Quote:
Originally Posted by vtec92civic
During these slow times that our economy is in a downward slope people don't seem to want to spend a ton on their vehicles.
So i wanted to hear some ideas as to what people are doing to keep busy in the detail world.
I would like to do some sort of One Step service to at least give off some good results on some of the vehicles that i do . . . . but im open to everyone's suggestions on the matter.
What products would you use
What services would you include . . . . and
What would you charge
Most people just want a basic full detail but i'm not always happy in the end with the results since a lot of people here have swirled up cars.
Advice?
Thanks in advance.
|
Quote:
Originally Posted by vtec92civic
That's my point. We got some hacks locally. As im sure that most of you all have them too. I try my best to keep up with who is opening up shop etc. It's always nice to be on top of your competition you know . . . . . most of them end up going out of business.
People In this economy want cheap or free stuff. Like you mentioned above, how do you compete with that?
I guess education, professionalism and quality of work.
I need idea's as to what other forms of advertising would work. I'm working on a website right now but YELLOW PAGES is out of the question.
|
I think you answered your own question for the most part... Education, good marketing (of yourself, not your detailing business, if that makes sense) and quality work will get you far and keep clients coming.
As for one step services, this is what I offer, it's what has worked great for me and it is my main service, so take it for what it's worth.
I call it a Light Polish Detail. It's between a Wash&Wax and a Stage I Correction Detail on my list of paint maintenance/correction services. I do not use one-step products however, because I really see no need for it when a dedicated polish (M205 99% of the time for me) and a dedicated sealant/wax (KSG 99.9% of the time for me) will get me better results as far as finish goes and also protect longer than any AIO out there, for only an additional 20-30 minutes that it takes to apply/remove the LSP.
The most important part of offering the service is explaining to your clients what it is and explaining it well. You want to educate the clients that the one-step will remove light surface scratches/swirl marks and bring the paint color back to life, but it will not correct much of the deeper defects, especially since you need to balance correction with final finish (I lean toward final finish because I'd rather remove less swirlmarks and have no holograms than more swirls and leave holograms).
This has worked great for me in two ways...
One is that a certain amount of potential clients will opt for Stage I Correction simply because they want more correction from the paint as it's usually 'only' 1/4-1/3 of the LPD price (for example LPD for a 99 M3 is $300 and S1C is $400, so it's not too much more for a lot more correction).
Second way it's working great for me is a bit different, and one I actually prefer on most new clients' cars. Basically I market the LPD as a service for people who plan on keeping their cars for a longer period of time (3-4+ years) and recommend it once or twice per year. This way, say we start at paint being at 50%. Then let's say an LPD will make it 80% and S1C 90-95%+. Winter washing will take either back to 70-75%. Then another LPD after winter will make the previous car that got an LPD close to 90% because most of the old, deep swirls will improve and new ones will be very light and correct easily, and the car that got S1C will be around 90% once again. So the only downside is the client living with 80% instead of 90% for 6-8 months (not counting winter) but that's easily offset with spending less money and having more paint on the car, allowing more LPDs in the long run.
Hope that helps and makes sense haha.
Linear Mode
