First day on site doing washings. What a day!

gnahc79 said:
Yeah, a potential customer got his Suburban detailed recently and asked "Can you do my boat?". Um, I had to say no because I have no idea what to use on a huge thing like that :D. Plus I doubt the stuff I use would last very long when the thing is in the ocean.



anyone detailed a boat before? I'm pretty sure QEW is out of the question, hehe.
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Charge at least $7.50 a foot for speedboat types and probably double for enclosed boats (like with an enclosed cabin). Collinite makes some very durable boat waxes. If the guy's boat is in good shape (not oxidized), go for it. A 20' speedboat should take 4-5 hours and charge $150 or so. The carpets are easy to clean, but there is a lot of fiberglass to clean inside the boat and the seats can be a PITA because of the sweat and suntan lotions that builds up on them.



You can QEW wash them but you may need to use a product like CLR on hard water stains.



Honestly, I rarely do boats because they usually are trashed and I charge more than the customer is willing to pay....they seem to think it is the same as detailing a car and it isn't.
 
Jngr & Smoker: My bottle of ARO suggests it's mostly for boats, sails/canvas/etc. But I haven't even used it for a car yet. :nixweiss
 
I like that charging by the foot idea. This is a big one. 23' or something like that. They are getting a pretty sweet deal on the washes because we are getting high volume business there. We don't have any reason to give a deep discount on a boat though. I think the $7.50 per foot quote is a good one. We could even tell her that we would normaly charge that price but for her we'll cut her a deal and do it for $5 per foot. ;) 5 x 23 is still a bit of money. She is a high mucky muck too so it will give us some good props with the rest of the company probably.
 
Jngrbrdman said:
I like that charging by the foot idea. This is a big one. 23' or something like that. They are getting a pretty sweet deal on the washes because we are getting high volume business there. We don't have any reason to give a deep discount on a boat though. I think the $7.50 per foot quote is a good one. We could even tell her that we would normaly charge that price but for her we'll cut her a deal and do it for $5 per foot. ;) 5 x 23 is still a bit of money. She is a high mucky muck too so it will give us some good props with the rest of the company probably.
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I would definitely charge more than $5 a foot. I start at $10 a foot and go up depending on condition. If I have to drive an hour or more to go to a marina I will charge for travel, anywherer from $50 - $75.
 
The boat owner ( who also owns the Merc Kompressor we did on wednesday) had us detail her Lincoln Continental today.

Shes having us do a full job on the Merc next week as its got some nasty water damage.



She obviously has a few $$ and runs the leasing side of the business we service.



I aint goin to be the one to piss her off by overcharging........



SO we'll play it by ear.



Anyways



Another successful day - 3 cars including the Lincoln with a Tony now off to do his thing on a full size truck.



Me ?



I got a green Excursion to do ......







:scared :scared
 
Smoker-if you charge a fair market price, you are not overcharging. Don't make the mistake I did when I first started by trying to be the cheapest price in town and being a good guy and not charging much. It took me a long time to be able to raise my prices to what I felt I was worth. If the lady has money, she won't mind paying for a quality job.



$7.50 a foot for a speedboat is more than fair because it is more work than you may think it is.



BTW, my first really big customer told me something when the first time I detailed his cars. I offered him a $10 discount for doing two cars. He said "A man should never be afraid to charge what he feels his work is worth. Be confident in your prices." Words to live by and 9 1/2 years later, he is still a customer.
 
i have a contract with the cable company. every sunday i need to wash about 41 cars. i start at 7am and finish around 11am.

i take 3 people with me
 
Scottwax said:
Smoker-if you charge a fair market price, you are not overcharging. Don't make the mistake I did when I first started by trying to be the cheapest price in town and being a good guy and not charging much. It took me a long time to be able to raise my prices to what I felt I was worth. If the lady has money, she won't mind paying for a quality job.



$7.50 a foot for a speedboat is more than fair because it is more work than you may think it is.



