What Constitutes or Defines Someone as a Professional Detailer?

Edited note by Original Poster (OP):
I had placed this thread topic in the Professional Detailer`s General Discussion sub-forum, but it got "buried" in its alphabetical listing rather than by date, nor did come up as a New Post, so I re-created this topic as a Post New Thread here in this General Detailing Discussion tab. Hope you will understand.


I get asked this question from time-to-time if I am a "professional detailer", which I am not. I am a hobbyist detailer, although my detailing results may mimic (and I do mean MIMIC) a professional`s.

So what constitutes or defines someone a being a professional detailer:
1) They have a business license or are registered as a Limited Liability Company (LLC)
2) They pay federal, state, and local income taxes quarterly and their full-share of Social Security
3) They have business insurance and can prove it to a client/customer
4) They have the experience (previous detailing job) or training (trade;tech school or detailing seminars) to be a professional
5) A building or van, if mobile (Yes, some one can run it out of their garage in rural areas. Many municipalities do NOT allow running businesses out of a residential home)
6) The necessary equipment to be a detailer, IE, power polishers, extractors, LED lights, steamers, Paint Thickness Gage
7) Professional-grade detailing products.
8) Business website
9) Detailing forms for pre-detailing vehicle inspections and estimates
10) Business paperwork for customer receipts
11) Ability to accept Paypal or other digital payment types
12) Professional personal appearance and business demeanor

I say this because there are so many `individuals" who would like to a be a money-making "business" and two of the easiest to get into are lawn-care and vehicle detailing because there is no state professional licensing that is required, so how do you determine who is really a "professional detailer". My barber who cuts my hair is licensed by the state of Wisconsin (its for health and personal safety reasons; I understand that).

What are your thoughts on what constitutes a professional detailer?

Several decades ago I worked to build a course for detailers who wished to be a "professional". First I identified what are considered "professionals" and interviewed close to a 100 of such, What path did all take to such, IE Medical, legal, accounting, mechanics. plumbers, electricians, engineers, etc. All required special tools, etc but those differed, what all found necessary was taking the same path---"education, which provided knowledge, which created diagnostic skills, which then produced the required process/procedure for correct results and last, but so important "continuing education". All required tools and such for their chosen career, once they began.

Detailing always seemed like a profession that if one doesn’t keep up with continuing education,he can easily be left in the dark. It appears to me that this is what separates the hacks from the real pros.

Skin in the game.

Simple for me, someone that bases their primary income from detailing cars. Some YouTube stars claim to be detailing pros but are actually just marketing pros.

Being a pro also doesn`t make you a competent detailer. An amateur can turn out better work than a pro as they may not have time constraints.

Also IMO a true detailer is much more than a paint polisher and a coating applicator. Don`t even get me started on the whack "correction" jargon.

I am NOT a "Professional Detailer," though I DO consider myself more than `just` competent, with more than a touch of work ethic. If I weren`t the DIY type, I would look at hiring a detailer with these characteristics, rather than someone with "degrees" in detailing. I use the same criteria when looking for someone to do work that I`m not able to do myself. Sure degrees, etc are nice to look at, but the bottom line is always "How well can they do what I`m paying them to do?"

Just MY OPINION, but *I* define a "Pro" as someone who has the talent, ability and ETHICS to do an outstanding job (whatever that job may be), regardless if they have Official Documentation saying they are a `Professional,` or not.

Sometimes, being really damned good at something rates higher than a Title.

Titles and degrees are indeed nice Continual education is a form of maintaining one’s excellence in his trade. I see it as important when it comes to detailing. Advances in the field have been made in recent years. These advances are significant enough that a good detailer has needed to adapt to them.Continual education makes that possible.

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Originally Posted by Bill D

Titles and degrees are indeed nice Continual education is a form of maintaining one’s excellence in his trade. I see it as important when it comes to detailing. Advances in the field have been made in recent years. These advances are significant enough that a good detailer has needed to adapt to them.Continual education makes that possible.

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Continual education AND PRACTICE are keys. I’ll take the guy with the practice over the guy with a pile of paper.

