Anyone offering a low-budget package?

T

tssdetailing

New member
I think that high gas prices are negatively effecting my customer's willingness to have their cars serviced. I offer some rather complex packages, even my 'low end' (stage 1) is comprehensive and comes with a heavy price (175/car, 195 SUV). I always wanted to appeal to car-savvy individuals and use higher prices as a way to turn-away trashed/beater cars. But when I review my website traffic and see 20± daily hits it's making me wonder if it's time to offer an "economy" package for the budget-minded client?





My goal is to offer an economy package for about $125 that i can easily line up 2 in a day, not spending more than 3-3.5 on a vehicle (not including set up/tear down). The dilemma for me is that I really don't know how to "hold back" or skim over a car. I like restoring the vehicle to a nearly-new finish. I would love some suggestions on where/what I can skip that won't result in a customer thinking they got a raw-deal?
 
I wouldn't necessarily go into it with the mentality of "cut corners as much as possible." The first thing to do is take the opportunity to evaluate your operational efficiency and workflow. Would setting your equipment up in a different way make it easier and faster for you to find what you're looking for in the middle of a job? Maybe upgrading or changing your equipment so jobs don't take as long, or so you're not having to touch surfaces multiple times because the next step re-soils what you just cleaned?



Once you've managed to optimize the way you do your work, you might find that your costs go down or your productivity goes up to the point that you can pass some savings on to customers. Doing this also will help you to identify all the "little things" you do and come up with a natural conclusion about items you can skip without affecting the things that matter most to your customers (major touch points, high-visibility areas). For example truck/SUV/van roofs get AIO-only instead of being multi-stage polished like the rest of the paint, etc.



Also, do a little market research. Ask your customers what matters to them the most. Not everyone will give the same answer of course but if you see any glaring trends, you will know where to plan on spending the majority of the limited time you give yourself.
 
Lowering my prices made me more money than before. I'm anxious to hear David F's and Barry's as well as others theories' on this as there's a few on this forum who have really mastered both the "detailing" and "business" side of things. It's an incredibly interesting topic to me.
 
I to am considering this very same thing. My economy package would include a complete detail w/o the buffing and polishing 3 step process, instead i would use a one step cleaner /wax . Alot of the more economy customers i have been getting always ask me " does my car need to be buffed and polished or would just waxing it do the trick ?" My mentality and reply was usually yes and then explain to them why and hope they go for it. Now im starting to think that it has cost me some jobs because i charge 175.00 for the complete detail with buffing/polsihing . Besides if i can do 2 economy jobs per day at 125 per car vs one car at 175.00 im making more money. Great advice by the way on efficiency Mr. Hahn
 
shineon said:
Alot of the more economy customers i have been getting always ask me " does my car need to be buffed and polished or would just waxing it do the trick ?" My mentality and reply was usually yes and then explain to them why and hope they go for it. Now im starting to think that it has cost me some jobs because i charge 175.00 for the complete detail with buffing/polsihing . Besides if i can do 2 economy jobs per day at 125 per car vs one car at 175.00 im making more money.
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I don't think there's anything wrong with that approach; it's good business to always *try* to upsell your customer into more corrective polishing, but it's also important to acknowledge that not every customer is concerned about a polished finish. You might try modifying your approach to say that yes, it needs to be polished in order to remove swirls/scratches and improve the overall look of the finish, but if all the customer is looking for is to keep it protected and prevent further deterioration a simple coat of sealant/wax will get them where they want to be.



Great advice by the way on efficiency Mr. Hahn
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Thanks.
 