BTW, my first really big customer told me something when the first time I detailed his cars. I offered him a $10 discount for doing two cars. He said "A man should never be afraid to charge what he feels his work is worth. Be confident in your prices." Words to live by and 9 1/2 years later, he is still a customer.
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The reason it took you a while to 'raise your prices' was prolly once you were established.



These people are trusting us with $50k cars and trucks, they dont know us from adam.

Basically our price is making us some money, not a massive amount, but its getting us established.

Once we have a firm customer base we can rise the prices steadily and afford to lose a few who just dont wanna pay that sort of money.



Now I know at this point you'll be reaching for the keyboard and thinking 'well that isnt right .. etc etc...'



I've tried it both ways, people just DONT go for a $60 detail straight off.



It doesnt work.



I've been there



So were trying it this way and hopefully it'll work out, everyones pleased, we've got plenty of business and we're still picking up good paying jobs alongside our mainstream bog standard wash n vacs.



Just to finish off, I saw the jobs you listed for a typical day a few posts back, and most of em were wash n vacs, which according to your website start at $25.



Bizarrely offering EXACTLY the same service we do at virtually the same price.

Something is amiss.

I'll let you decide.



Hopefully now I can get off my soapbox.



P.S.

NY Detailer .. how the hell do you wash 41 cars in 4 hours ??

Grab the jet washer ???



:scared :scared
 
Smoker said:
I've tried it both ways, people just DONT go for a $60 detail straight off.

...



Just to finish off, I saw the jobs you listed for a typical day a few posts back, and most of em were wash n vacs, which according to your website start at $25.



Bizarrely offering EXACTLY the same service we do at virtually the same price.
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Smoker & Scottwax: This is major bizarre-O! Here in the boring, working-class wasteland of mid-Mo., I used to pay $17 for the "detailing" places where your car is pulled thru a tunnel where it's "washed" (a.k.a. swirled) with nylon brushes and jets, then wiped off by high-school boys with dirty rags. And in your urban settings you can only get $25 for a 1st-quality wash job?? The leading "real" detail shop charges $65 for a wash/wax job -- in a town where $30k/year is considered a very comfortable income -- and folks in Dallas and SLC are balking at $65???



Something is profoundly wrong with this country. :(



On a happier note, Smoker & Jngr, I'm delighted that you have this big, lucrative gig. :up
 
For private jobs I can ask 65 for a detail that includes wax with no problem. The deal with this place we are working is that they say because of the volume they are providing that we should cut them a good deal. The local swirl shop will do their cars for about 17 bucks sez them. We said $20 and we'd do a better job anyway. We wash and vaccum and do the tires, wheels, windows and basic interior stuff. If we were just hosing them down and using tire foam then we could probably bust through them in 20 minutes per car. Doing quality work takes a bit more time and we are doing a few more services on the jobs so it is taking about 45 minutes a car right now. We'll get faster as we get our groove. My goal is to be able to crank out 10 cars in 4 or 5 hours so I can go to my day job still. If I can do that twice a week then I'll be very happy. I think once we get the regular's cars up to standard then it won't take long at all to maintain the cleanliness.
 
Which is precisely our plan.



We bite the bullet while we get the regulars cars to a good standard, then its simply a quick wave with the Vac n Dash Duster, a wash down n dry and the cars stay nice.



I'm working on setting up 2 more of these deals, which (hopefully) will last all through the year.



One promising company runs 9 salesmans cars, they do the cleaning on expenses (probably at Supersonic .. arg) so we could cut a good deal there too.



Time will tell.



I'm starting to get the idea that the way to make money in this business isnt to charge alot, but to refine your process to the point where its faster and cheaper, while maintaining the quality.



Your average client doesnt give a hoot if it takes you 30 minutes or 30 hours as long as it costs the same and his car looks nice when its done

Its up to us to make the business a viable living, not fopr clients to put their hands in their pockets more often.
 
Smoker-you aren't going to get much more than $25-35 (the range I charge) for a wash/vac and dress the tires, so that isn't what I am talking about.



