Are you sure you want to get involved with dealership work?
RETAIL CUSTOMERS
The retail market is made up of individuals who either own or lease their vehicles. Almost all retail work is usually considered 'Maintenance Detailing'. That’s because the cars are almost always detailed on a regular basis. Retail customers usually get their cars detailed at least two times a year.
A 'Maintenance Detailing' usually takes about four hours to complete. That’s about two hours less time per vehicle than wholesale. Compared to wholesale work, you will be able to generate more income revenue per vehicle with retail customers. Two hours less time and more income revenue per vehicle.
In the beginning you may not have the volume of retail vehicles, however, that will quickly change as you grow your business. Building a retail customer base takes time and effort. And you only gain one retail customer at a time.
With retail customers, you will be able to offer incentives to existing customers in order to gain new customer referrals. Each and every retail customer will ultimately have the final word on whether or not the quality of your work is acceptable.
The two major advantages of doing retail work are:
1– Two hours less time per vehicle.
2– More income revenue per vehicle.
WHOLESALE CUSTOMERS
The wholesale market is primarily made up of car dealers and leasing companies. Almost all wholesale work is considered 'Re-conditioning Detailing'. That’s because the cars needing to be detailed have either been taken-in as a trade, or have been purchased by the dealer, at an auction, for re-sale. A 'Re-conditioning Detailing' can take about six hours to complete. That’s about two hours more time per vehicle than retail.
If you’re considering doing wholesale work, remember, the price that dealers are willing to pay, will usually be less than half of what you can charge for retail work. What this means is that although you will have a greater quantity of work, you will generate less income revenue per vehicle. Two hours more time and less than half the income revenue per vehicle.
With a greater quantity of work, your daily scheduling could start to be determined by the dealer. This could affect your overall business scheduling.
When you do wholesale work, you’ll usually be dealing with one person at the dealership who is responsible for having the cars detailed. That person will also have the most input as to whether or not the quality of your work remains acceptable.
With wholesale work the car dealer is usually focused on quantity, however, if the quality of your work starts to decline, they could very easily find another detailer who is willing to work for less.
The primary advantage of wholesale work is: High volume.
The disadvantages of wholesale work are:
1– Two hours more time per vehicle.
2– Less than half the income revenue per vehicle.
