Offering higher end waxes

I thought I was low @ $35 (wash n vac, spray wax) and I live in THE most impoverished city in the nation!!
 
Jakerooni said:
Holy crap!! $75-$100 for a simple wash and wax??? I can't charge more than $25 here for the using even the best of the best wax I have in the shop. And people still complain about getting ripped off at that price.
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Jake & anyone else - On you next wash & wax sell try demoing the celophane baggie and the buff test. It usually worked for me. If people can visually see the differences that clay and/or buffing can do to their car, they usually can't resist. Alot of times just asking or telling them about it won't work. The more your customer is educated, the better they'll feel about their purchase. There's no better time when people are making the effort to spend money on their vehicle to upsell them a little bit more. Especially if they have a credit card burning in their pocket.
 
Some of the recent comments about upselling sound more like they are coming from professional car washers rather than professional detailing business owners. Especially when you are offering higher end waxes to a target market who is only willing to spend $25 to $35 to take care of their car. Not exactly the best way to grow a business.
 
Spoken by a *professional* detailer that doesn't offer claying or buffing in their list of services. It's sorta hard to upsell something you don't understand how to do maybe?
 
It's obvious that all depends on the particular customer. Some are more than happy to have clay, polishing, what have you, demonstrated right in front of them. They immediately see the benefit and are willing to spend more than they had initially planned for a nicer looking car.



Others don't want to be bothered and could not care less period......and the condition of their car(s) reflect that. You can be the world's best detailer, salesperson, and businessman but you're never going to sell 100% of the upgrade sevices.



I will continue to try though :grinno:
 
well like I said when I add to the service (i.e. add a vacuum) the price goes up. (see my business website for examples) Once I toss in a vacuum I usually will do a wipe down of the plastic with my favorite armor all substitute. And that usually add's another $10-$15 to the service. The only thing I'm talking about here is based off what Josh said of just a wash and wax. I offer that quick in and out service with nothing more than washing and waxing. so for a wash wax AND vac I can get anywhere from $35-$55. which is pretty good for my area. Kind of like the guy that said he had to clear $11,000 a month to break even and anything above that is profit. Well for me in a fixed location in Flint anything above $1500 a month is pure profit for me :D (told you it was cheap here LOL) that's rent utilities payroll and basic supplies.
 
I find offering three packages, (wash and vacuum, mini-detail, and full detail), keep things simple for the customer. It also offers them different options to meet their needs and budget. I also offer a la carte services, but most people simply choose one of the packages. I do not offer any wax upgrades, as most people do not care much which wax/sealant is used just so long as it looks good, and is durable.
 
Right now my main line is the Car brite line. My nuba is stuff called "trop-i-glo" My main nano wax is eagle one's nano tech. I am just now starting to branch out into some new products. I'm trying out the Pinnicle XMT series of products with pretty decent results. I also have a lot of tanny hill productions products out there (best tire dressing hands down I've ever seen) but they tend to raise their prices every time I go in there so who knows how much longer I'll keep using them.
 
It isn't possible for one persons business model to work for every business out there.



People do things differently. They have to match their services to their available clientele. There are some markets that would easily accept paying more for a higher end product on their cars, there are others that would dismiss the idea of paying more for a higher end product immediately. Whether your business can sustain that or not has nothing to do with the detailer, but the clientele.



I personally offer one service unless otherwise requested. I treat every car that I deal with exactly the same. I make it perfect, that's all. What I charge is based on the amount of work required to achieve that. My clients understand it, trust me to treat them fairly, and trust me to deliver on that promise time and time again.



My clientele doesn't exist all across the country, at least not in the same numbers that I see here, so the way that I run my business can't really be implemented just anywhere.



I do think that the integrity that my clients expect can be though, and that is what your biggest money maker is going to be. It takes a faith in the client that they are going to really get their money's worth, whether that is $25 or $2500.
 
Integrity seems to be a HUGE factor. My compition actually helps me to set my prices higher. I learned (probably the way many do ) that extreme attention to detail is a very primium comodity, especially to car enthusiasts. One of my first "big" referals was a guy who was "very fussy" according to the gentleman who refered him. I spent 10 hours on the car detailing the beige carpet (including removing the Code Red Mt dew his daugter had spilled all over the back seat) and correcting the paint. I even had to call the guy and tell him his vehicle was going to take longer than expected. Long story short I charged the guy 250 dollars and he gave me a $50 tip. The best detail at the next best detailer in town is 150 tops. (And they promise your car back in 4 hours) but this guy acted like I really undercharged him (and he was VERY happy) If you read David's article on detailing as a business he explains the difference. There are car washes that "detail" a car for 75 bucks. Professional detailers are a different breed and we cater to a different demographic. Dont undersell yourself it is one of the biggest mistakes in any new business. IMHO the cattle chute car washes that call themselves "detailers" arent as damaging to this profession as the guys out there that do good work and massivly undersell themselves.
 
PROServices said:
Dont undersell yourself it is one of the biggest mistakes in any new business. IMHO the cattle chute car washes that call themselves "detailers" arent as damaging to this profession as the guys out there that do good work and massively undersell themselves.
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Smart detailing business owners know that when a customer is only looking for a low price, it is much better to just let them go somewhere else, rather then undersell their services.
 
Since detailing is not my primary source of income, I only offer 1 service, Complete.

