Input on a dealer account

Hi guys,


   I recently acquired a used car dealership account and was wondering what those with experience in wholesale detailing think of my process and current profitability.


 


Start:


 


Degrease engine, jams, wheels, wells, tires, dress motor. (15-20 min)


 


Interior:


 


Blowout w/compressed air , initial vac (7-15 min)


 


Clean: wipe hard surfaces w/APC, scrub seats & carpets, rinse w/damp towel and MF. (40min-1.5hr depending on condition)


 


Windows: 8-12 min


 


Headliner-as needed (5 min)


 


Dressing: (10-15)


 


Final vac (5-10min)


 


 


 


Exterior:


 


ONR wash, clay, dry (15-20min)


 


Polish:  (30-60 min)


 


Seal:  (5min)


 


Door jams, body gaps: ONR (5-10min)


 


WIndows and sticker removal (5-10min)


 


Dress tires, wheels, wells, trim (5-10min)


 


 


The end result is a very clean interior, everything is dressed, all cracks and crevices cleaned including seat rails, under seats etc.The paint is very smooth and reflective with at least 40+ % correction, sometimes up to 80% if the paint is soft. This service seems to have increased this dealer's sales significantly and I can honestly say that their cars look far better than those of any surrounding dealers.


 


 


Charge: $95


 


Product cost: $5-6


 


Avg time spent: 3.5hrs (still trying to nail this down 100%)


 


 


Thoughts? From what I've heard this is a well-paying dealership account but I think that I'm over-delivering on quality, possibly significantly. I can post pics of finished work if that helps.


 


 


Notes:


-These methods DO NOT apply to my high end customers, this is a service designed for used car dealers. The service currently far surpasses the quality of surrounding dealers who go with the usual bulk product/extractor/rotary/glaze method. I think that this is my competitive advantage but I think that I may be undercharging.


I don't tape trim, I just avoid hitting it with the buffer. Obviously the correction rate is not completely consistent with this method, but the improvement in the paint is drastic.


-These are on average $8k cars
 
You nailed to a T what I do when I take on dealer work. My process is very similar except I steam the entire interior, then apply OP+ or HD Protect.


 


Often instead of doing HD Cut followed by HD Speed I will go with just Speed if the paint is soft enough.


 


The bottom line with dealers is if you don't offer the price they are willing to pay, they will just go elsewhere. So if you want this extra stream of income you really need to adapt yourself to this style of work or turn it down entirely. I like to be busy during the winter/evenings so I will usually take dealer work on even though it doesn't pay near as well.
 
You are on the right track. Do not forget lot maintenance. After you detail the car, how are they cleaned on the lot?


If it is pressure washer and shamois, then they are negating your hard work. I do high quality washes to get the dealer ready for weekend. ONR method makes it quite profitable.
 
WilliamWallacesWashAndWax said:
You are on the right track. Do not forget lot maintenance. After you detail the car, how are they cleaned on the lot?


If it is pressure washer and shamois, then they are negating your hard work. I do high quality washes to get the dealer ready for weekend. ONR method makes it quite profitable.


 The dealer handles removing snow which can result in marring (usually does) but I handle the pre-delivery detailing which is a pressure washer rinse, ONR wash, sealant applied during drying, dressing trim, wells, tires, vac/wipe, removing stickers (25min total).


 


 


 


 


To Mark, about how long do your wholesale details take?


 


 


Thanks for the input guys, would love to hear from others as well.
 
Your method/procedures are very thorough, but it doesn't seem to be much return ($) for your hard work. I understand that dealerships are all about the money, but you also have to make a living. Now, if you're completely content with the amount you're being paid, sounds good to me. We don't have too many dealerships we work with, because they don't want to pay what we ask. Either way, I wish you the best.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
 
Dealer accounts are all about efficiency.

Can you only vac once?

Also choosing a polish where you don't need to

tape trim or avoid trim will speed things up.


If you can, find a middle ground where you are still

giving a superior product, but you take less time.

Imagine the profits at 95 per car, if you can get it down

to 2 hours. If you are by yourself, this is nearly 50 an hour.


Also consider hiring help for some manual stuff. If it takes you 4 hours by yourself, then one could assume that with a helper you would be close to 2 hours. If you pay this helper ten an hour, then that is only 20 bucks off what you charge. This leaves 75 for two hours of work.