I have a $99 Basic Detail, $125 for SUV's and larger vehicles. I used to call it an Express Detail but people thought that meant quick like 30 minutes so I changed the name. This detail has a 2 hour cap for cars and 2.5 hrs for the bigger stuff. It's pretty basic as the name implies but it's my most popular package. I used to take an hour longer on these than I do now so I think it fits what you are looking for. The reason I take an hour less now is because after doing over 500 cars in the past year for my LivingSocial deal for this package has made me incredibly efficient without sacrificing quality. This is basically what I do:



ONR wash/clay lower panels while still wet

Use a wax-as-you-dry spray wax, spray on while still wet and dry/buff

Hit the door and trunk jambs with ONR

Hit the wheel wells with Purple Power

Clean up the wheels (seriously stuck brake dust is extra cost to customer due to extra time spent)

Dress tires

Clean windows in/out

Wipe dash/panels/console/all plastic parts with APC

Blow out and vacuum interior and trunk

Wash rubber floor mats



That's pretty much it and people love it.



When I first started doing these types of details I had a real hard time holding myself back from doing more work than what was included. After time you get used to it and learn what most customers would be expecting. Take a few minutes to explain before the detail that it's not going to make the car look brand new like a major detail, but it will be clean and shiny. And that's what the majority of the public is looking for, clean and shiny.
 
ExplicitDetails said:
I have a $99 Basic Detail, $125 for SUV's and larger vehicles. I used to call it an Express Detail but people thought that meant quick like 30 minutes so I changed the name. This detail has a 2 hour cap for cars and 2.5 hrs for the bigger stuff. It's pretty basic as the name implies but it's my most popular package. I used to take an hour longer on these than I do now so I think it fits what you are looking for. The reason I take an hour less now is because after doing over 500 cars in the past year for my LivingSocial deal for this package has made me incredibly efficient without sacrificing quality. This is basically what I do:



ONR wash/clay lower panels while still wet

Use a wax-as-you-dry spray wax, spray on while still wet and dry/buff

Hit the door and trunk jambs with ONR

Hit the wheel wells with Purple Power

Clean up the wheels (seriously stuck brake dust is extra cost to customer due to extra time spent)

Dress tires

Clean windows in/out

Wipe dash/panels/console/all plastic parts with APC

Blow out and vacuum interior and trunk

Wash rubber floor mats



That's pretty much it and people love it.



When I first started doing these types of details I had a real hard time holding myself back from doing more work than what was included. After time you get used to it and learn what most customers would be expecting. Take a few minutes to explain before the detail that it's not going to make the car look brand new like a major detail, but it will be clean and shiny. And that's what the majority of the public is looking for, clean and shiny.
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That is exactly what I'm talking about. So what do you do if there are big stains on the carpets/floormats? do you just vac over them and shrug it off? Do you make any attempt? When you are doing the prelim walk through-do you point to them and say "that will be $$$ extra to clean?" Finally are you working alone or with another person?
 
tssdetailing said:
That is exactly what I'm talking about. So what do you do if there are big stains on the carpets/floormats? do you just vac over them and shrug it off? Do you make any attempt? When you are doing the prelim walk through-do you point to them and say "that will be $$$ extra to clean?" Finally are you working alone or with another person?
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I tell them that since there's no shampoo or steam cleaning stains will not be removed, but that can be added as a separate service if you would like. If they so no thanks then I pay no attention to them. Same for the exterior, I tell them it will be clean and shiny but all the scratches will still be there. If they would like it polished, compounded, anything else, that's a separate charge. They can upgrade to a better wax as well. I also point out any faded headlights and let them know I can restore those as well. And anything else along the way that I can try to upsell if the car needs it.



Sometimes alone, sometimes with another person. If I'm working with someone else it tends to take about 1/2 - 3/4 the time to do the detail, depending on what kind of condition the car is in.



It's really really hard to just skip over stains and scratches when you're used to taking care of them. It still drives me crazy giving back a car with stains and scratches still in it but that's what the customer wants or what their budget is so that's what you have to do.
 
