Premier Detail Center

A

ADetailedFinish

New member
Sorry but this is kind of a rant, kind of a question. Just wanna hear some discussion from the other pro's

So I was driving down the dealership row and in front one of the dealers it has an A-frame sign that say Premier Auto Detailing. A couple days later I went in as a customer looking for a new rig. I looked at a bunch of cars new and used. I asked the car salesman if they detail all the cars before the get on the lot (I already new they do) and he said "ya of course we got one of the best detailers around." As all the vehicles I looked at had swirls, rids, etched in water spots.

Across the road is a touchless car wash that the owner cleans their vehicle with a brush. Outside of that has a sign that says Auto Detail $25.

With these advertisements I see all day long how do you try to pass the word on about proper detailing without knocking down the "hacks". I just wanna hear what you personally say to the people that argue with your pricing because they can go to "premier detailing" down the road for 1/4 of the cost.



I tell people that a proper detailer know's how to properly use all types of buffers. Know's the chemical's that are being used and how to properly protect all surfaces of the vehicle. Another thing that a detailer must know is what actually fixes the paint and what actually damages the paint as far as adding swirls and buffer trails..
 
One customer at a time my friend . . . . one customer at a time. I seen that here locally to. Our local Ford dealership all of a sudden had a sign up for detail work. $295 was their price and frankly i have never seen or heard of anyone going there but all their vehicles are hacked up.



Plain and simple . . . . . dealerships just want to make money. They could give a rats *** if the cars look good or not and don't want to spend the money to make them look good. I was talking with one of the head finance guys there as i was giving his vehicle a little work on his day off . . . . and we both agree that if the dealership would just spend a little cash they could sell so many more used cars.



There are a couple of places that are driving the market down with their $30 wash & wax details . . . . . all you can really do is try to educate people that you will get what you pay for. It's hard to get quality for $30. The most you will really get is a $30 job.



I'm in the same boat and just plan to keep on pushing through as best as i can.
 
It's really pretty simple. I tell the customer to look at the cars I have in my shop at the time. i.e. BMW, Lamborghini, Ferrari, Mercedes, etc. They walk into our very well lit shop, which we keep very tidy and clean, and they're already sold and an appointment has been made before they leave. I never talk down another detail shop, but explain to my customers that these cars are here for a reason, "We do the job right". I then explain that it will take a full day or more to detail their car, and for $150 or whatever some other shop is charging they won't get more than 3-4 hours of someone's time, which isn't enough time to do the job right. I don't necessarily charge more per hour than they do, but I sell more hours to do the job. I also explain to them the importance of having a qualified technician detailing their cars using quality detailing products, not some polish loaded with fillers, and a few washes after the car has been detailed, their swirl marks WILL come back, and the money they spent is down the drain. WE DO PROFESSIONAL PAINT CORRECTION. There is a difference! 90% of the time the customer will recognize that the extra money is worth it, even if they have to save their money and push the detail back a few weeks. Best of luck.





John
 
Thanks guys. I know that you have a great reputation john and your shop helps you. With me I'm working out of a garage (like a lot of the other guys) and my garage is well lit, big, and organized. I too use proper detailing products and have practiced so much on my own vehicles close friends and family. Than I started doing the work on customers cars and I'll be honest I've been busy, just not with the type of cars I want to do... But I guess once my time comes to get into those cars it will. Thanks for your guys' support.

PS John I still need to come by your shop to meet u, I've been a lil busy these past few weeks.
 
JohnKleven said:
It's really pretty simple. I tell the customer to look at the cars I have in my shop at the time. i.e. BMW, Lamborghini, Ferrari, Mercedes, etc. They walk into our very well lit shop, which we keep very tidy and clean, and they're already sold and an appointment has been made before they leave. I never talk down another detail shop, but explain to my customers that these cars are here for a reason, "We do the job right". I then explain that it will take a full day or more to detail their car, and for $150 or whatever some other shop is charging they won't get more than 3-4 hours of someone's time, which isn't enough time to do the job right. I don't necessarily charge more per hour than they do, but I sell more hours to do the job. I also explain to them the importance of having a qualified technician detailing their cars using quality detailing products, not some polish loaded with fillers, and a few washes after the car has been detailed, their swirl marks WILL come back, and the money they spent is down the drain. WE DO PROFESSIONAL PAINT CORRECTION. There is a difference! 90% of the time the customer will recognize that the extra money is worth it, even if they have to save their money and push the detail back a few weeks. Best of luck.





John
Click to expand...



John knows what he's talking about. He won't steer you wrong. ;)



With that said, I do pretty much what John says but I have a few hot-buttons I touch on with each new client. Everyeone has a hot-button, and everyone in this industry that knows anything about the real deal detailing knows exactly what they are(whether they know how to use those buttons is another thing).