If you have two helpers, you could assume it would take 90 minutes. This is only 15 bucks a person wages, leaving you 65 bucks for 90 minutes of work. This is over 40 an hour.


I am not saying that you must have employees. There are additional costs to hiring people correctly. I am melt showing how you can explode profits with helpers.


If you did all the work yourself, you can clean 4 cats in a day, this earns you 380 bucks. If you had two helpers, you could do 8 cars in the same 12 hour period. 65 X 8 = 520 dollars. This is a 37 percent increase in profits.


Where I believe you will value most by having helpers, is not having to do the back breaking work yourself. Whatever part you don't feel like cleaning, someone else can do. If you hate tires, then helper 2 is responsible for this. If you don't like engines, you can train helper 1 to do them properly.


At the end of the day, you must ask several important questions. One of these, is who do you want to be professionally? Do you want to be the solo professional who can't work with others because your standard is too high? Do you want to be the owner who contracts of quality details around the city?


For my business, I chose the volume option. I choose to hire employees to scale my business. Mine is a bit different as I mainly do ONR washes for lot maintenance.


Another factor to consider, how dirty will they be able to bring cars for 95 bucks? How bad can the interior be, or the paint swirled until you ask for more. This is the danger of a set price.


Dealers have the idea that things will "even out" if you charge a single amount. Some will be easier, and then some harder. I don't view it like this. I see the possibility of having all bad cars, and getting screwed. For this reason, you might decide to implement an Ala carte pricing for additional problems.


These can be excessive carpet stains, hard paint or coating, excessively contaminated paint, muddy work vehicles, and engine problems. I would caution you from putting yourself in a situation where you could be unhappy down the road. You are now in negotiation time. This is when you say boundaries to your service.


If they love your 95 dollar service, this gives you some bargaining leverage. All you need to say, is that you evaluated your services and supply cost and the 95 dollar service is now 115. This is just because you take longer than initially calculated, because you want things done right. You can still offer the 95 dollar service, but design it in a fashion that is most profitable for you.


They will be making good money by having the best looking cars in town. It is only fair that you should profit well also.



While you are detailing, range pictures for your portfolio. Get a deal with the lot, and use your pics to sell cars online. This is where big money comes from, commissions because sales are easier on a gorgeous car. Many don't want to deal with sales, but the Internet makes it simple.


Regardless what you choose, it is your path and your choices. Many on here cringe at the idea of volume work. You have definitely chosen a profitable sector.
 
Why allow them to take the snow off the car that you polished? Inform then how they are killing profits and wasting money.


This is also the same reason that I am against shamois washes. They scratch paint.
 
Thanks for the additional input William. I definitely want to hire more employees, I currently have one part time. I think that a slight increase in prince is necessary, and I could maybe get these down to three hours on average. I have enough room to work on four cars in my shop and there are 10+ dealers within a 5 mile radius so I think I should look into continuing to grow the volume side of my operation.


 


 


I also am looking into rim repair, touchup systems (applied colors), etc as add-ons. Any input in this area?
 
Personally, I sub the additional stuff or to a make ready guy, and he sends me detail work. I know that I would make more by expanding services, I just have yet to do it.


You "Could" hire employees as contractors, just be aware that you can't set their schedule or check quality of work. Otherwise, they become employees. I never understood why the hirer can't check quality. It is dumb. I get around this by checking for 100 percent completion. While you can't say that the rim is dirty, you can say that they didn't finish the rim cleaning 100 percent. Legal semantics.
 
an employee with a lower pay rate is the only way volume really works from my viewpoint.  Doing the work yourself at $20-25/hr owning a shop location = not making enough money to keep a lifestyle and the doors open! 


 


Working for yourself, you should be looking at roughly $50-75 per hour based on your location.  Why?  because you have a lot of overhead you dont necessarily think about....gas in the car for the job, supplies, insurance, shop rent, etc..dwindle everything down and you end up with about 50-75% at most, which will put you at a decent living...the reason you work for yourself in the end!  Working at $25 per hour GROSS, you should really look into getting a 9-5 m-f job that pays benefits and has a matching 401K for you!


 


Of course, this is my opinion only!


