Is PwC enough?

zesty-man

zesty-man

how do ya like it?
my dad told me a while ago that people dont really care how good their car looks, and they want their car done fast. well i was thinking, would PwC be enough? i mean, it has polishing properites and has canuba. it would save time for me, and would probably be more "economical". sure i could add some sealent if they request it or something.... anyways, heres my points for going to PwC....

1. its time efficient. it seems thats what customers want. they want a cheap job, with good results, in not too long.

2. the results............. are above satisfactory

3. i would spend less time concentrating on paint alone, giving me more time to work on interior, and all the other little things.


what are your thoughts? i think im starting to go to the dark side. im looking for things that cut down on time, and on quality!!!! what are your thoughts for this young padawan?
 
zesty-man said:
my dad told me a while ago that people dont really care how good their car looks, and they want their car done fast. well i was thinking, would PwC be enough? i mean, it has polishing properites and has canuba. it would save time for me, and would probably be more "economical". sure i could add some sealent if they request it or something.... anyways, heres my points for going to PwC....

1. its time efficient. it seems thats what customers want. they want a cheap job, with good results, in not too long.

2. the results............. are above satisfactory

3. i would spend less time concentrating on paint alone, giving me more time to work on interior, and all the other little things.


what are your thoughts? i think im starting to go to the dark side. im looking for things that cut down on time, and on quality!!!! what are your thoughts for this young padawan?
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People may seem that they don't really care or they don't really notice how good the car looks, however, people will notice as soon as you cut back on your quality. Someone in this forum has a saying in their signature that goes something like this: a happy customer tells a few--but an unhappy customer tells many. (hope I didn't butcher it to badly)

Just my 2 cents :)
 
hmmm, i know that assuming makes an ass out of u and me, but......... the peope im gonn adetail for are not rich... what i mean is, they dont have a mercedes, jag, ferrrari etc etc. tell me if you agree on this. people that own a toyota corolla probably wont pay an extra 40 bucks to get that shine, but people that own exotic european cars would probably pay hundreds to get that 25% more that they want out of their paint. the good thing is, i dont have customers, so my customers wont notice that im cutting back on them. i mean, the saying goes, people get what they pay for, and these guys that i plan to detail for WILL NOT pay 3 figures..
 
One thing to consider is "how much are you willing to cut corners on." It's not like you're contractually obligated to do ANY work, this is (AFAIK) a hobby-turned-extra side cash. You're not going to starve or get thrown out of the house (are you? If you are, then by all means, do what your Dad says!) If you start skimping now, you'll get used to that level of quality.

I would suggest looking through your steps and seeing first if any can be sped up (Letting engine pre-soak while doing the interior rather than doing just one area at a time). Check the posts to see how long it's taking for others to do tasks. If you're slower, see what can be done to speed it up.

Try to do your best job in as little time first. Then, if you feel that your customers don't appreciate/want the extra steps, start taking them off, one at a time (ex. if you clay, ssr2.5, ssr1, ex, natty's, try skipping the Natty's. If the customer notices the difference, put the wax back and skip ssr1 (get better at working the ssr2.5 to a "finished" look). Consider skipping the clay if it's a new/in good shape car. If you need to cut back further, I'd go with ssr2.5 then PwC before dropping to just 1 step.

These are of course just my thoughts, and nobody is forcing you to do anything THEIR way. (except maybe the customers, if they want their cars back sooner)
Hope you still have fun doing the jobs!
 
well, this is certainly not my life's work or anything. like you said, it was a hobby. however, the key is, the money that i make now will go towards getting a car senior year (1 year from now). sure its not gonna be a lot (at this rate, im tryin to catch up to what i spent), but maybe it can be like a crutch, and serve a bigger purpose. SHOW MY PARENTS I AM COMMITTED. im gonna detail for my friends mainly, and maybe some aunties and uncles. for my friends, theyre very demanding. however, for relatives and such, ill probably go the extra mile, because theyre my relatives, and theyre more inclined to telling thier friends about who did the swell job on their car. also, i think relatives pay more than friends.
 
Well, it sounds like you've made up your mind.
Friends are demanding=full detail.
Relatives-will go the extra mile=full detail
Doesn't sound like you're going to be cutting back after all!

Good luck with the car fund.
 
lol, am i a bad person in the fact that i will do a satisfactory job for friends, but will go the extra mile for relatives? now im starting to feel like darth vader.... pain leads to anger. anger leads to fear. fear leads to hatred...... yoda said something like that to luke..
 
