Professional GPS Tracking & Recovery Poll

[Mr Gear]

Greetings Tuners,

As you know, GPS Experts CEO was killed earlier this year at the recovery scene of a stolen vehicle.

The business model used by some GPS retailers is a one time fee with free monitoring and recovery for life. As the scenario with GPS Experts has demonstrated, that is not a sustainable business model, the risks are too great to operate without professional recovery teams and teams cost lots of money. Relying on new sales every month to constantly pay for everyones "free service," is mathematical failure that can put the business and all the customers at risk and everyone loses.

A professionally run GPS tracking and recovery business must cover overheads every month and have personnel and vehicles on standby and on patrol even if no vehicle is reported stolen. This costs money for uniforms, fuel, vehicle installments, tyres, maintenance, firearms purchases, firearms training, insurance, bullet proof vests and the list goes on.

How much are you willing to pay each month for the protection of your vehicle with a reliable company?

Bear in mind that it is not possible to provide the service reliably for under $200.00 but options below $200 are still provided. The higher the fee the more patrol vehicles and manpower is available therefore the speed of recovery is quicker and the company can task more firepower to an event to effect a lockdown of the perps and get your car back more reliably.


Thank you for your participation. This poll will expire in 24hrs.

[Mr Gear]

By the way, feel free to post your comments/thoughts.

[hustla_ambition101]

Would pay 200 monthly if there is no need for recovery, more if they have to

[SUPAstarr]

200- 250 is reasonable. When I managed ebsl's division, they wanted to move past 250 for personal clients. Got a lot of resistance.

[TheBoostLord]

Once I could get a better rate for multiple vehicles(5+) then I would happily consider paying.

[X_Factor]

one of the major and established players in this field is car search so your pricing will have to start lower than what they charge since it will be a new business and you will want to attract customers
so find out what they charge for the service and work yours to suit

[Mr Gear]

X Factor, that would mean competing on price alone without consideration for the technological and managerial advantages that this GPS business has over other competitors. If there were no other competitive advantages I would say that your recommendation is spot on but in this case, there are many significant advantages over the competitive landscape.

[Yeo]

Alternative business model,

Pay for real-time GPS system,
"Should" the vehicle ever get stolen, pay a recovery fee, provide the GPS Co. with info on system (log-in comms id etc) so GPS Co. can then track and recover vehicle.

This way GPS Co. can outsource a "specialist recovery team" without having to keep them on a full-time payroll .. same for equipment.

[Soul Collector]

X Factor, that would mean competing on price alone without consideration for the technological and managerial advantages that this GPS business has over other competitors. If there were no other competitive advantages I would say that your recommendation is spot on but in this case, there are many significant advantages over the competitive landscape.

I can't exactly put a price on something that's not, well, say, tangible. I would need to know what kind of technological advances you have over the competition and would want to know every little detail before I decide on what price I think would be suitable for your service.

It can be the smallest of electronic devices I buy, or high end PC parts, I always do in depth research and make sure my money is well spent. I realize what you are trying to accomplish with this post but I can't say based off the lack of information.

TL;DR - I would not mind paying over $200 once the service provided seems worth it to me.

[SUPAstarr]

While that is an option. You depend on the availability an location of third party response teams. In house are so much better logistics wise. And It seems gear is referring to a live tracking system you can log in to anytime see real time, history speed limit those kinda things.

[Yeo]

referring to a live tracking system you can log in to anytime see real time, history speed limit those kinda things.

So am I, location information from website or mobile IOS app. GPS and cellular technology sends the location information to servers where you can access the information from anywhere Secured and in Real-Time.

Gear, what about also including alerts via text, email, and app notifications for location change, customized speed thresholds, and sudden movement or impact.. also the ability to set up a boundary warning... let's say you lend your vehicle to family/child, and they say they are only staying in the city, owner can set-up a boundary alert, so if the vehicle "strays" out of the area, owner will be alerted that the vehicle gone villa etc.

[X_Factor]

X Factor, that would mean competing on price alone without consideration for the technological and managerial advantages that this GPS business has over other competitors. If there were no other competitive advantages I would say that your recommendation is spot on but in this case, there are many significant advantages over the competitive landscape.

well i think technological advantages may be there for a short period of time since we live presently in a time where technology is out there for everyone, so while you may set up with an edge its only a matter of time before the field levels off...

as for the managerial advantage...thats different, since no one thinks the same and have the same ideas as another..so your advantage here should always be an advantage over the competition

what about having a contract with a reputable security company to provide assistance for the vehicle recovery?..and as your business grows you can acquire those things along the way to have your own personal tactical recovery team because the tactical and recovery part of the business will soak up a decent part of an investment (vehicles, manpower, firearms/paperwork will soak up a decent part of an investment)

its a really good idea, focus on the end result and what you want to achieve and the other things just some how fall into place

[*$kїđž!™]

Alternative business model,

Pay for real-time GPS system,
"Should" the vehicle ever get stolen, pay a recovery fee, provide the GPS Co. with info on system (log-in comms id etc) so GPS Co. can then track and recover vehicle.