From the OP (Captain Obvious):
I did mention about the licensing of barbers to cut hair for safety and health reasons; doesn`t mean they are "competent" barbers and know every trick or technique to cutting or styling or perming/coloring hair, just that they know the safety and health procedural "best practices" and standards associated with them and are up-to-date- on recent chances to such "best practices" as determined by the state they live in and/or the beauty/barber shop chain they may work for.

That said, there is a lot of discussion, at least in the state of Wisconsin, on the need for such licensing because of the cost to the individual and bureaucracy of a state-run government agency to oversee it. What "value" does it offer the customer for an electrician or plumber who may do work for you. Isn`t the internet and e-business companies, like Angie`s List, a "better" evaluation in determining and defining of a professional`s abilities and workmanship? You can see the pros and cons of this debate based on the monetary cost to the individual and the need for"Big Brother" oversight by the government. I am more conservative on this and would like to see less government involvement for economic reasons, but it does offer a government-based verification on such professional individuals of their state-determined qualifications (IE, license and passing a test to receive that license) Some in the state of Wisconsin would like to see all professions require a license,especially cooks and bartenders. I do not agree with this because where does it stop; for vehicle detailers, lawn care personnel, house painters, photographers, farmers, clergy, fortune tellers?

There was some debate within this forum on having a state-approved license/certificate for vehicle detailers and if it brought any validation of or for a detailer. I am of the opinion it does not. BUT then again, by what criteria does this license validate; Years of experience, hands-on test, written test? Like I said, I can see it both ways. BUT in this day-and-age more professionals are evaluated on e-business review company websites then ever before and many customers/clients/consumers are making their choice to use that person or business based on such reviews, much more than just having a state-approved and required license/certificate. I see this within this very forum of Autopia members asking for a competent detailer in their area. Some things change with technology BUT they are dependent on that technology IF you trust that technology. But that is another topic discussion.......(Geeze Captain Obvious, I see a lot of "BUT"s in this last paragraph. Hmmmmm!!...)

The one thing licensing offers is the ability to revoke it. In practice someone has to be criminally bad to get to that point. I like the ideas of reviews and such but most are rigged. I had quite a few Yelp reviews deleted that were honest and factual.

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Originally Posted by Dan

Simple for me, someone that bases their primary income from detailing cars.

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This is how I would define it; people with a buffer and a power washer in their hands every day to put food on the table. All of the other things people have brought up regarding professional licenses/certifications/training attendance, staying current in the industry, high quality work results, etc is what makes a GOOD detailer. Big difference.

I`ve come across plenty of barbers, electricians, HVAC technicians, and other professionals of other types who owned a business and worked it every day, but they were terrible at it and the quality of their work was poor.

I feel the quality of my work is quite good, and I`ve even done a couple side jobs for money. I will never claim to be a professional by a long stretch.

Who cares. I would hate to be known as a professional anything

One who has the desire to do quality work on both the inside and outside of a vehicle.
One who has researched much, and determined what quality tools, machines, and products for cleaning, polishing, and maintaining the finish, are needed to achieve the best quality results.
One who has put in the time in years to continually perform the highest quality work.
One who actually enjoys working those long hours.
One who enjoys it when the Client sees their vehicle and says "That is not my car!!!" And it always is...
One who cares about people.

Dan F

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Originally Posted by Don;2196352
Just MY OPINION, but *I* define a "Pro" as someone who has the talent, ability and ETHICS to do an outstanding job (whatever that job may be), regardless if they have Official Documentation saying they are a `Professional,` or not.

[B

Sometimes, being really damned good at something rates higher than a Title.[/B]

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Very well stated, Don.
I have contended with management in the mechanical engineer field I worked in (past tense, emphasized), just compensate (pay) me for what I do according to the work and responsibilities I have and how well I do them. I am not interested in the title that the pay scale and the associated responsibilities they may fall in. Some accepted that, others stated you need to earn (IE, prove you actually do the work of the associated responsibilities) the title before the pay compensation was awarded. The later was one way to get work done without having to properly compensate an individual or keep them with a lower title and hence, lower pay scale.

I too see it as simply semantics: A Professional is somebody who does something for a living, who gets paid to do it.

"Professional" and "Expert" are not synonymous.

But hey, "languages evolve!" whether I like it or not, and maybe the two terms are considered less different than they once were.