Hard Lesson learnt!

T

toby tyke

New member
Please ! advice on this situation. So I have already detailed this customers BMW before and have organised a return visit to wash, apply second coat of KAIO + paste wax, wheels tyes etc and as a sweetner offered to feed leather for free, agreed price over phone was $80 as I have just been in operation for 4 months. So I turn up for a relatively easy mornings work!. So I get all the kit out and start washing, when I get to the boot (trunk) and complete back section the paint is covered in tar residue thats totally sunk into the paint, feels like 80 grit paper. The guys playing golf so I call is wife over to show her the car, she explains he,s been away for 2 weeks on a business trip round the UK. I now explain I have to clay the car and then if slight marring occurs will have to machine polish the car, she says fine get on with it. NOW this is where I went wrong? scared of losing the customer or maybe her thinking I am pulling a fast one I carry on and 6 hrs later the car is done looking like the day it left the showroom. When it comes to payment I ask for the agreed price of $80, just did not have it in me to ask for $120 which is still cheap. How do you foresee these situations, should have i re quoted and if not happy left?

Always happing to listen and learn.
 
You need to look at the vehicle before you quote, otherwise how is the customer going to trust everytime you come out you won't start adding additional costs to things you see.
 
This is how I see it. You got robbed on this job! But, SO WHAT!!!! You have a happy customer!! This customer might tell five of his friends about you. Everyone understands how this works. Word of mouth works just like dominos. Yes, you probably should have charged more and he might have gotten upset and not let you do the work. But if that happens then the last domino has fallen. But since you made him happy, there is still a domino behind his to fall into.



Look at this way. You have eighty bucks in your pocket and a client for the future and you never know, you might have two or three more customers from this guy. Then you can get word of mouth from these new customers.



So since you went ahead and did it, there are infinite possibilities that can come from it.

IF you had walked away, it would have ended right there with no possibility of future customers.



There are a lot of pros on here that have their clientel set and can afford to walk away form situations like this. But since you are starting new, you do not have that choice. I would send the customer a letter explaining what I did for him. Atleast this way he understands that you did him a favor. This way it does not go unoticed and you can get some credit from this guy. ALL IMO
 
Actually, it was an easy lesson learned. You did what was necessary to make your customer happy. Sometimes that requires a bit of extra time and effort on your part. That is an important part of being in your own business. Contrary to what others may think, it is not always just about the money. Growing a business is about good old fashion customer service. Service that people can count on over and over again and just cannot get from anyone else. Think about. How many other detailers would have handled it the way you did? I for one am impressed with your business ethic. Keep up the good work!
 
mirrorfinishman said:
Actually, it was an easy lesson learned. You did what was necessary to make your customer happy. Sometimes that requires a bit of extra time and effort on your part. That is an important part of being in your own business. Contrary to what others may think, it is not always just about the money. Growing a business is about good old fashion customer service. Service that people can count on over and over again and just cannot get from anyone else. Think about. How many other detailers would have handled it the way you did? I for one am impressed with your business ethic. Keep up the good work!
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I agree with Frank on this one. The worst that CAN happen is that you should be proud of yourself.
 
You should have quoted a new price when you explained the additional work needed. Yes, you exceeded the customer's expectations, but did not get paid for the extra work you did. I could see if it was something simple that would only take an extra half hour or so. You have to understand the economic concept of opportunity cost. In those extra 3-4 hours you spent doing the extra work, you could have been making x amount of dollars detailing another car, working somewhere else, or spending time with your family. Those things you could not do while you were spending the extra 3-4 hours working for 'free' were your opportunity costs.
 
brwill2005 said:
You should have quoted a new price when you explained the additional work needed. Yes, you exceeded the customer's expectations, but did not get paid for the extra work you did. I could see if it was something simple that would only take an extra half hour or so. You have to understand the economic concept of opportunity cost. In those extra 3-4 hours you spent doing the extra work, you could have been making x amount of dollars detailing another car, working somewhere else, or spending time with your family. Those things you could not do while you were spending the extra 3-4 hours working for 'free' were your opportunity costs.
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In a sense I can see the point. However. How many referals and repeat business will he now get for making his customer 100% satisfied? How much did his reputation just grow by going the extra mile? Like Frank said it's not always about the money. The few dollars he gave here I will almost garuntee will come back to him 10 fold down the road due to extra work now heading his way through the lovely ad markaeting machine that is "word of mouth". Not a bad way to a ton of extra customers out of the deal.



Although I will agree in mobil detailing it's almost an absoulte that you need to see the car before giving a price. Whereas a shop set up like mine they bring the cars to me so I get to always see them with the customers :D
 
Jakerooni said:
In a sense I can see the point. However. How many referals and repeat business will he now get for making his customer 100% satisfied? How much did his reputation just grow by going the extra mile? Like Frank said it's not always about the money. The few dollars he gave here I will almost garuntee will come back to him 10 fold down the road due to extra work now heading his way through the lovely ad markaeting machine that is "word of mouth". Not a bad way to a ton of extra customers out of the deal.



Although I will agree in mobil detailing it's almost an absoulte that you need to see the car before giving a price. Whereas a shop set up like mine they bring the cars to me so I get to always see them with the customers :D
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What if this person does not tell others. What if this person expects freebies every time they have service. Like I said, spending an extra half hour on something small is fine; in fact I do it all the time. Spending an extra few hours doing a whole other service is not smart business in my opinion. But as always to each is own. Everyone is entitled to run their business the way they see fit.
 
