David Fermani
Forza Auto Salon
You’re leaving money on the table for others to pick up and run with! :sadwavey::rofl
I can’t help but to notice that several detailers both on various forums as well as ones in the S. Florida area bragging about only being interested in doing full corrections. They won’t even do a Wash N Waxes on their cleint's cars, Engine Details or an Interior. After all, we’re detailers doing detailing which consists of more that just making paint perfect. Whether you detail full or part time I personally think that it’s pretty narrow minded to only cater to people that want, or better yet need this extreme service :nono
In my opinion there’s nothing wrong with coaching a customer on their options based on theirs and their vehicle’s needs. Just because their vehicle suffers from moderate to heavy marring doesn’t mean that they only see value in a complete correction. I try warning my clients that going after every possible defect is ok, but not unless they are willing to modify their maintenance routine to cater to this new finish I’ll be creating. I feel there’s no point in someone spending several hundred or thousand dollars returning their car’s paint to optimal condition just to have it go right back to its prior state after a few crappy washes through the automatic car wash or from a less than stellar wash regiment.
Case in point, I had 3 clients contact me recently about correcting the paint on their vehicles. I immediately made the time to meet with them to inspect their vehicles. Each vehicle was somewhat swirled so I asked each owner what their expectations were. We also went over the finish with high powered light and I trained them how to inspect their finish and what the different types of defects were caused by, how they can be avoided and how they can be corrected. After giving them different opinions on what to expect from a 1, 2 and 3 step process they were giving the choice on what level of correction they’d fell most comfortable going with. In a few of the cases I explained that a good one step polish will offer decent correction with a pretty nice shine and that the remaining marring would only be noticeable under artificial light and/or from certain angles under close full sun inspection. I also gave them another option of doing a multiple step correction on the more visible horizontal panels with only doing a 1 step on the sides. To say they were delighted about my honestly was an understatement.
With another client I couldn’t help to notice their leather interior. I educated them about their leather and the condition it was in. They thought that using an all in one cleaner/conditioner that makes their leather shiny and soft feeling was the right thing to use. I forwarded them a couple of my interior detailing threads and they were immediately sold. It couldn’t have been made possible without offering more than just full correction services.
Bottom line, by not taking the time to coach your clients on their options (it's called upselling folks) rather than being insistent about what you want to do on their vehicles only narrows your audience and your income. I’d much rather do 2 or 3 $300-400 1 steps that take just a few easy hours than 1 $700-800+ multiple step/day correction. If someone is that busy with just doing these "perfection" corrections than more power to them, but if you’re interested in growing your business, it’s time to start thinking outside of the box if that matters at all to you. :think2 :53:
I can’t help but to notice that several detailers both on various forums as well as ones in the S. Florida area bragging about only being interested in doing full corrections. They won’t even do a Wash N Waxes on their cleint's cars, Engine Details or an Interior. After all, we’re detailers doing detailing which consists of more that just making paint perfect. Whether you detail full or part time I personally think that it’s pretty narrow minded to only cater to people that want, or better yet need this extreme service :nono
In my opinion there’s nothing wrong with coaching a customer on their options based on theirs and their vehicle’s needs. Just because their vehicle suffers from moderate to heavy marring doesn’t mean that they only see value in a complete correction. I try warning my clients that going after every possible defect is ok, but not unless they are willing to modify their maintenance routine to cater to this new finish I’ll be creating. I feel there’s no point in someone spending several hundred or thousand dollars returning their car’s paint to optimal condition just to have it go right back to its prior state after a few crappy washes through the automatic car wash or from a less than stellar wash regiment.
Case in point, I had 3 clients contact me recently about correcting the paint on their vehicles. I immediately made the time to meet with them to inspect their vehicles. Each vehicle was somewhat swirled so I asked each owner what their expectations were. We also went over the finish with high powered light and I trained them how to inspect their finish and what the different types of defects were caused by, how they can be avoided and how they can be corrected. After giving them different opinions on what to expect from a 1, 2 and 3 step process they were giving the choice on what level of correction they’d fell most comfortable going with. In a few of the cases I explained that a good one step polish will offer decent correction with a pretty nice shine and that the remaining marring would only be noticeable under artificial light and/or from certain angles under close full sun inspection. I also gave them another option of doing a multiple step correction on the more visible horizontal panels with only doing a 1 step on the sides. To say they were delighted about my honestly was an understatement.
With another client I couldn’t help to notice their leather interior. I educated them about their leather and the condition it was in. They thought that using an all in one cleaner/conditioner that makes their leather shiny and soft feeling was the right thing to use. I forwarded them a couple of my interior detailing threads and they were immediately sold. It couldn’t have been made possible without offering more than just full correction services.
Bottom line, by not taking the time to coach your clients on their options (it's called upselling folks) rather than being insistent about what you want to do on their vehicles only narrows your audience and your income. I’d much rather do 2 or 3 $300-400 1 steps that take just a few easy hours than 1 $700-800+ multiple step/day correction. If someone is that busy with just doing these "perfection" corrections than more power to them, but if you’re interested in growing your business, it’s time to start thinking outside of the box if that matters at all to you. :think2 :53:
. This could differ from country to country, based on different cultures. 
), and the panels are still *FAR* from perfect. There's just no way to get any given panel 100% etching/RIDS-free without taking the paint down below ~3mils (and I've thinned some of 'em that much, amazed me that I got away with it; sometimes I didn't get away with it). 
