The industry and the WOW factor... A little too much sometimes?

Lou Bunn said:
I did sales for 30 years in my old job, it got easy (well easier) after I dropped about 80% of that canned sales training the company paid too much for. Do you want an example? Go to a Best Buy and have some "kid" read you the bullet points of why you need a $65 extended warranty on your $150.00 tv.......sad, but you know what I mean. The trick is to talk to a customer like you would talk to a friend, be honest, give them choices and tell them what you would do if it was your car.
Spend time asking them questions about what they want, what they expect and how they plan to use the car and don't forget to let them know that you're ther for them for regular wash/wax jobs - unless they want to come back months later in the same sad shape. You know sir, it's easier and cheaper to maintain than to start over. BINGO - got a detail and a client for those wash-wax days.
It's taken me time to figure this out, but, doing a proper detail is hard work, and I'm not a young man anymore. I can do 1 good one a week, but I'd rather be doing the maintenance wash-wax's, pay is the same (hourly rate) and it's easier on my back.

Also, I want to thank Mr. Todd Helme, his detailing write ups are second to none and should be made into a book! He inspired me to go way beyond what I thought was good enough and my customers are blown away! He has shown the amazing turnarounds and really taking the "hammer'd" back to showroom glory. I've laughed at other guys on that other forum showing a new sports car with a little dust and some light swirls talking about have thrashed it was and how great thou art.....really, get an enema pal before you blow.

This weekend I do a little truck and a little car, just a wash and BFWD, same customer, been doing it every 3-4 months for years. I feel like it's a vacation!

Lou
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Love it, I think the best way I can describe my interactions with clients is this... I love educating people but hate to sell to them. I firmly believe with the overwhelming amount of good information about what I do an how I do should be more than enough to have them "want" to have their car done by me. If not then, chances are it's the next guys challenge.

I've only lost customers due to 3 things...

1. Can't meet the time frame/scheduling conflict. (Most of the time they are willing to wait 1-2 months)

2. I don't offer certain services, Ie coatings. I'm still in the learning phase. I know what they do and how to apply but I'm not 100% comfortable yet. I'll never offer something without knowing I'm 100% confident at it.

3. The biggest one for all of us, Price. I'm not really flexible on my prices, I do offer plenty of options but my base package is more than enough for most. As detailers I believe what we do a rare skill (Most of my customers refer to it as an art). I take lowballing as an insult to be honest, especially with higher end cars. It's seems as though that kind of an offer is looking down upon some one. If I get a low ball offer I just kindly tell them I'm booked solid and will let them know when the next available date is... (Never, unless I know it's really someone on a budget who means well). Keep in mind I don't discuss price until I've gone through everything.
 
The Driver said:
3. The biggest one for all of us, Price. I'm not really flexible on my prices, I do offer plenty of options but my base package is more than enough for most. As detailers I believe what we do a rare skill (Most of my customers refer to it as an art). I take lowballing as an insult to be honest, especially with higher end cars. It's seems as though that kind of an offer is looking down upon some one. If I get a low ball offer I just kindly tell them I'm booked solid and will let them know when the next available date is... (Never, unless I know it's really someone on a budget who means well). Keep in mind I don't discuss price until I've gone through everything.
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Never be sorry for the price you are charging. You have to know what you and your work are worth.... If someone tries to low ball you, why tell them you are booked? Tell them no, flat out. Again you know what you're worth..
 
Beemerboy said:
I've been in sales, marketing and training for at least twenty five years, being conservative. My take is helping people "buy" listening and identifying the needs...the result is the sale.

That's the largest failure in the buy and sell process is, sales people typically

Seek to be understood, before they seek to understand.

The opposite is what's true.
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I agree 100%

I always listen to what a client focuses on. Most hints are complains about, what they wish they could do more with. If they complain about the leather, I know there a bit more finicky with the interior and then offer something such as a leatherique treatment. Even though it may get me a couple of extra $, I do it because I know that their going to be even more ecstatic at the end result.

I buy bulk shipments from certain places just to have extra stock so clients can pick up what they need to maintain the car after the detail, they absolutely LOVE IT! By doing that your always on their radar, not even for just a detail but when ever a trip to the autostore arrises for some soap :)
 
I'd say that most people I've detailed for are very happy with the results. I have had a few picky folks and although they appear fussy, they're usually the ones that notice all the things you do (like clean brake/gas/clutch pedals) so it's a win-win. The few people that didn't want me to work on their cars after I explained what needed to be done, how long and price, I don't know. Seriously, I don't know if price was too high or too low and they thought I was low-skilled? If I had to guess, I'd say they were cheap xxxxxxxs and wanted me to bust my asre for 7 bucks an hour, that ain't gonna happen!