Sometimes being optomistic is a good route to take. I'm sure there's shady people out there that won't tell another soul about their new found goldmind of freebies galore. But if thats your usual clientele then maybe you need to re-evaluate somethings. That being said it was clearly stated this was a repeat customer. Obivously He was already satisfied with the work being done. I think the odds are in his favor on this one getting some referrals and some positive word of mouth reviews. If it was a first time client then maybe it would go the other way. It's always a crap shoot. But striving to do the best for the client should never be looked down upon.
 
Jakerooni said:
Sometimes being optomistic is a good route to take. I'm sure there's shady people out there that won't tell another soul about their new found goldmind of freebies galore. But if thats your usual clientele then maybe you need to re-evaluate somethings. That being said it was clearly stated this was a repeat customer. Obivously He was already satisfied with the work being done. I think the odds are in his favor on this one getting some referrals and some positive word of mouth reviews. If it was a first time client then maybe it would go the other way. It's always a crap shoot. But striving to do the best for the client should never be looked down upon.
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Jake- It seems as if you tend to be argumentative with the opinions of others. I always strive to do my best within the realm of what service I am providing. Like I said, I do go the extra mile, especially for good customers. It is not, however, in my best interest to spend an extra hour or two for something I am not being paid for. Time is very valuable to me. Like I said above, it is not only money that can be lost, buy also other things such as spending time with my family. If you feel spending extra time for things you are not being paid for is advantageous to you; so be it. That is your decision to make.
 
Brad I don't think a single word I said was argumentive at all. You're just downing the guy for taking care of his customer. I simply stated (with others) that's not really a bad thing. Probably shouldn't do it all the time (to that extent). However we've all lost time in many fassets of life doing things that took way to long. At least this "Waste of time" could very possibly have huge benifits on the backside. I see your side of the story. But try not to belittle him to harshly for being a nice guy and not thinking soley of his pocketbook. Afterall weather you want to admit it or not this is purely a service industry were in. I personally think it's in everybody better interest to go that extra mile even if it does take a few extra hours. Spending time with the fam is great but work is work and everyone has to do it. (unless your a rich kid like paris HAHA!) but don't take anything I ever say on here as argumentive. If I have a problem with anything or anyone trust me I won't beat around the bush with sutile little hints I say it flat out to anyone at anytime. I'm not shy about it all. If your a moron I'm going to call you a moron. I'm just more blunt than 95% of the people on here. Sometimes it's hard to read what I say I guess.
 
I never 'downed' the guy and the concept of opportunity cost does not only concern the 'pocket book'. It is an economic concept and economics deal with much more than money; contrary to what many think. I just wanted him to be aware of the concept, in the case he was not already. Well, you made your point and I made mine. Lets now let him decide what is best for him.
 
i would call the guy and tell him your story like i just read... and tell him you took care of it for him for no charge.



he may give you a nice tip next job ;)
 
I think we have crossed over into an area where we are showing some of the differences between looking at each detailing as just being another detailing job, where the goal is to constantly make a certain amount of money for every hour you are working and looking at each detailing job as another small step towards growing a successful business.



Personally, I never liked the idea of focusing on price. And because of that, the price of the detailing is usually the last thing on the minds of my customers. My customers expect a top quality job and they are always willing to pay a reasonable price for top quality service. With that thought in mind, why would I want to nickel and dime a good customer, just because the job is going to take somewhat longer due to something beyond their control. Actually, to me it would be embarrassing to ask for more money. Remember, I am the one who has decided to focus on quality, not price. And I have surrounded myself with customers who are also focused on quality, not price. Let's face it, in order to attain that quality, it sometimes may require a bit more of my time. Hey, it is certainly worth the extra effort in order to keep a customer satisfied.



Of course, other detailers cannot take this same approach when they are dealing with customers who always focus on price. In that case, their customers only get what they pay for. Doing any extra work, which takes extra time always requires an additional charge.



In summary, it is all about how people want to run their own detailing business. There is no right way or wrong way. It is whatever works for you. Either way you have got to use your own judgement in regard to dealing with your own customers.



Just some added thoughts on the subject.
 
Thanks to everyone who replied, I think you are all correct in what you say, in situations like this its down to the individual, and how they want to run thier business. You know, its a little like midnight in the nightclub, the girls not Miss World, but she is the only one looking, do I stay or do I call a taxis, ah! what the heck!

Regards from the lads accross the Atlantic.
 
Couple things...



Whoever said you got robbed is wrong. That implies that someone took advantage of you and that certainly wasn't the case.



You absolutely should have quoted a revised price when getting the approval to do the work. I'm sure the wife expected a higher price, otherwise what was she approving?



If you're going to give this as a freebie, make sure the customer understands the value of what you gave to them. Make sure to include it as a line item on the final bill that you gave this amount of work for free. Since you're newly in business, you could even go so far as to mention that you're giving them the discount in hopes that they'll spread the word about your service. You can also offer discounts for referrals as a was of building your business.



I don't recommend making business decisions based on fear. In this case, fear of losing the customer. As someone already mentioned, he was a repeat customer, so your services were already approved.



And finally, as someone once told me, don't underprice yourself just because you're new unless your work is lower quality than your competitors.
 
Jakerooni said:
However. How many referals and repeat business will he now get for making his customer 100% satisfied?
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How many of those referals will expect the same low price?



I'd give the customer a call when they get back in town and explain the whole thing and let him know all that work at such a low price is a one time deal.
 
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