 


I agree with the guy above (cant keep track of all his names, lol) - sub out the wheel repair, tint, dents, etc to simplify things on your end.  "A jack of all trades is king of none!"  Besides, you cant do a dent removal, paint correction, wheel repair, and clear film install all at the same time!  Your business is detailing...You will be known for detailing.  Imagine if you did all the work yourself...monday is detailing day, tuesday is wheels day, wed is film day, thursday is tint day, friday is dent day, saturday is interior repair day, sunday is business admin day...where will you find the time to grow the detailing business, or the wheel business, or the film business working on it just one day a week?
 
Going to post my comments within your post.....
96GreenPSD said:
Hi guys,


   I recently acquired a used car dealership account and was wondering what those with experience in wholesale detailing think of my process and current profitability.


 


Start:


 


Degrease engine, jams, wheels, wells, tires, dress motor. (15-20 min)


 


Interior:


 


Blowout w/compressed air (use ONR to assist with cleaning cracks/vents), initial vac (7-15 min)  <span style="color:#ff0000;">Don't use ONR. Use a dedicated APC


 


Clean: wipe hard surfaces w/APC+, scrub seats, carpets with DA w/carpet brushes, rinse w/damp towel and MF. (40min-1.5hr depending on condition) <span style="color:#ff0000;">Hand scrub instead of DA. Look into getting a Tornador tool. 


 


Windows: 8-12 min  <span style="color:#ff0000;">Do windows very last. The last thing. 


 


Headliner-as needed (5 min) <span style="color:#ff0000;">2 minutes with a damp towel


 


Dressing: Optimum protectant+ (10-15)  <span style="color:#ff0000;">waste of time and money - not needed


 


Final vac (5-10min)


 


 


 


Exterior:


 


ONR wash, decon towel, dry (15-20min) <span style="color:#ff0000;">Don't dry. Waste of time. 


 


Polish: Rupes 21, D300/GPS combo, various pads (30-60 min)


 


Seal: Megs synthetic xpress (5min) <span style="color:#ff0000;">Use an AIO like HD Speed. It has protection built in. 


 


Door jams, body gaps: ONR (5-10min)  <span style="color:#ff0000;">2nd from last thing to do. I don't see a need for ONR after polishing. Use a polish that doesn't dust instead. 


 


WIndows and sticker removal (5-10min) - <span style="color:#ff0000;">This shouldn't need to be done on all details. 


 


Dress tires, wheels, wells, trim (5-10min) - <span style="color:#ff0000;"> Do this in the prep stage when you dress the engine. 


 


 


The end result is a very clean interior, everything is dressed, all cracks and crevices cleaned including seat rails, under seats etc.The paint is very smooth and reflective with at least 40+ % correction, sometimes up to 80% if the paint is soft. This service seems to have increased this dealer's sales significantly and I can honestly say that their cars look far better than those of any surrounding dealers.


 


 


Charge: $95


 


Product cost: $5-6


 


Avg time spent: 3.5hrs (still trying to nail this down 100%)


 


 


Thoughts? From what I've heard this is a well-paying dealership account but I think that I'm over-delivering on quality, possibly significantly. I can post pics of finished work if that helps.


 


 


Notes:


-These methods DO NOT apply to my high end customers, this is a service designed for used car dealers. The service currently far surpasses the quality of surrounding dealers who go with the usual bulk product/extractor/rotary/glaze method. I think that this is my competitive advantage but I think that I may be undercharging.


I don't tape trim, I just avoid hitting it with the buffer. Obviously the correction rate is not completely consistent with this method, but the improvement in the paint is drastic.


-These are on average $8k cars


 


Actually, alot of these methods can be adopted to high end details as far as being efficient and saving money. This sounds like a great source of revenue for you. How many cars will they be sending each month? 
 
Thanks for all the input guys, I really appreciate it.


 


 


David, I currently use wheel brightener or apc for wheels, but why do you recommend scrubbing by hand instead of w/the DA? The DA definitely seems to reduce fatigue and seems to speed things up. Do you recommend the tornado for cracks and crevices, or how would you go about using it? Maybe it saves a lot of time on consoles? I tried the tornado (have two of them available) but they don't seem to speed things up since a spray with the apc and a quick wipe cleans all the hard surfaces. Also, am I correct in thinking that 3.5 hrs is a little long for a wholesale detail?


 


I'm definitely all ears for any suggestions that can improve efficiency/simply things or give a better final product.


 


Thanks again.