Unlike John, I don't have a shop that has road frontage. I work out of a really nice industrial business park. So when someone comes in to my spa they are coming in because they have heard about me and liked what they heard. I ask them what they heard and will pursue a discussion based around that. "Hey, Sam, let me ask you, knowing that I charge more than any other joint around...why did you decide to come to me?" I am not selling anything. I am not closing my client. They are telling me, and hearing what they are saying, why they want me and not just anyone.



I do get jobs from my website that are not from referrals. In that case I tweak it a bit and this probably would apply more to you. "Hey, Sam, tell me what your experience has been with the car washes and detailers that you have used in the past? How much did you spend on your last full detail and the next day, did you feel like the job was really thorough...the way you would do it? Or did it feel like you got a 80% job(the next part is VERY important imo), like did you find that the glass was streaky, there was areas that were not completely clean, the leather was greasy or still dirty and the wheels...did they do a slam-jam job on the inner part of the wheels?" They always say the same thing..."You are right, the job is always sub-par and I always feel like I was a bit taken."[that's the short version. it's always much longer than that] That's when I build value in what,how and why I do things the way I do.



You need to start viewing your clients as you view a brother or a good friend(many of my clients are quite a few steps above just a client, I will call many from time to time to talk about stuff we have in common...I enjoy their company). Take care of them, don't see them as money or a bill payment. They are looking for value and want to be treated right. The money is almost always secondary. But if you can't build value in what you do and how/why you do it, none of it will matter and they will revert back to the bottom line. The bottom line needs to become secondary. If you only remember one thing I say, remember this: You do not sell based on price. You sell based on value and dog-on-it, you're the best value in town. Someone will always be cheaper and you will lose out based on the bottom line. If you're really good and your prices are set as such, you can always win on value.
 
some really good advice from you guys. This what makes forums such a great place to be. Everyone shares their wealth of knowledge. I have a Black C6 vette to look at tomorrow. Just got off the phone with the potential client . . . . i'm hoping i can get a word in tomorrow though as it was a bit tough on the phone. He priced around already so now i have to let him know why i charge more and what i have to offer him and why i am a little more expensive etc . . . . . he seemed like a reall cool guy though. Funny as heck. He wants to be book a job on Thursday in which i have wide open . . . . . we shall see what happens.



Anymore tips? Never really had trouble in the past but never hurts to have tips from everyone.
 
I agree with most of the replies except the implication that more expensive cars in the shop immediately means quality work done. I actually completely disagree with that based on what I've seen in Chicagoland. Many and I mean MANY local car washes will have tons of Ferraris, Bentleys, etc. in their shops simply because the clients don't know better.



As for how to "convert" people, it is simply impossible with many, a battle with some and easy with a few. I've been fairly lucky with clients coming to be that know what they want and how much they have to pay to get it. The few and far in between I get that want to negotiate, I simply tell they should find someone else as I might not be the detailer they're looking for. If potential clients ask specifically why I charge much more than the surrounding wash places and "detail" shops, I ask the client to go have the hood detailed by the other shop and then bring it back to me. If they don't see a noticeable difference then I wasn't right for them in the first place. This only happened a couple times and worked both times. However, as vtec said, you have to take it one customer at a time and hope he/she spreads the word.
 
LUSTR said:
I agree with most of the replies except the implication that more expensive cars in the shop immediately means quality work done. I actually completely disagree with that based on what I've seen in Chicagoland. Many and I mean MANY local car washes will have tons of Ferraris, Bentleys, etc. in their shops simply because the clients don't know better.



As for how to "convert" people, it is simply impossible with many, a battle with some and easy with a few. I've been fairly lucky with clients coming to be that know what they want and how much they have to pay to get it. The few and far in between I get that want to negotiate, I simply tell they should find someone else as I might not be the detailer they're looking for. If potential clients ask specifically why I charge much more than the surrounding wash places and "detail" shops, I ask the client to go have the hood detailed by the other shop and then bring it back to me. If they don't see a noticeable difference then I wasn't right for them in the first place. This only happened a couple times and worked both times. However, as vtec said, you have to take it one customer at a time and hope he/she spreads the word.
Click to expand...



Ivan is the man. You are where i would like to be one day. I personally hate doing interiors on some vehicles but if that's wht the customer wants that is what i need to do. I am personally not in a state where i can decline a ton of work unless someone is says something silly like i'll give you $200 to buff my car and clean the interior or something like that.



The market now is fierce with " detailers " popping up all over the place and with the potential client out shopping not knowing any better then a detail to them is a clean car with shiny tires it really makes us true detailers have to work that much harder to not only gain their respect but to gain them as a customer since:



Joe A charges $150 for a full detail



and we charge $300 (just a example)



always educate the customer as best as possible so they know that they really are getting things done properly.



the turnout of a detail is only as good as the prep work that went into it in the first place.
 
