WhyteWizard said:
The job isn't happening in a vacuum, the client's friends and associates are going to see that work. It's taken me thirty years to build a reputation for honesty, dependability and providing good value for money. This isn't about pacifying myself it's about the long term.
RaskyR1 said:
My business runs solely on my reputation and word of mouth, and that's one job I would not even think twice about turning down.
My only issue with applying Opti-Coat/Guard on top of swirled/scratched up paint is that you're locking in those defects, making a little more work for yourself or the next guy later down the road when polishing does need to be performed. I also feel that polishing aids in the cleaning and prepping of the paint, providing a better surface for the coating to bond to.
Just my $.02
I agree with both of these guys 100%. Perception and reputation is everything -- I don't have a separate business entity that is dedicated to lower end jobs for quick money. Everything that rolls out my door has my name behind it, and I wouldn't want anyone to see me putting out work of that caliber even for a fleet/commercial account.
And, that said, I think we're not taking into consideration how to truly leverage the full benefits Opti-Coat provides, here.
I'm going to assume that the company who owns this fleet also pays for the tunnel washes as part of its maintenance budget, correct? If so, when you meet with the fleet manager you should be bringing up some very important points:
1) How much are you paying out to the tunnel washes on a monthy/yearly basis for the fleet? What does that payout equate to (how many washes per vehicle/how often/etc.)
2) By running the vehicles through a tunnel wash, you are not only inducing additional swirling and defects in the paint, but once the vehicle is coated the abrasive wash will wear it away again. AND, you are potentially lowering the residual value of the vehicles when it becomes time to recycle and replace them.
If we're really looking at this as professional businesspeople, why are we not looking into purchasing or building at least one touchless automatic bay and selling it to them as a maintenance service? This has a few benefits:
1) By adding even just a one-step polish to the initial service, you are able to make a significant improvement in the vehicle's overall appearance and more than likely restore some degree of residual value in the process. This way, you're not chancing a negative impact on your brand image and reputation.
2) By converting the fleet over to touchless automatics, you are adding value to their initial investment (your $10,000 instant revenue) by ensuring the coating will last longer as compared to the swirl-o-matic and also keeping the vehicles looking better as a positive side effect. David has already done an excellent job of proving that Opti-Coat's dirt releasing properties enhance the cleaning ability of a touchless wash, and the strong detergents used in such washes do not have an effect on the durability of the coating.
3) While the initial outlay for a touchless bay can be pretty steep, by investing the profit from your initial service offering you are able to generate a long-term revenue stream. Since there are much fewer maintenance and wear items in a touchless bay versus a brush or cloth-type tunnel, your operating costs will be much lower and theoretically, you should be able to offer fleet accounts a competitive rate that serves as an incentive for those clients to keep coming back to you instead of the tunnel washes they currently utilize.
4) Another added benefit in doing this is that you create an entire new line of business that includes its own selling points. You can approach other fleets and have a proven-out solution that says "By paying $350 per car to have them prepped, polished, and coated, and then signing up for our touchless maintenance service which includes X number of washes per month at Y price, we were able to boost the residual value potential of a fleet of vehicles and reduce the company's fleet maintenance costs by Z percent." Sign a few fleets up and reinvest the large initial revenue you generate into the touchless bay(s), retain the fleets as wash customers, and you'll be profitable in short order without getting a hack's reputation.
Not to mention, you can still give retail customers access to your touchless as well (at a higher rate) and earn additional revenue that way.
As Barry said, businesses leaving money on the table is certainly a contributor to their failure; however I think an even bigger factor is not looking far enough into the future. Chasing quick and easy jobs that pay out big is great, but if you keep doing that you'll eventually find yourself running out of the jobs that give those large payouts. Generating something that will earn steady profit is what will sustain a business over the long haul. THAT is smart business.
