door at the handle-release plug, out to the edge, and up through drain and weep holes. Tiny tools, a ton of drive.

⚑ REVIEW: On air you read "155W" clearly and guessed the second as "154 or 159." Your link confirms #154w. Both listed at $40.00 and in stock as of Oct 18. The site also shows a Black Friday banner (10%/15% off, 11/23–11/27) that may be last year's, so I didn't mention a sale. Corrected "Bonnie" to "Bonnee," which is how the Finesse site spells it.

43:45 MTE and PDR Life updates

MTE is coming up and Gene is speaking on glue pull again. Thanks to everyone who's given feedback on the new PDR Life beginner podcast.

t's Wednesday night and Gene's just now recording — but the weekly streak doesn't break. Here's what's in this one.

00:00  Intro — the streak survives — Episode 100 is in sight, and Gene isn't missing a week to get there.

01:00  Fort Lauderdale: The Dent Demon — A few days with Derrick and Grace for advanced training plus a 20 Group mastermind meetup. The crew included Jack Bucknell, Jon Videen, the Dent Reaper, and Nick Prang from Michigan.

⚑ EDITOR FLAG: Verify spellings: "Jack Bucknell" (and the "Woo man" nickname — keep or cut?), "Nick Prang," and the real name or handle for "the Dent Reaper." None are in the show-links list.

02:00  Sales coaching with Grace — Grace runs the shop side at The Dent Demon while Derrick handles wholesale. Gene spent a day walking her through his customer-interaction and price-anchoring techniques.

03:00  The one-sentence anchor — On significant damage, before quoting anything, Gene asks in passing: "Have you talked to your insurance company yet?" Without saying a number, it tells the customer this isn't a cheap fix. Delivery matters — casual, not loaded.

05:00  Advanced training recap — Carrier plate R&I (a BMW made the glass interesting), lateral tension and unfolding hard-hit metal, sharp creases, shrinky box, aluminum, under-brace and edge repair. Shout-out to Derrick's techs Andy and Paul, and a shop with a seriously good customer lounge.

⚑ EDITOR FLAG: Confirm "Andy" and "Paul" as the Dent Demon techs. A late-night bar story was mentioned as not podcast-friendly — intentionally left out of all notes.

08:00  Teaching week & PDR Life launch — An advanced collision glue pull class, interviews with potential hires, and the launch of the new PDR Life podcast — 10 episodes on getting into PDR, released all at once. pdrlifepodcast.com

10:00  Listener of the Year: James — A friend and client tagged Gene on Facebook listening to the All Access drop at 7 AM — from the hospital room, the morning after his baby was born. Congrats to James and family.

12:00  PDR College: the labor-rate card — Keith's solo episode on a hard dealer repair with no price set up front. Gene's favorite move in that spot: "What's your shop labor rate? I'll just match it." Two hours at $200 is $400 — and it's hard for the dealer to argue with their own rate. Required listening if you do wholesale.

⚑ EDITOR FLAG: Gene said "I'll see if we can drop a link" — need the URL for this week's PDR College solo episode.

15:00  Dent Slayer w/ Jeremy Nadeau — Matt Boyette and James Ricci talked content: pushing dents is right-now money; making content is building the commercial that brings future work.

Listen: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-dent-slayer-podcast/id1763729902

16:00  Play the long game — Dent Repair Now's philosophy from day one: lose a job, lose an account, take one on the chin — the long game always wins.

17:00  Model Y week & the gear trap — Three '26 Model Ys in the shop. Gene admits he gets hung up on multi-cam setups and mics. Meanwhile Mack's phone-shot "my ladies" video is past 42,000 views.

Go give Mack's "my ladies" video some love — find it at @dentrepairnow on any social channel.

20:00  Shooting a PSA in real time — Gene walks through the exact Model Y video he shot: hook to camera, flip to the dent, show the buckling inside the aluminum panel, call to action, done. The '26 liftgate is a redesign and doesn't crown up like the '25-and-older.

