What are consumers thinking?

[DaVinci Detail]

It's definetly a struggle at times educating clients. People want something for nothing. Like what was said before, most people only care about 'shiny paint' and a clean interior. So give it to them.



Once I realized this my bottom line increased a bunch.

 

[Scottwax]

That mentality is why I no longer am listed in the yellow page and don't advertise on craigslist. All you get are bottom feeders.

 

[Scottwax]

In this business, even with "packages," you should ALWAYS be quoting final prices "by estimate only" since no two vehicles are going to be in exactly the same condition or need the same amount of work. Your advertised package pricing should be prefaced by "Starting at..." or you should expressly state "excessively dirty vehicles subject to a $___ up-charge."

Exactly what I have on my website and what I tell people who contact me. Any price is a starting point and the actual price depends on what condition the vehicle is in. You want to drive around with 6 dogs in your vehicle? Fine. Just don't get mad when it costs you $200 to clean the interior because it takes 90 minutes to vacuum out all the dog hair.

 

[C. Charles Hahn]

Case in point, I have a thread about my new month old car having water spots. I found a pro detailer, had references, photos of prior work, and charged accordingly, all good signs. I told him, I want it pristine and better than what I would see at a car show basically. It was ok, sure, no problem, this and that is the process, and it will cost you accordingly, I said, do it, knowing full well the labor intensive work and the price point that needed to be charged...



The spots are still there, so in the end the corner car wash shop was no worse when it comes down to brass tacks. Now, I know that water spots are a *****, but the average consumer would be furious that they spent a couple hundred plus a few more hundred dollars on a car that could have went to the local car wash/latte/dry cleaner/yogurt/newspaper shop and spent $60...that's the issues pro detailers and small business owners dealing with...

People also need to understand that we as detailers can only do so much for them. Once the vehicle is no longer in our possession and the owner makes an unfortunate (and probably unintentional) mistake with regard to maintenance, we cannot and should not be expected to accept fault. Yes, we all could probably stand to do a better job of educating our clients and customers about how to care for their cars post-correction, but just leading the horse to water doesn't mean he's going to have a drink.



At the end of the day, there are two types of detailing clients: those who will listen and follow through with proper maintenance (making the more expensive premium services worthwhile) and those who won't do proper maintenance. For them, it probably is just as effective to let the El-cheapo volume shop down the street do the job since the extra money spent on proper correction will be wasted in short order.



Unrealistic expectations are unrealistic expectations, regardless of the point in the process at which they exist.

 

[Concours.John]

People also need to understand that we as detailers can only do so much for them. Once the vehicle is no longer in our possession and the owner makes an unfortunate (and probably unintentional) mistake with regard to maintenance, we cannot and should not be expected to accept fault. Yes, we all could probably stand to do a better job of educating our clients and customers about how to care for their cars post-correction, but just leading the horse to water doesn't mean he's going to have a drink.



At the end of the day, there are two types of detailing clients: those who will listen and follow through with proper maintenance (making the more expensive premium services worthwhile) and those who won't do proper maintenance. For them, it probably is just as effective to let the El-cheapo volume shop down the street do the job since the extra money spent on proper correction will be wasted in short order.



Unrealistic expectations are unrealistic expectations, regardless of the point in the process at which they exist.

I call them my problem children.

 

[rustytruck]

Customers want what they want. meet and exceed their expectations not yours. A customer who has a totally trashed car has very different exceptions than someone who is having a six month old car detailed. If you can get the customers car "Untrashed" then they are happy. The guy who gets his car done every 6 months wants his car to look close to perfect. Just because you can remove every imperfection from paint does not mean that is what the customer wants or needs.