Landed my first dealership account...Advice on pricing

B

B.G.

New member
Hey guys, I landed my first dealer account this past friday and I am meeting with the owner again monday to discuss pricing... I did two cars for him this weekend and he loved my professionalism, work, and how knowledgeable I was. His operation is not too big, maybe 15 cars max at one time, but he is consistently turning vehicles. The thing is, he wants to partner with me and potentially have me set up shop on a sectioned off portion of his lot. Thats not here nor there now, so I will cross that bridge when it comes. But here is what I performed for him friday.



Ford Escape Hybrid

Steam Cleaned Interior (Seats, Mats, Door panels, etc)

Uv Protected and Conditioned Dash, Console, Door Panels

Steam Cleaned Engine Bay and Dressed all hosing, plastic etc

Cleaned Exterior and applied QD

Cleaned wheel and Dressed Wheel wells, Trim, and Tires

Cleaned all glass



Took me about 3hrs... I usually charge $115 for that interior detail, $45 engine bay, and $45 for the exterior. I obviously have packages that are priced cheaper and essentailly do the same things as opposed to this sorta a la carte job I did for him.



Then I did a Prius for him and essentially did the same things, but conditioned his leather for him as well.



What would you consider to be a fair price for that work? Keep in mind, we may eventually become business partners, so I want to be as fair as possible, but at the same time I ve got to eat as well:mmph:



Thanks in advance
 
You just have to figure out how much you want hourly in profit. Generally, dealer vehicles are done a bit quicker and not to Autopian standards, but they are billed at a lower rate than an actual retail customer. In essence, you did a $205 detail over 3 hours. Assuming your consumable and amortized supplies were less than $50, I'd probably personally charge somewhere in the neighbourhood of $140 to $160.
 
I can't speak to the pricing side of things, but i do want to warn you to NOT get into a partnership with him. Once you partner up, all of the decision making for your profitting potential has to get a second review by the other party. It will slow things down and stir up bad emotions. If he brings it up again, just tell him that you'd prefer to remain as a contracted service.
 
Sidewerkes is dead on!!! No partners... you always get screwed... and remember, if he owns a dealership, he has more money, and lawyers!!!
 
DetailKnight said:
Sidewerkes is dead on!!! No partners... you always get screwed... and remember, if he owns a dealership, he has more money, and lawyers!!!
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:rolleyes: No, you don't ALWAYS get screwed, and since when does owning a used car dealer mean you automatically have laywers on retainer ?
 
I'm in agreement with trying not to do any partnering. It is nice to have a constant flow of vehicles, but chances are that you could do that while just being his go-to guy. I kind of got locked into one dealership that sold his own used cars, as well as repos from a bank and I would have to schedule retail out two weeks because he was keeping me busy, and in turn I lost a lot of sales to the competition. I lost money on the retail sales vs. wholesale charges, and I didn't get the great word of mouth that I would have received from other customers.



I haven't entirely soured on the idea of doing work for dealerships, but I enjoy serving my retail customers more.
 
WAS said:
You just have to figure out how much you want hourly in profit. Generally, dealer vehicles are done a bit quicker and not to Autopian standards, but they are billed at a lower rate than an actual retail customer. In essence, you did a $205 detail over 3 hours. Assuming your consumable and amortized supplies were less than $50, I'd probably personally charge somewhere in the neighbourhood of $140 to $160.
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Thanks for the insight fellas... That is right around the pricing that I put together for him. I am going to take it day by day with him. The gentleman seems extremely friendly and loves the quality of work I put out. Of course loyalty will be with my retail customers, but this guy has a pretty consistent flow of cars coming in on a daily basis. I will keep this post updated on what becomes of it. As for now I will continue to do it as "contract" work. Thanks again guys for posting your experiences
 
B.G. said:
Thanks for the insight fellas... That is right around the pricing that I put together for him. I am going to take it day by day with him. The gentleman seems extremely friendly and loves the quality of work I put out. Of course loyalty will be with my retail customers, but this guy has a pretty consistent flow of cars coming in on a daily basis. I will keep this post updated on what becomes of it. As for now I will continue to do it as "contract" work. Thanks again guys for posting your experiences
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No problem, good luck ! As much as I'm sure we all love our retail customers, wholesale accounts like these often keep you busy when retail doesn't.
 
WAS said:
:rolleyes: No, you don't ALWAYS get screwed, and since when does owning a used car dealer mean you automatically have laywers on retainer ?
Click to expand...



Dealership owners are out for #1. My advice is on the partner side of things, and losing potential lifelong retail customers. I see nothing wrong with doing the mans cars, but if he has that much work for you, you will end up having to make a choice one day of who takes priority... customer, or dealer account... and if you choose dealer account, you possibly lose a customer for life... if you choose new customer, the dealer is just going to move on to the next detailer that gives him the best price! Im not saying that ALL dealers are that way, but the odds are stacked against him! I think that you shouldn't need to partner with the man to do his vehicles, and if he likes your work, he will draw up a contract with you, rather then partnering. It sounds like you should hire a guy that you know does good work, and have him work strictly on this dealer account. 15 to 30 cars a month can generate a lot of $$$. Oh yeah... not all dealers have a lawyer on retainer... just the money to retain one!
 
Detailknight nailed it. If you do all the work yourself right now quickly hire someone to come with you on those jobs. Train them to do it exactly how you like it. Make them sign a non-compete form so that they can't later steal the client and get out of there. Dealers are (almost always) very demanding, and CHEAP! Be prepared for 4 am visits to the dealership to prep a car or calls at 6 pm saying he needs something right now. I would suggest getting in writing that you need 24 hour notice on all jobs, or that rush jobs are billed at a different rate. No offense to dealers, I'm sure there are some nice ones out there. I know some dealers and they're profit margins are lower than ever right now. I had a guy who used to say he wanted us to do all the hard stuff and leave the easy stuff for him so he could charge less. He would just walk up at any random moment and tell us that we had done enough and then tell us how much we had done was worth. I once caught him wool padding a car after we had detailed it then waxing it. Super frustrating!
 
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