This way GPS Co. can outsource a "specialist recovery team" without having to keep them on a full-time payroll .. same for equipment.

I like this idea...wouldnt mind paying a fee for recovery in the event of vehicle being stolen

[MG Man]

X Factor, that would mean competing on price alone without consideration for the technological and managerial advantages that this GPS business has over other competitors. If there were no other competitive advantages I would say that your recommendation is spot on but in this case, there are many significant advantages over the competitive landscape.

without stating what those advantages are, you just pullingshit outtyourass

[Mr Gear]

X-Factor, the team of Engineers that work for the backend provider are constantly conducting R&D and improving and updating on the developments that get the green light. In that way, they remain on the cutting edge of the industry.

Yeo, the alerts, geo fencing and speed thresholds are standard features and don't cost anything extra either.
With respect to paying for the system alone and then paying a recovery fee in the event of a theft/recovery, that business model simply won't work. It's like buying a car and only paying for theft insurance when the car is actually stolen. For that model to be viable, the theft recovery fee would have to be in the tens of thousands. With everyone paying a small fee, it will cover the cost of operation for those customers that experience a theft and lower the cost for everyone.

As for MG Man. Thanks for your contribution to the discussion.

[MG Man]

you disagree?
How can one decide what a service is worth, or compare it to what exists, if there is no proper breakdown for comparison?
Mine bess
What make it bess Dan?
It ha real bess ting in it
What kinda ting Dan?
Real bess ting jed
Buh George ting real bess too
Mine besser...it have more bess

[Yeo]

Yeo, the alerts, geo fencing and speed thresholds are standard features and don't cost anything extra either.
With respect to paying for the system alone and then paying a recovery fee in the event of a theft/recovery, that business model simply won't work. It's like buying a car and only paying for theft insurance when the car is actually stolen. For that model to be viable, the theft recovery fee would have to be in the tens of thousands. With everyone paying a small fee, it will cover the cost of operation for those customers that experience a theft and lower the cost for everyone.

Ahh, ok got it.

[Mr Gear]

MG Man, your argument is vacuous and irrelevant. This is a classic case of why people should mind their own business, in this case you.

The discussion you jumped in one was one of a theoretic construct concerning why simply charging less then the competition os not a solid strategy for a business determining it's own pricing. The alternative to simply trying to underprice the competition was offered as pricing based on value added, quality and other factors. You misinterpreted the nature of the discussion.

Let me now tackle your question, "How can one decide what a service is worth, or compare it to what exists, if there is no proper breakdown for comparison?" A consumer is not ever convinced by side by side comparisons or else we would probably all be driving the same model car and using the same tyres and wearing the same clothes. Side by side comparisons may have their place but it is not the sole factor used by people in their decision making. What a service is worth to a particular individual or group depends on many factors including frames of reference which in many instances has nothing to do with the actual product or service being offered. When companies use celebrity endorsements the influence on what a product is worth has less to do with technical comparisons than other factors that the consumer deems to be important to them. Therefore good Sir, you argument does not hold water here again. Furthermore, this thread was about what dollar amount the responders were willing to pay for a generic service based on already established frames of reference and product/service knowledge. It is with this baseline information that the new service provider can estimate consumer behavior and factor how much of a premium they may be able to charge given the advantages known only to the service provider at this point. Further polling and customer focus group sessions will further crystalize the thinking for the service provider.

Like I said before, thanks for your contribution.

[MG Man]

MG Man, your argument is vacuous and irrelevant. This is a classic case of why people should mind their own business, in this case you. .

public forum dan

and also

By the way, feel free to post your comments/thoughts.

[dredman1]

The description given and options for the poll make it somewhat vague e.g. "The higher the fee the more patrol vehicles and manpower is available therefore the speed of recovery is quicker". This is open to interpretation and personal perception.

To get results that are more meaningful, maybe give the options some more detail. E.g.

$350+ = 5-10 min response
$300 = 20 min response
$220 = 30 min response
$180 = 1 hour response
$100 = "Yeah we comin now dan..."

Just a suggestion to make the poll a bit more meaningful, since different people's perception of quick will be surprisingly different *shrugs*

[Mr Gear]

Cool dredman1. LOL @ $100

[Mr Gear]

The Poll is now closed. Thanks for your participation.