ADetailedFinish said:
With this all being said, how many of you grease the door pins with white lithium grease?
Click to expand...



Greasing hinge pins is just for show. They are done at the factory before assembly and it is very unlikely that any grease applied afterward will actually make it to the hinge pin. Some wont do more than a simple wipe on hinges so as not to remove the factory grease and therefore assume any liability if the hinge wears and the door starts to sag. Others I know wont clean seat belts for liability reasons.
 
It's about educating the client and creating a reputation for the best work around. It takes time but you can make it happen. Just today I had a guy call me 20 minutes before he came to my shop saying he just bought a c5 and wanted a detail. Told him to come by and spent 30 minutes with him. After 30 minutes he said he wanted a $950 detail. He even griped about the price for a moment. I told him he could save $200 by losing "this or that" off of his detail and but he couldn't live without getting it after I educated him as to why it would be the best for him. I didn't sell him anything. I educated him as to what the best was and he decided he wanted it.



Don't sell. Educate. People are smarter than folks like to give 'em credit for. People want quality they just don't know where to find it. You need to build value in your quality.
 
Jean-Claude said:
It's about educating the client and creating a reputation for the best work around. It takes time but you can make it happen. Just today I had a guy call me 20 minutes before he came to my shop saying he just bought a c5 and wanted a detail. Told him to come by and spent 30 minutes with him. After 30 minutes he said he wanted a $950 detail. He even griped about the price for a moment. I told him he could save $200 by losing "this or that" off of his detail and but he couldn't live without getting it after I educated him as to why it would be the best for him. I didn't sell him anything. I educated him as to what the best was and he decided he wanted it.
Click to expand...

I don't mean to rag on you, this is a great post, but in reality, yes, you did sell him something. You sold him on the process(es) that you like to do to achieve perfection (assuming this meant a combination of a proper wash, correction, etc), and the end result of perfection. You most likely showed him things that he probably couldn't see or would never notice without being shown. So yes, in a way you did educate the customer, but you also sold your services. Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying that the way you approached it was bad or anything, I'm just saying that you did "sell him something", whether you want to look at it that way or not. Had you not spoken to the customer in-person, you may have wound up with a detail that was worth half the price.
 
Lately I've been tempted to charge like 15-20 bux (maybe just 10) to do a section of the car if they make a fuss like "listen tell you what for 10 bux I'll do a test spot on a small section of your car, if you're not sold, even take it to that "detailer" down the block and see if you notice the difference"

Even after they take it there, more times than not, they'll still see that spot you worked on after their fillers failed, EVEN if that test spot was no more than say a quick AIO with maybe a spot of lsp
 
Do it for free. Trust me. Every single time I do a test correction spot, someone is booking an appointment.(well, there was one time, but the lady didn't care about anything)



Alexshimshimhae said:
Lately I've been tempted to charge like 15-20 bux (maybe just 10) to do a section of the car if they make a fuss like "listen tell you what for 10 bux I'll do a test spot on a small section of your car, if you're not sold, even take it to that "detailer" down the block and see if you notice the difference"

Even after they take it there, more times than not, they'll still see that spot you worked on after their fillers failed, EVEN if that test spot was no more than say a quick AIO with maybe a spot of lsp
Click to expand...
 
It's the mentality. Are you focusing on educating and meeting their wants and needs or are you fixated on selling this or that?



In short:

Him: I want my car detailed.

Me: What did you have in mind?

Him: Dunno, I have a car show and want to win.

Me: Ok, let's take a look at it.

-We look at it-

Me: Are you wanting clean or show car clean?

Him: I want to win.

Me: Ok, [hands him a quote with a break down on prices] this is what I came up with. If you want the best this is it. [explains everything clearly and ask him if he has any questions]

Him: Let's do this....



If you still think I was selling him something, we can agree to disagree. But my goal was to find out what he wanted and deliver. Whether it was a car wash or more.



WAS said:
I don't mean to rag on you, this is a great post, but in reality, yes, you did sell him something. You sold him on the process(es) that you like to do to achieve perfection (assuming this meant a combination of a proper wash, correction, etc), and the end result of perfection. You most likely showed him things that he probably couldn't see or would never notice without being shown. So yes, in a way you did educate the customer, but you also sold your services. Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying that the way you approached it was bad or anything, I'm just saying that you did "sell him something", whether you want to look at it that way or not. Had you not spoken to the customer in-person, you may have wound up with a detail that was worth half the price.
Click to expand...
 
Well I'd prolly do it for free only because a)you're guaranteed to see a difference and b) because you WILL having that one awesome spot with the rest of the car looking like crap, they're prolly ganna come on over anyways--just saying for those who are a bit on the penny pinching end..
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top