SOME BUSINESS is BAD BUSINESS.....

[buda]

Everyone is detailing wants more business, but did you know that some business can be bad for you and for your business.



You have a service business, right? And a service business is set up to provide services to the customer with the highest quality at the most competitive prices, right?



But, have you ever considered that doing everything possible to service every customer is actually the best way to operate a business, your business?



If you have been in business for any length of time you have all experienced situation where saying "yes" to everything the customer wants ends up costing you money and many times you don't even get a thank you.



In the detail business customer service can take several forms. You know when customer service is good for the customer right? But, do you now when customer service is "bad" for you the detail business owner? No?



BAD BUSINESS



The first rule of a successful business is to never accept bad business. You must learn to turn bad business away, learn to say "no."



You must become aware of the fact that not all business is good business, and second you must accept that fact and act on it when confronted with bad business.



When you are struggling to make a buck many believe that "bad" is better than "nothing." Wrong.



Bad business is just that, bad for you the detail business owner. There is absolutely nothing good about bad business.



A GOOD BUSINESS MAKES A PROFIT



Be honest now, how many times have you forgotten all you were taught about profit and took a job at too low a price, and at the end of the day you made nothing.



You need to know "all" your costs and develop a financial model and turn that into an hourly rate that will always make you a profit it you estimate the job correctly in terms of time.



That is why you can get into trouble with posted prices, you are telling the customer this is the cost without seeing and evaluating the vehicle first. Isn't that why you do not like to quote prices over the phone? Sure you say that price "depends on condition of the vehicle." But that is like "small print" to the customer and if you try to charge more they think you are "baiting and switching" and that is not GOOD SERVICE.



Question? Do you know what your breakeven point is on a full detail; an interior detail; a buff; polish and wax; an wash and wax, etc?



If you do not know your costs you are not even close to knowing what is good business and what is bad business. And, as a result you cannot walk away from bad business.



Like you have to have technical knowledge before being about to call yourself a professional detailer you have to have knowledge about what it costs you to operate your business.



If you have the financial knowledge about your business then you are in a position to quote proper prices to the customer.



Once the customer has a price in their head you are often stuck with it.



Appreciate your comments and experiences on this subject. Situations where you took a job and lost your shirt on it.



Bud Abraham

 

[OnTheSpotMobile]

I've got an example here of one of the worst customers I've had as a mobile detailer. I arranged to meet a guy at his house at 9am for a simple interior job which I quoted for $120. I arrived at 9am, his car was locked and he was nowhere to be found, no answer on the phone. So I moved on to the next job which keeps me busy most of the day. 5PM I call this guy and he is "on his way home be about 10 minutes". I returned to his house and waited. After waiting 15 minutes I sent him a text message and he replied "another 10 mins". Next time it was "having flat tire changed be there in 10". So after I waited around for AN HOUR for this guy he finally showed up and I got to work. I finished the job and the guy says "So are you alright with $80". After some conversation about the terms of the pricing and the fact that I would normally charge extra for the hour of waiting, I took his $80 as it was all that he had brought! I promptly left before losing my temper. This guy had been a repeat customer and had tried to haggle with my pricing before. On a previous job this guy actually followed me around and watched me detail his car for 3 hours, giving me "suggestions"! He has now become a "do not serve" customer.



I am getting better at spotting these eccentric people over the phone. If I am suspicious I either tell them I'm booked for weeks or quote them at top dollar to avoid taking hits. I do this for a living and I do it seasonally, therefore I can not waste a dime/minute.

 

[Jean-Claude]

I've got an example here of one of the worst customers I've had as a mobile detailer. I arranged to meet a guy at his house at 9am for a simple interior job which I quoted for $120. I arrived at 9am, his car was locked and he was nowhere to be found, no answer on the phone. So I moved on to the next job which keeps me busy most of the day. 5PM I call this guy and he is "on his way home be about 10 minutes". I returned to his house and waited. After waiting 15 minutes I sent him a text message and he replied "another 10 mins". Next time it was "having flat tire changed be there in 10". So after I waited around for AN HOUR for this guy he finally showed up and I got to work. I finished the job and the guy says "So are you alright with $80". After some conversation about the terms of the pricing and the fact that I would normally charge extra for the hour of waiting, I took his $80 as it was all that he had brought! I promptly left before losing my temper. This guy had been a repeat customer and had tried to haggle with my pricing before. On a previous job this guy actually followed me around and watched me detail his car for 3 hours, giving me "suggestions"! He has now become a "do not serve" customer.



I am getting better at spotting these eccentric people over the phone. If I am suspicious I either tell them I'm booked for weeks or quote them at top dollar to avoid taking hits. I do this for a living and I do it seasonally, therefore I can not waste a dime/minute.