I should have charged more right off the bat. I started off charging $60 per car. A few of my customers told me I wasn't charging enough and the lower price will turn some people off because it seems 'cheap'.



I'm not trying to knock you or Anthony in anyway. I just thought you should know that you should be confident in having a price and sticking to it. Offering a mutli-car discount is a good idea, just don't go overboard with it. That is all I'm saying. All you will end up with is bargain hunters who go wherever the low price is. No loyalty at all. I'm telling you because I've been there. That is the whole purpose of this forum so we can all be better professionals.



---------------------------------------



Lynn-I charge from $25-35 for a wash. It usually takes me 45 minutes (by myself) for cars and an hour for SUVs. Those are my weekly customers and they get their cars waxed every 4-8 weeks on average. Wash and two step wax job, I charge $60 and up, depending on the size of the vehicle. Details start at $85 (going up to $95 soon) and that is for small vehicles in good condition. Most of my details end up making me $100-150 on average.



About 50% is my regular weekly washes (and again, I wax their cars pretty often as well) and the rest is either wash/wax or details. I don't know how it breaks down for others. I keep very good track of when people last had their cars waxed, so I know when to upsell it to them.
 
Originally posted by Jngrbrdman

think once we get the regular's cars up to standard then it won't take long at all to maintain the cleanliness.
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Exactly! Once they have all been detailed and you have them trained to get their cars waxed every 3 months, the weekly washings are a piece of cake most week...unless you get a stretch of nasty weather, of course!
 
Guys, I sure wish I lived closer to you! Keeping up with 3 cars is wearing me out. There are plenty of days when I would gladly take one of them to you folks for what you consider just a "basic" wash or wash/wax.



And, it sure sounds like you're putting solid thinking into the pricing issues. If I sounded at all critical, it was NOT intended that way. It's just that I want to see all you responsible Pros (and avid "amateurs") become rich-rich-rich doing what you love!
 
Lynn said:




And, it sure sounds like you're putting solid thinking into the pricing issues. If I sounded at all critical, it was NOT intended that way. It's just that I want to see all you responsible Pros (and avid "amateurs") become rich-rich-rich doing what you love!
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If I was on the left coast, I could charge at least 50% more. Of course, everything costs more there and they have a state income tax to contend with.
 
Hey folks,



I have been doing this for a few years now and I charge $40 for a hand wash. This includes:

Wheel wells cleaned and dressed

Wheels cleaned

Windows inside and out

Vacuum interior and trunk or front deck lid area

Dust dash and vents

Dry out door jambs



Yesterday my assistant and I did 10 washes and one detail on a Lexus SUV.



Now a great deal of those clients I have on a monthly payment plan which saves them a good deal of cash and saves me from having to chase folks down to pay me. BUT lets do the math here, if I was charging my regular rate of $40 per car plus $45 for the BMW X5 and then the Lexus detail I did at $250 thats $360 for the 9 washes plus $45 for the X5 = $405. Now add the $250 and we have a total of = $655.00 for a days work.



The Lexus detail was the third car I did for this one client so when I was done he paid me a total of $750. The reason I am writing this is because far too many of you pro's are killing yourselves just to beat out another detailer when you should really be kicking A** and taking names!



Th reason folks pay me $200 - $300 is not because I am the best detailer around but because I strive to outperform all others. The Lexus I detailed I had for two days which gave me plenty of time to do it right. In between washing other cars I would do a panel or two on the Lexus or detail a portion of the interior. I could of charged this guy $85, slapped some wax on there with my buffer, dressed his tires and he would have been happy with it but I wouldn't of.