You have to know your market, know what detailing is going for, understand your customer and what he wants and is willing to pay for. It's easy when you start out to want to try every miracle goo and spend way too long on that 1998 Nissan Sentra showing off how great you can make it. Guess what, you're going broke and wasting time. Been there, done that! Here's what I've learned:
Experience will tell you about how long a job will take (I add 2 hours just for surprises)
It's not wrong to ask about how much the customer wants to spend
Quickly figure what you can do for that amount of $ and then either give the good news as - "I think we can do that and it may be a little less" or give options - I've gone ahead and stated, hey, your paint will take x # of hours, that reeking interior another x# and so on. I recently bid a job on the nastiest farm truck you're likely to ever see, bid $150 more than I actually thought it take just because I've "uncovered" plenty of issues after power washing the mud and cow pies off these rigs. Guy decided to pass - I don't really care LOL!
Looking back, and giving advice to someone wanting to detail on the side like me, I'd say, keep it simple, buy just the basics - nothing wrong with going with just a few products, take your time and don't be afraid to ask questions here.
 
I just work it out to around 30 an hour, usually 350 flat rate for a standard 1 pass (I usually pull out a few scratches with the wool just for good measure). What's a good 1 pass go for down in the carolina's. I've seen so many price difference's from the middle of the country to here in NY it's crazy. I've seen people do 1 steppers for 150?!
 
If someone was charging 150 for a one step correction, I would be terrified to have them work on my car for fear that they have little to no experience.

Before I handled my own corrections, I had a wash, clay, one step correction, (minor spots were 2 steped at no additional charge that did not come out in 1 step) interior vac and interior wipe down, exhaust cleaned and polished, wheels cleaned and tires dressed for $ 600.00 and though it was fair for the quality the shop puts out in 2008. (In my area some were higher and some lower) I was told 2 costs of P21S 100% were going on as LSP. I simply could not get the paint right myself and actually inflicted more swirls into the finish than before I started.

What I learned via PM with a Pro on TID was that my pad was too agggrssive and I moved the PC too fast and did not apply enough pressure. Once I tried a softer polishing pad instead of cutting pad it made all the difference.

If not for the WOW over the top detail write up, I would not have known who to ask for help. On the NET you need to be carefull who you ask for help. Might get bad, bad info.

The Driver said:
I just work it out to around 30 an hour, usually 350 flat rate for a standard 1 pass (I usually pull out a few scratches with the wool just for good measure). What's a good 1 pass go for down in the carolina's. I've seen so many price difference's from the middle of the country to here in NY it's crazy. I've seen people do 1 steppers for 150?!
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JSFM35X said:
If not for the WOW over the top detail write up, I would not have known who to ask for help. On the NET you need to be carefull who you ask for help. Might get bad, bad info.
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It's got to be right, it's on the internet....

Bonjour
 
Depends, I have seen anywhere between 25 to 65 dollars per hour around. The brick and mortar shops have the overhead and have to charge more. Retired geezers like me that do a detail for friends every week or two can get by for less. Price is not always equal to quality, as we have all read the discussions on pricey wax.
Recently and old friend said Re-Bath quoted him $8000.00 to just replace his bathtub. He checked around and got several bids, all MUCH less!
 
The Driver - " Well said, I agree 100%. It's tough especially being an person who really goes hardcore with prep work, telling/explaining to them what they see may only be the tip of the ice berg. Usually the eye's widen when I tell them it's between 12-18 hours usually..."

Spot on ! Prep work makes or breaks the "rolling mirror"... :)

I never cut corners unless they specifically want something like an AIO only and to heck with what it looks like, just do it... And even then, I still lean on the Rotary to get as much out of the Optimum GPS, Klasse, Zaino, etc... as possible... I know, I cant help myself.. :)


You and I are about the same time frame then !

I always tell them its 20 hours and if I come in earlier sometimes they wonder why... :)

And as it has been already said, tailoring your explanation of your process to the Client's ability to understand, etc., is important..

Since I now work out of a very busy high end German Car repair shop, I get interrupted a few times a day with people walking into the Studio to see what I am doing, ask questions, bring in Clients who then want me to go look at their car and give them an estimate, opinion, can I borrow some Gummi Pflege Stift, etc,...

All is part of the deal... you have to be very flexible and still be reasonable in so many areas at the same time..

No, this line of work will never be boring... :)
Dan F
 
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