Another option is to tell the customer that you accept cash payment up front. Do your thing and leave.

 

[Junebug]

Whenever I get the feeling that some guy is trying to nickle & dime me to death, I tell then they would be happier at the local "auto-tunnel of swirls".

 

[Scottwax]

I am getting better at spotting these eccentric people over the phone. If I am suspicious I either tell them I'm booked for weeks or quote them at top dollar to avoid taking hits. I do this for a living and I do it seasonally, therefore I can not waste a dime/minute.

I do the same thing. I have too many good customers to have to deal with bad customers.

 

[sacdetailing]

that is soooo true am having hard time with one customer right now he is so picky and pays only $90 bucks for full detail even though these guys fix and sell salvaged priuses which are 2010 or 2011 but hes sooo picky! he wants all rubber like literary all rubber everything to be cleaned and shine! But he is trying to be nice and stuff liek that so its hard for me to say no but i will do it this week.

 

[Envious Eric]

When someone says they want a one step polishing, and I ask what their car looks like and what they expect, and I can tell its going to be a solid reconditioning, not a detail, I will decline the job. He will end up bad mouthing you til the end of time! I have done that already 10 times this year. Last year, I would have taken on the job and done a solid two step for the client, not anymore!



However, if you do take on the job, you have an opportunity to upsell and EDUCATE the client. "see those darker, greyish lines..those are holograms and need two steps to be removed properly. After, the paint will have more depth, shine, gloss compared to just doing the one step that you wanted. Sure its $150-200 more THIS time, but the results will last longer and will be better in the end" BAM, just made an extra $200 bucks and a much happier client who will tell 2-3 other people about you...



There are always two sides....

 

[RTexasF]

I recall one "gentleman" that had three cars. I went to see them, discussed what he expected and gave him a total for all and each one individually. I made it very clear that cash was the only method of payment. I had a funny gut feeling but couldn't put my finger on it. The work was done in my garage and I called him when #1 was complete. His friend brought him over, he liked the outcome, and said he'd write me a check when all three were done. Uh, sorry that's not the agreement. Then he started to write a check for the car I had completed. The car was still in the garage so I ushered him out then closed and locked the garage. Some verbal threats were thrown my way so I dialed 911 on my phone and showed it to him. I told him to go cash a check for the amount owed or I'd press send and tell the police I was being threatened by two men. He brought the cash which I counted twice then let him have his car. What a hassle over a ten year old Taurus!! I reckon the other two cars are still filthy.



Moral? Trust your gut. When it sends alarm signals heed them and let the job go bye bye. This was really the only bad apple I've had to deal with so that's a good thing.

 

[Scottwax]

that is soooo true am having hard time with one customer right now he is so picky and pays only $90 bucks for full detail even though these guys fix and sell salvaged priuses which are 2010 or 2011 but hes sooo picky! he wants all rubber like literary all rubber everything to be cleaned and shine! But he is trying to be nice and stuff liek that so its hard for me to say no but i will do it this week.

I had a customer like that. Her dad owned a wrecking yard, she would buy the least totaled cars, have the collision damage repaired as cheaply as possible then expect me for a basic (1 polishing step) detail price, remove all the heavy paint overspray, holograms, dust from the body shop-basically all the stuff they should have done and then nitpick the car to death. For a while I would just schedule her on days I didn't have anything else to do but after a while, I really started to resent being expected to do all that extra work and raised my prices. She got mad and said she would find someone else. A few months later, she called to say she had bought a BMW 3 series for herself and was willing to pay the proper price to have it detailed. Still don't detail her fixer-uppers but occasionally she has her own cars detailed.

 

[sacdetailing]

I had a customer like that. Her dad owned a wrecking yard, she would buy the least totaled cars, have the collision damage repaired as cheaply as possible then expect me for a basic (1 polishing step) detail price, remove all the heavy paint overspray, holograms, dust from the body shop-basically all the stuff they should have done and then nitpick the car to death. For a while I would just schedule her on days I didn't have anything else to do but after a while, I really started to resent being expected to do all that extra work and raised my prices. She got mad and said she would find someone else. A few months later, she called to say she had bought a BMW 3 series for herself and was willing to pay the proper price to have it detailed. Still don't detail her fixer-uppers but occasionally she has her own cars detailed.

nice! u solved your problem! now i have to go talk to these guys!

 

[fergnation]

Just recently let a customer go. He buys high end SUV's at auction and bring them to me. But he only wants to spend a certain amount the trucks have gotten gradually worse. Plus he expects me to do the trade ins for the same price. Hate to see it go because he has regular business during winter but I just cant spend six or seven hours on a 100 dollar detail. I hate to turn down business but his cars jsut put me in a bad mood!!