So again don't sell yourselves short and think that because you are trying to establish a customer base that you also have to give away your work. People who want a discount are just plain cheap, sorry but thats how it is. These type of folk might be a stepping stone right now for bigger fish later but once you establish yourselves and begin to raise your prices the folks who want the discount will most likely drop you all like a bad habit and bring in the next willing detailers to give them a break. A big money lawyer here in town once asked me how much for a detail on his Porsche. I told him $200. He said ok, now how much of a break do I get for 2 cars? I smiled and said that I don't give breaks for multiple cars. I went on to explain that if I give him a break then I am losing money which means I will rush my work and do a bad job which will then make him an unsatisfied customer and ruin my reputation. He is not a client of mine today.



Scott is correct about finding loyal customers. I charge the highest prices in San Antonio for washes and detail work and my clients could go to a dozen different places and yet I never am without work. People, the right people, will pay good money to have their cars, their investments (babies) pampered. These are the types of folks who take pride in their ride and when they pull up to a red light they want everyone to notice their cars and how it shines and glistens. Some drive Porsches and Ferrari's while others drive Minivans and compact econo's but within each group are a select few who are seeking that one "select" detailer(s) to pamper them and their car.



Anthony
 
Utmost respect to Anthony here, and yes, the position your in now seems a pretty damn fine place to be.



My (and Jngrbrds) work IS top-notch, BUT its no good saying how good you are and sitting there waiting for the phone to ring for those high-end details.



In my view a reputation is earned, not given.



We out-perform even the pro detail shops here, but the difference is they have the rep and we dont, yet.



It seems the only way to get established is to bite the bullet and do the grunt work while you meet these people that are willing to invest money in their vehicles.

Were starting to see it with the woman weve done the Merc SLK and the Lincoln Continental for.

She now wants her boat doing, and I'm sure wouldnt mind a future price increase as long as we looked after her 'babies' (the Merc is garaged all winter).



We just need more of these people, and it's looking like we'll have to suffer some pain, but we'll get there.



I guess detailing is comparable to other businesses, folks get into their comfort zone and you have to give them some reason to look elsewhere for their car care.



Price and convenience are the biggest two, as quality of work alot of the time goes largely unnoticed (as proven by the number of posts on here that go something like " I thought I was looking after my car properly till I read Autopia and realise I know nothing" ) so basically we're stuck with making it cheap and easy for people to get their car cleaned until we build up a quality customer base.



Any advice on actually meeting these high $$ people would be appreciated, from reading your website you hit it lucky and got in early with a bunch of doctors.



Nice if you can do it that way!
 
Smoker,



Go to the high end car dealers, Porsche, Mercedes, Lexus, BMW and the exotics if you have one. Hand them some cards and tell them to give out a card to each person buying a car. You and Tony will then give that new car owner a FREE (Yes free) hand wash and vacuum.



Now this may seem to go against what I said earlier but its not. Hear me out.



I am not against giving away work to get work, in fact that's what I had to do when I moved to Texas BUT I didn't give away my work to just anyone. You have to be selective and target those types that will be future paying clients.



I have very good personal relationships with several high-end car dealers in town and they know the types of clients I am looking for. So when one comes in and buys a new BMW or Porsche they hand them one of my cards and tell them I am the guy to see for detailing. They know this because when I first got in town I went around and asked Porsche if I could detail one car at no charge to them. They gave me an old Volvo to detail. I detailed it and the next day it sold. They then payed me to detail a black Volvo that was not moving. I detailed it and it sold the next day! Now again I am not Mr. Wonderdetailer but I had to, as you said, "Bite the bullet" and give away to get BUT I gave it away to the folks that I KNEW would give me a better return.



If I had went to the Porsche place and they said right off the bat....."Hey how much of a discount do we get for X amount of cars?" I would of known these folks aren't going to help me.



Some high-end car salesmen I detailed their cars at no charge and they could then recommend me to their rich clients and not fear I would butcher their cars.



I am sure you two do great work, far better than others around you buut again don't think you must undercut them to get their work.



I was just trying to give you all some advice because I have been there before and got burned. I hope my post did not come off as critizing or mean spirited, not my intention at all. And by the way, it's Saturday......why aren't you guys out there working??? :)



Anthony
 
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