ExplicitDetails said:
I have a $99 Basic Detail, $125 for SUV's and larger vehicles. I used to call it an Express Detail but people thought that meant quick like 30 minutes so I changed the name. This detail has a 2 hour cap for cars and 2.5 hrs for the bigger stuff. It's pretty basic as the name implies but it's my most popular package. I used to take an hour longer on these than I do now so I think it fits what you are looking for. The reason I take an hour less now is because after doing over 500 cars in the past year for my LivingSocial deal for this package has made me incredibly efficient without sacrificing quality. This is basically what I do:



ONR wash/clay lower panels while still wet

Use a wax-as-you-dry spray wax, spray on while still wet and dry/buff

Hit the door and trunk jambs with ONR

Hit the wheel wells with Purple Power

Clean up the wheels (seriously stuck brake dust is extra cost to customer due to extra time spent)

Dress tires

Clean windows in/out

Wipe dash/panels/console/all plastic parts with APC

Blow out and vacuum interior and trunk

Wash rubber floor mats



That's pretty much it and people love it.



When I first started doing these types of details I had a real hard time holding myself back from doing more work than what was included. After time you get used to it and learn what most customers would be expecting. Take a few minutes to explain before the detail that it's not going to make the car look brand new like a major detail, but it will be clean and shiny. And that's what the majority of the public is looking for, clean and shiny.
Click to expand...



I am not a full time detailer but this is my method to the tee, alot of people do not care or maybe do not even see that their vehicle could use more. I am sure like everywhere most people in Savannah Ga. idea of a detail is a wash'n'wax and slick up the tires. They just want it to shine, alot of times if you mention paint correction/defect removal they give you the lost stare. But hey do a tidy job no matter make the customer happy and educate them along the way and you will get them interested in your other services.-Jamie
 
Hey Rich I actually have a package I call my Express Detaill which is very similar to yours and I find I can get it done in 45mins on average or 1 hour on something like a Tahoe. Over 92% of the livingsocial vouchers Ive done have given me a thumbs up for that very simple package. I wash cars with steam and pre spray the whole thing with onr mix then wipe down the interiors with dry vapor steam, quick wipe down of the door jambs a vacuum and then windows. That might save you sometime on your vouchers.
 
I think as long as you are leaving the car in better physical condition than received (unlike most any swirl them up place) and the customer is happy there should be no need to be ashamed of not doing a full restoration. You can either go after what the customer wants or find customers that will pay you to do what you want.
 
Sorry for the rookie question here peeps but what does ONR mean and what does it do . I saw it listed in some of these packages we have been talking about.
 
shineon said:
Sorry for the rookie question here peeps but what does ONR mean and what does it do . I saw it listed in some of these packages we have been talking about.
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ONR = Omptimum No Rinse. It's a rinse-free solution used to wash cars without running water. Do a search and you will find tons of info on it.
 
jose206 said:
Hey Rich I actually have a package I call my Express Detaill which is very similar to yours and I find I can get it done in 45mins on average or 1 hour on something like a Tahoe. Over 92% of the livingsocial vouchers Ive done have given me a thumbs up for that very simple package. I wash cars with steam and pre spray the whole thing with onr mix then wipe down the interiors with dry vapor steam, quick wipe down of the door jambs a vacuum and then windows. That might save you sometime on your vouchers.
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Thanks for the tip. Unfortunately my steamer doesn't have the power to do much heavy work. When I get a better steamer I will have to give that shot. I think I could knock more time off my basic details just by working a little faster, but I have been taking my sweet time on these livingsocial details so I don't burn myself out. My deal expires in less than 2 weeks, can't wait!
 
For my more basic packages I avoid the temptation of doing "extra" work by not using the equipment that I would use for a more complete package. IE. If shampooing is not included the shampooer/vapor cleaner doesn't get plugged in. My big weakness was always getting the interior wipe down perfect even on a basic detail which ended up costing lots of lost, un-billable time. I solved the problem by resisting the urge to break out the air compressor. Without compressed air I can spend less time cleaning and the results are on par with what the package promises.



I don't like to sacrifice quality but when the customer is paying for a cheesburger I can't afford to give them steak.
 
Question. Do customer ever feel like they are being nickel and dimed to death with all of these upsells? Maybe it is just my area, but I think my customers respond better to a more expensive package that is all inclusive vs. a cheaper package that you have to keep adding onto. I'm not trying to say anyone here is doing it wrong, since obviously it's working for them, but I just wanted to hear some thoughts on this.
 
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