22:00  Shoot now, edit later — Even if you can't edit, capture the clips. Edit and schedule them when things calm down.

23:00  PDR Marketing Minute #10 — Marketing is everything that happens before the sales call. Take an educational approach so customers show up primed to buy. Gene points to Brice Kelly's edge-repair video as a model.

⚑ EDITOR FLAG: This Marketing Minute is a replay from ~10 years ago (the "hailstorm came through town" line is from then). Gene skipped #9 on Yelp. Confirm Brice's YouTube channel is "CFL Dent Repair" and add the edge-repair video link if you want it.

25:00  Education in the age of AI — Gene's take today: educational content matters even more now, because AI tools like Claude, Gemini, Grok and ChatGPT pull from it. An educated customer is the best customer.

27:00  Tool of the Week: Super Straight tabs — Shannon's pick. Black Plague's Super Straight tabs lock into a pyramid-shaped adapter to force a straight pull — and the straighter you pull, the stronger you pull. Thin-face green and thick-face yellow. Not an everyday tab, but nothing pulls a sharp dent sharper.

⚑ EDITOR FLAG: Pricing (blackplaguepdr.com, checked Oct 14, 2026): Super Straight Glue Tab System $229; individual tab packs $31.99; Puller Adapter $24.99–$25.99; Puller Kit (closed & open) $45; Robo Legs $49.95 (listed sale from $149). Confirm before publishing. Gene also said "deadrattabs.com" as a backup URL — verify it resolves.

31:00  The stretched-tab effect — Veterans know it (even Chris at KECO can't explain it): a tab that stretches without breaking pulls better than anything else from the same box. The Super Straights pull like they're pre-stretched — one-pull results on a sharp door ding.

34:00  Housekeeping — PDR Life is on YouTube, Apple and Amazon (Spotify pending). MTE is about three months out. Anson's toy drive and open house is October 24 — Gene's sitting this one out after a travel-heavy year.

⚑ EDITOR FLAG: Confirm PDR Life Spotify status before publishing.

35:00  Episode 100 goes live — The 100th episode will be a live stream, likely a weekday evening, with listeners joining in. Want on? DM, text or email Gene.

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 device or shop Wi-Fi (same IP = blocked reviews), don't trade reviews with other techs (Gene watched five-star reviews disappear and ratings drop), don't pay or discount for reviews, and don't have family pile on with your last name. 

32:10  Revisiting review advice in 2026 

The review system pitched in that episode no longer exists. But Dan Rechichi, a dent guy out of Rochester, NY, put it into play years ago and is now in the 700–800s of reviews. Gene's updated take: the Wi-Fi/IP point still holds, never pay for reviews (it kills credibility with customers who already doubt that many five-stars), friends and family are fine if spaced out and real, and review trading is still scary. Do good work, be diligent about asking, and let a CRM chase reviews automatically. DRN sits at 350-some Google reviews and roughly 500 across the internet. 

EDITORIAL FLAG: pdrmarketingminute.com is mentioned in the replayed audio, but Gene says the review system no longer exists. Recommend NOT linking it. 

35:15  Tech tip: when to send review requests 

Text review requests right after dinner, when everyone's on the couch with their phone. Email works in the morning; don't text in the morning. 

36:15  Virtual soft-skills seminar — want it? 

Gene loves hearing from listeners — it means a lot. He's been teasing a soft-skills seminar (sales, marketing, AI, business, advertising, CRM), but an in-person event is expensive and logistically heavy for everyone. The idea: a five-day virtual version, live once a day with Q&A, plus replays and notes on the back end. Physical skills can't go fully virtual; soft skills can. Reach out and tell him if you'd sign up. 

40:10  MTE: just go 

MTE is a handful of months out. Wondering how to network better? Go to MTE. That's the answer. 

Mobile Tech Expo: https://www.mobiletechexpo.com 

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.

02:00 - Shout-outs 

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 

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 

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:

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?

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 

19:15 - Coming up 

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.

23:45 - Gene on reviews today 

 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").