What is the intent of The ProSquad?
The ProSquad® is an alliance of qualified Independent Service Companies providing professional and accessible service and repair alternatives to national service entities.
The ProSquad is a for-profit, Trade Alliance, owned and managed by select Independent Service Companies.
Many ProSquad members are proud and active members of Industry Trade
Associations and supports and contributes to ALL Industry trade shows and trade associations whenever possible and practical.
The ProSquad monitors it’s member businesses and activities to ensure that the services rendered are of the highest quality. Professional qualifications are maintained by Industry certifications, continuing education and contributions to various trade lists that provide research and technical information.
All complaints lodged with The ProSquad are carefully and fairly investigated. The ProSquad will remove any member who does not conduct their businesses to the stringent standards set for by The ProSquad.
How is The ProSquad going to be competitive?
- Branding The members will use the logos and service marks to be associated with the The ProSquad® brand in their websites and other forms of advertising. The ProSquad aggressively utilizes the internet search engines, paid tags, etc. to increase the visibility of the brand. The ProSquad will be offering clothing, decals, vehicle wraps, business cards and other such advertising materials through national providers. Members and stakeholders get very low internet hosting and web sites starting at $60 a year. (Additional services may be extra).
- The ProSquad Locator The locator, in addition to it’s primary function, contains a service request form to enable a consumer, TPA or manufacturer to request a service call 24/7. The ProSquad portal will compete with such paid search portals as tvrepairman.com, repair.com, etc. using the Looking Glass engine without the referral fee. There are no fees for ProSquad members or stakeholders.
- Industry Cooperation Many of ProSquad members are long time Industry veterans with many contacts within the manufacturer and extended service company Industry. Several are former Manufacturer employees.The ProSquad and it’s members utilizes this combined extended contact list to identify their needs to assist them in the accomplishment of their internal goals and work with them to find a resolution that is both cost effective for them and profitable for The ProSquad.Year-to-year changes can occur rapidly in product and support, as well as the consumers willingness to pay for products and services. What worked last year may not work this year. An example where we would work together could be an agreement limiting rates one year and recovering them the next. The ProSquad members have a cost of doing business, but our associates do as well. Another example would be assisting major companies with reducing their administrative burden and thereby reducing our servicers cost of doing business. This would allow us to keep reimbursements stable. Sometimes simple things can be changed that would have a large impact. There are many areas where cooperation can form a close partnership that would benefit all. Flexibility and trust between members and associates will be critical. As a group we work towards finding that win-win resolution.
- Boiled Frog™ Parts is a parts sharing website for ProSquad members who offer new unused or “green” inventory for sale to each other as well as non-member, registered service providers. It also has a database of interchangeable parts for substitution. For example Panasonic and Sanyo TV’s may use the same board but with different part numbers. This idea conceived and developed by Ron Freeman and named after his article in an Industry trade association publication. There are no fees for ProSquad members or stakeholders.
- Looking Glass® is a cloud/web-based application to manage service tickets, billing, AR’s, parts (with cradle to grave accounting), core returns and credits as well as analytics necessary to manage a service business. Looking Glass is integrated with both the ProSquad Locator data as well as Boiled Frog Parts. The basic platform will be free to full members, TPA’s and manufacturers. The locator uses the new ticket generator function from Looking Glass.
- The ProSquad provides very active Discussion Lists that cover subjects ranging from business to technical issues with few limitations. Rates and contract issues may be freely discussed on this forum. The ProSquad has enlisted Industry professionals such as parts specialist Michael Bisk who answer questions on compatibility and reaches out to retired industry veterans for guidance. The ProSquad also utilizes the services of directors and officers of other trade associations who are members of our Business List.
- No sponsors for events While the ProSquad makes every effort to be professional in all actions and communications, on occasion it may become necessary to offer open criticism of an industry partner. Since ProSquad receives no sponsorship money, there is no concern regarding the sensitivity of information contained in posts or any published articles that could affect The ProSquad financially since both are accessible only by service providers.
- Starting in 2014, there will be member and stakeholder group benefits that will include local advertising, various forms of insurance, credit card processing and more.