Well, what we offer is a lower end job for those sorts of people. Maybe the person just wants a cheap job to make their paint look better so they can sell it or maybe the local dealer just wants a fast job so he can get his car on the lot. We give the customer several options and let them choose what is best for them and their situation. In the lower end jobs that we do we will only wash the exterior, clay it, and go over it with polish with carnuba. It is a very good product or these types of jobs.
 
zesty choose your choice along what you started detailing for. If you want to do profit, then you can manage by running a brisk detail. If you are for the spirit of it, then do the full steps. I would give the option and let the customer know what you can or want to do. If you like a mix, just adjust accordingly. PwC is a good 1 step, I hear TOL's paint perfection glaze is too.
 
If you wonder if you are a bad person for doing something then you are on the edge of violating your own value system. Do not violate your value system or you WILL begin to believe you are not a good person. The more often this violation is repeated the more you will believe that you are not a good person. Then you'll start making excuses, blame others, ratiionalize, have problems looking people in the eye, become cynical of life in general and develop some level of depression.
 
JimS said:
If you wonder if you are a bad person for doing something then you are on the edge of violating your own value system. Do not violate your value system or you WILL begin to believe you are not a good person. The more often this violation is repeated the more you will believe that you are not a good person. Then you'll start making excuses, blame others, ratiionalize, have problems looking people in the eye, become cynical of life in general and develop some level of depression.
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I'm in agreement (mostly). I don't know if I'll go along with the stuff toward the end of JimS message but in general I think he makes a very good point.

"Cutting corners" is not something that should be in anyones mindset. Do any job to the utmost of your ability. PERIOD.

I don't mean treat every car as though it were a Jaguar E-Type getting ready to be in a concourse event. What I do mean is when you sell a package or service, perform those services to the best of your ability. For a $100.00 wash/wax/vac (which is what I called my quickie, low price offering) do no less than whats in the package (and no more if you're interested in saving as much time as possible) and do it as though it were your car. If you sold a $200.00 full exterior detail then do the wash/three step paint process and all the exterior cleaning/dressing that goes along with it. You need to have different levels of service offerings based on time and expense to both you and the customer.

As a consumer and an enthusiast detailer, hearing "I need to find a way to cut corners" is bothersome to me.
 
As the above have mentioned.Offer different packages and then detail accordingly. Just my 2 cents.
 
yes, thats a good idea, i can offer different packages, and say that the more expensive a package gets, the long it will take etc etc. thats a great idea. now i have to start thinking about packages......

hey WOOB, i have TOL's pant perfection glaze to!!! hehe. but one thing. doesnt that glaze need to be topped with some kinda canuba?
 
zesty i know :) I believe PPG leaves a sealant so you could top it with a carnauba. I wish my Pizzazz would be here. How much was shipping to Hawaii?
 
hmmm, that would be very convinenet. however, what annoys me about PPG is that its a glaze, meaning that it would hide the imperfections istead of taking them off, which kinda concerns me. then again, it may gauntree returninng customers. as for shipping, it was a sh!tload!!! for some wheel cleaner, PPG, TS, and a brush, it costed me about 35 bucks. she gave me a real discount from the 41 it woudl have costed me
 
Yes Irene is very nice. I like USPS now for the speed/price/reliability but dangit UPS is expensive sometimes. And they take awhile! 7 Days from CA, 5 days from AK. No Sunday deliveries aren't nice either
 
the sad thing is, irene told me that i cant ship USPS because its over seas, and they dont like to have chemicals shipping overseas, which can be hard. so i was sorta forced to go via UPS 2nd day air....
 
Forced for 2nd Day air? That will get ya. I think regular would probably take over 2 weeks. Either way I'm happy with TOL so far.
 
zesty-man said:
hmmm, that would be very convinenet. however, what annoys me about PPG is that its a glaze, meaning that it would hide the imperfections istead of taking them off, which kinda concerns me. then again, it may gauntree returninng customers. as for shipping, it was a sh!tload!!! for some wheel cleaner, PPG, TS, and a brush, it costed me about 35 bucks. she gave me a real discount from the 41 it woudl have costed me
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If I remember correctly, I believe PPG is not exactly a glaze at all. It is their light cut polish (which contains abrasives) with an added sealent. So, it will in fact REMOVE minor swirls and oxidation...see for yourself...

http://www.topoftheline.com/32ozpainswir.html
 
hmmm, i see that...... very nice, but the bottom line is, theres glaze in the name!!! anyways, ill give it a test. im sorta ouit of cars to test rite now, because all of them have something on it. maybe ill try doing my grandma's car with clearcoat failure in some spots...
 
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