Do you tip your detailer?

[Mike Phillips]

Do you tip your detailer?


I actually found a thread on CorvetteForum on this topic and because it`s a topic I`m a little bit passionate about I thought I would create a thread on the topic and that way I could share what I posted on CorvetteForum.


If you hire detailers... this thread is for you...
This is mostly for all the people that read AutogeekOnline that hire detailers to detail their cars, it`s not really for detailers. So if you`re a member or a lurker reading this and instead of doing all the work it takes to detail your own car, you hire someone to detail your cars. Then this is for you and the emphasis is less on tipping your detailer and more on giving them some pro-active word-of-mouth advertising.

The question that came up on CorvetteForum was,


Do you tip your detailer?


And here`s my reply...


For whatever it`s worth...

I`ve never paid to have any of my cars detailed as I`m a detailer. But I make it a practice in life to tip generously anytime I get great service and especially if the place I`m at is a place I frequent on any kind of regular schedule, for example a favorite restaurant. I find it insures continued top notch service and if the person taking care of me is genuinely doing their best and usually their very best, I like to recognize it.

When I detail cars, I always pour my heart and soul into the job; I quit doing daily drivers probably a week or two into my detailing career as I was lucky to somehow continually meet owners of "Special Interest" cars and get their business.

Point being while I might pour my heart and soul into a daily driver, it wouldn`t be the same as pouring one`s heart and soul into a really cool 1959 Corvette for example when you machine compound and polish every square inch of paint on the car...


If it has paint... it gets polished...

This is me wiping M16 off the lower panels of a 1959 Corvette after doing a multi-step rotary buff-out.



But regardless of whether you`re paying a detailer to work on your Toy, (whatever it might be), or your Grocery-Getter, even after agreeing on a set price, if they do a good job, give them a tip.

Most detailers I`ve known in my life detail cars because they have a passion for the craft, rarely do I ever meet anyone that`s doing this kind of work only motivated to make a buck.

So if your detailer does a good job, tip them. If they do an out-of-this-world GREAT job, then let them know, not only tip them but make the transaction an over-the-top win/win deal by giving them some word-of-mouth business.

If they do a great job for you, chances are very good they will do a great job for your buddies and if you buddy`s cars look like Swirl City, definitely,


Ask your detailer for a few extra business cards and do a little pro-active promotion of their business for them.


A tip is nice, heck I`ll do a cartwheel in the front yard if I get a tip, but most detailers live or die by word-of-mouth-advertising and most are not very good about asking for referrals, so step up to the plate and help them out a little if you`re in a position to, like at the next club meeting when you notice your buddy Steve`s 1972 Corvette looks nice except for all the swirls in the paint.


Pay it forward...

[Mike Phillips]

In addition...

My good friend Rasky pointed out that better than a tip is for the owner of the car to take a moment to post their experience to a forum, either the forum where they hang-out or the forum where they discovered their detailer.

Discussion Forums have become very powerful marketing tools that detailers can use to gain new customers but one of the most powerful aspects of marketing on a discussion forum is when a Detailer`s customer posts some Cyber-Word-Of-Mouth Advertising for them in the way of a thread.

Thanks Rasky!