I finish all cars with 2x Zaino Z5pro then 1x Souveran paste. Since 99% of the people I work with don’t care what I do as long as the car looks the way they want when they pick it up. The details boar them to tears and I would most likely lose the business if I took the time to explain up front. If asked, I give all of the answers. One IB guy I do work for in Greenwich loves to tell his other IB pals that it cost him $700 to get his car cleaned. It’s a social status thing. Now there are 5 like him with 4-5 cars a piece.



By offering no choices for the customer makes it easier for me to work with them. If they don’t want to pay me what I need to waste a Saturday or Sunday cleaning their car the right way, they shouldn’t be a client. I wouldn’t want my name out on some quickie $200.00 Poli-Seal job on a 07 Grand Cherokee that I did because some person didn’t want to spend the money, it’s just not my end of the business. But, this is a luxury that having another source of primary income affords a person.
 
Quick question to all you guys setting just astronimcal prices for your details. (ie anything over say $300) is it just you or do you own your own shop. It seems to me that only mobil detailers that can go to clients houses and detail on site are the only ones able to demand such high prices (catering to the rich will get you rich prices) But for people like myself that have fixed locations and deal with the public and high volumes on a day to day basis (check local listings) this just dosen't fit into any sort of realistic business plan. I'm not an individual. I'm a corporation with employees under my belt. I don't do this for extra side money or for the fun of it. This is how I make a living. I would love to see an example on the boards here of a full blown detail Shop with multiple employees demanding 200% and more above and beyond the other local compitition and how they are successful at doing it. It's easy when your just one individual to perfect your skills so solidly to be able to get high price tags for your work. But to make sure everyone that works under your name is up to the exact same skill level I would think is unrealsitic at best.
 
SpoiledMan said:
I can name a couple:



JimmyBuffit

Octaneguy
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Awesome.. These guys are that much higher than their local compitition, have fixed locations, and have mulitple employees using their names?? I'll have to PM them for some tips on how to do this effectively.
 
Raising your prices is not the only way to increase your profits. Developing efficiencies and economies of scale allow you to make more without charging more. This aspect of business is often forgotten. As for your comment Jake, I think you have a valid point is some ways. Many here only detail on the side and do a few very expensive details per month. They have the luxury of spending 12 hours or more on a detail. Like you, I do not have this luxury to spend that much time. I would never want to have a customer's car tied up for more than say eight hours. I live in an area where the income is very high, but so is the cost of living. Many of these 'wealthy' people do not have a lot of disposable income left after paying all of their expenses. That fact makes it unrealistic for me to charge outrageous prices. People in this area are also extremely busy; this fact makes convenience extremely important. This is why I offer free pick-up and delivery, as well as mobile service to their homes. While I do very good detail work, it is my service that people are mostly paying for, not two and three coats of the latest boutique wax.
 
Jakerooni -

I only work out of my own garage in a non-retail location. I obtained 100% of my clients through a body shop who does work for a local Aston Martin and Ferrari dealership. A rare few come from a local BMW dealer and a bit from a local high end collector car storage/garage. I take no dealer reconditioning and no daily drivers ever, unless the owners feel the need to dump over $500 into the car and it hasn’t happened yet. Only on a big wet-sand job will I split the money with the dealership. From there is has been just word of mouth. I just sent all of my regular and new clients gift baskets for the holiday’s just so they keep me in mind. I'm fully booked with 16 cars until the 2nd week of March 08.



I only charge the price I do because it’s just not worth my time to give up a Saturday or Sunday. I run my business in NYC from 7am-till done from Monday through Friday. I wouldn’t do a mini-van or car for a friend or a neighbor for a few hundred bucks. It’s just not my business and I let people know it. I only do this out of love for the cars and having an obsessive compulsive disorder.



The toys lined up for the rest of December through Jan 5th are:

87 BMW M3 black – just repainted and restored to new. Full wet sand and detail.

07 Lamborghini Gallardo spyder. –orange. Detail

07 Lamborghini Gallardo spyder – black. Detail

06 Bentley Continental – lt. blue Detail



The cars belong to 3 different owners all of which work for the same hedge fund in Greenwich, CT. I met one of the owners through the body shop. He told all of his buddies at work, now I have about 6 clients from this one location.
 
Yea I tried wording it to make the point. Charging $300 in my area is insane. Charging $300 in So cal is a deal (example only check local listing yet again) Which is why I tossed in say a 200% mark-up from what your local compitition is forgot the edit that dollar amount. Which is why I asked again about the 2 guys listed that they are indeed that much higher than any of their own local compitition with multiple employees doing high volume work and making a success of it all.



jsatek I envey you in one aspect. Just because I do have this passion for well maintained high end cars. Outside of vetts and vipers my only experience with the super exotics (that seem to get tossed around on here like everyone should own one) is looking from the velvet rope at high end auto shows. I did have one SLR mercades come in. That was about half a mill according to KBB. so I have gotten a taste of them. Personally though as far as business end goes. I'll stick with my DD's and high volume. Because if my guys had any sort of accident on some of these higher end super machines some of you tend to get I'd be bankrupt in a heartbeat. Although on a personal level just a few during the year that I myself would work on would be a exhilarating change. I just wish as a business I could honestly get away with charging even $300 and still have the volume.
 
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