Typical Clients?

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imported_Jeremiah

New member
What would most of your typical cliental be? I'm trying to do some research in my area, one thing that I have noticed is that there are no "true" detailers in my area. We have the typical grub&scrub places who just induced more problems then they solve. I'm not really sure what kind of call there is for a good detailer in my area? There are not all too many expensive cars in my area. Mainly just Hondas, Explorers and the typical soccer Mom Mini-van. I'm wondering what kind of cars you guys detail? It would seem that most people around here wouldn't pay all to much for a skilled detailer to work on their car.

What brought this all about is that I was looking for a good detailer to do my car awhile back, I was really busy and had zero time to do anything so I was looking to get some problems I had fixed by a pro. My searches yield slim results, I seen a few guys using old dirty shop rags to buff off new finish at one shop. At another there was some kid using a rotary and putting in the WORST burns I have seen in a long time. Looked a lot like he was using 100 grit sand paper. Most of the places I went to said they would get out some swirls and top the car with wax for about $60. Needless to say I said thanks but no thanks.

So to sum it up, do any of you pros just detail low end cars and still get a good rate for your work?



-Jeremiah
 
Oh sure we do. In the next week I am detaling a 1991 Porsche 928, 2001 Ford F-250, 1994 Dodge Intrepid and a 1995 Saturn. I am actually charging more for the lower end cars than the Porsche. The reason is that the Porsche owner was hesitant about the detailing at first and after I sold him on what I could do I knocked $30 off on the price because he doesnt want the interior done. I charged $115 for the Porsche $125 each for the Intrepid and Saturn and $160 for the F-250. The Porsche guy will bring me a lot of business as well. All these jobs come from two really nice magnets that I had made by an outfit in California. They cost me $101. They have paid for themselves 4 times over since I got them. They only go on my car when it is in peak shape and not raining. I thought that most would not pay for detail work either but when they see my magnets saying "Wish your car shined like mine?" they want what my car looks like and they come a runnin.
 
Your clients will start to form by the kind of car you do.

I am located in staten island and most of my work comes from people in NJ and Brooklyn, but I also do a lot of Staten Island work.

Refferals are the best, i have people calling me all the time saying i did a friends or family members car and they want to have their car done.

Your work will speak for itself. When you are just starting out it is ok to have low prices to get the business in, but dont keep them low for long or you will be cutting yourself short.
 
oops, just read the rest of your post.

I detail low end cars all the time, and charge them 125 & up. the lower end cars usually need more work then a high end car.
 
So you pretty much keep the same type of clients? If you do low end that would be mostly what you would always have? I'd really like to do just low end cars but didn't know if there were enough people out there who are willing to spend the money. Living where I do would make detailing kind of difficult, I live in Central, NY and the amount of sunny days pales in comparison to the amount of rainy days, with no garage that might be a problem. Have any of you ever worked out a deal with a place like a car customizing place where they you buy some garage time to detail at their shop? Maybe it would help drum up some business for them to?:nixweiss



-Jeremiah
 
I do low end & high end, it all depends on the customers.

I have worked out deals with people where they offer detailing to the customers, then they call you to detail the car and you give them a kick back.

for example: your local mechanic offers detailing to his customers. he charges them 125 and calls you to detail the car and pays you 100.00 he makes 25 for getting the job and lets you use his garage. that is a win/win situation.
 
Most of my clients end up bringing me a filthy car and want me to bring it back. I usually end up charging them $160+ for the work. I get cars from Honda to Ford to Mercs.
 
I have not done any really fancy cars yet. The most expense car I have done, and still regular do, is a '02 Toyota Sequoia. I started out just doing the odd car here and there as favours for friends, and when that got to be too many, I started charging. Word of mouth just got around. Escpecially since my wife works for a big firm, and many see her car, and ask her how old her car is etc. :) I get lots of business that way, as mentioned above, from other people who want their cars to look the way one of the cars I did. I do Honda Accords, Mazda Miatas, trucks, you name it. Depending on the vehicle and what they want done, I get between 80 to 200 bucks a car (CDN $).



Even at those prices, as a weekend warrior, I have too much business. Unless I wanted to work every Sat. and Sunday all through the summer, I have more business than I want. I guess what I offer, as mobile guys offer, is that I pick up and return the car.
 
I've done everything from a Geo Metro (I washed my hands when I was done, I swear!) to Bentley, Lamborghini, Rolls and Ferrari. Most of my clientel have an SUV/Minivan and a sport sedan (Maxima, 3/5 series, etc). My weekly regulars though, are a 50/50 mix of normal vehicles and ultra high end.



Once you get a few high end clients, as long as you do good work, they will pass your name around. My richest client's partner saw my old Celica with my business name and number on the back window and called me to detail a Rolls Royce Silver Spur and a lowered Mercedes 560SEL. Both black, btw. I figure I did a good job, because I have been doing their cars for 9 years now.
 
Hmm. Maybe now that I have a small bit of free time I might look into doing a bit of weekend work, who knows maybe there are people around here that care how their car looks (other than myself). The only problem I could see is that my arm might fall off from all the hand work! I got my PC a few weeks ago but still no pads for it. The one that came with the 7336 from lowes is a piece of **** it kept breaking off into little bits.



-Jeremiah
 
I would say that 95% of my clientele are cops, firefighters, paramedics and EMTs, due to my primary line of work as a firefighter. The rest of my clientele are family members or family members of cops, firefighters. paramedics and EMTs or neighbors!



Just because a car is "high end" does not mean that it is kept up nice. I have seen a Rolls that looks more like a "rolling dumpster" than a fine motorcar. I have seen Toyota Corrollas that would take first place for cleanliness at a car show!



My clientele's vehicles are a mix of SUV's, pickup trucks and cars...a few of them are Benzes and Bimmers.
 
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