 


Mike


 


 


 


Edit: They should be sending me 30 cars/month on average, maybe more. I think I can possibly pick up another 15 from a nearby dealer, if that goes well I'll try to get business from the others that are within a couple miles of my shop.


 


Also, I HATE dressing the interiors, it takes so much time but this dealer really seems to like it. I'll have to see how they would feel about just dressing the leather/vinyle seats (should take 3-5 min).
 
toyotaguy said:
an employee with a lower pay rate is the only way volume really works from my viewpoint.  Doing the work yourself at $20-25/hr owning a shop location = not making enough money to keep a lifestyle and the doors open! 


 


Working for yourself, you should be looking at roughly $50-75 per hour based on your location.  Why?  because you have a lot of overhead you dont necessarily think about....gas in the car for the job, supplies, insurance, shop rent, etc..dwindle everything down and you end up with about 50-75% at most, which will put you at a decent living...the reason you work for yourself in the end!  Working at $25 per hour GROSS, you should really look into getting a 9-5 m-f job that pays benefits and has a matching 401K for you!


 


Of course, this is my opinion only!


 


I agree with the guy above (cant keep track of all his names, lol) - sub out the wheel repair, tint, dents, etc to simplify things on your end.  "A jack of all trades is king of none!"  Besides, you cant do a dent removal, paint correction, wheel repair, and clear film install all at the same time!  Your business is detailing...You will be known for detailing.  Imagine if you did all the work yourself...monday is detailing day, tuesday is wheels day, wed is film day, thursday is tint day, friday is dent day, saturday is interior repair day, sunday is business admin day...where will you find the time to grow the detailing business, or the wheel business, or the film business working on it just one day a week?


 


 


That makes a lot of sense Mark, thanks! I think I should just focus on getting more dealer accounts and hiring more employees to fill the empty bays in my shop. I agree that $25/hr gross is NOT worthwhile at all, that's just been the current situation while I've been getting a system figured out.
 
LoL @ name changes.... There was a few people typing in my full name, so I thought WWWW was easier =)


 


 


I do have a few comments/questions about suggestions.


 


I can totally see why David suggests not to do a protectant on the interior.  They will already


be blown away by the amazing car.  If a car is sold within a week or two, will protectant make


much of a difference?  If it saves 15 minutes each car, how much is this worth to you?


45 cars a month, saving 15 minutes each is a time savings of 11 hours.


 


As toyota pointed out, extra services could take up all of your extra time.  That is not saying


that you shouldn't evaluate them.  I would look at the skill level and training needed for the job,


the time that it takes to complete one job, and the profit earned from the job.  If the profit isn't


there, or it would cost too much to start up, or take too much time..... its not worth it.


 


That's not saying that there aren't people who make GOOD money doing these services.


 


Lets take for example the self healing bra that I was looking at.  This would be a great service


for some of my clients.  However, JC educated me that it would take upwards of 10k dollars


to start out.  This is an instant no-go, lol.
 
I think 3.5 hours for $95 is a little too long.  But also who picks up and drops the car off?  I'm mobile but dealers won't let me do cars onsite so I would have to bring them to my garage.  I'd spend 1 hour alone just picking up, bringing it to my house then returning the vehicle and going back home.  So a car would take me in total 4 hours for $100.  Engine and nanoskin was extra, Meguiars D151 on exterior, interior shampooed and steam cleaned.  No dressing and sometimes no leather conditioner.  For me it wasn't worth it.  Definitely better for a shop set up.  Also I had to carry  extra insurance (adding more risk to myself) and then you need a plate so these extra costs and the inconsistencies of the amount of  vehicles just wasn't worth it.  I realized I might as well get a 9-5.  You're definitely on the right track and there is plenty of great advice here.
 
I'm in the same building as my biggest account, so there's no driving involved. The other accounts I occasionally get cars from (less than a mile away) pay slightly more. Thanks for the additional input!
 
I have been doing dealer accounts on site with no problem, but this is without paint buffing.


Definitely don't give them the full treatment for cheap. Your lowest tier service should be better than anything they get currently. Just give yourself opportunity to up sell higher services.
 
Dealers are great when you are looking for a little extra cash or are looking to fill your schedule. I do dealer work in the evenings sometimes just to pull in a little extra revenue each week.


 


You just have to be willing to drop them if they get too picky/cranky and know that they will forget about you at the drop of the hat if someone cheaper but half as good as you comes along.
 
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