Well there goes all my dealer work. Retail too. May be closing up shop soon.

Seem's like the OP knows his business and area well, I say go for it get a mobile setup and don't look back you just cannot compete on that sorta price and anyone who wants you to really isn't a customer you want to have back dealer or not IMO.





Polishd Mobile Detailing
 
This isn't new and it isn't local to your area either. Detailing attracts a certain type of person due to the low barrier to entry with respect to costs to open a business and as such we get the knuckle heads that low ball and make it difficult to do business. Even after 19 years in the biz I often want to just give up with the dealers as they are a major part of the problem too. I am very fortunate that the vast majority of dealers we deal with aren't willing to sacrifice the quality and service we provide simply to save a few bucks. However we did lose an account last year to another shop undercutting us. The dealers LOVE these guys and will pound them for all they are worth until they go under and then rinse and repeat. They will simply use and abuse the lowballs until they don't need them and then throw them away like trash. I have sat in on conversations with used car managers laughing about guys they have worked over and you have to realize that a lot of the "old-school" guys in the business will beat you up on price unless you stand your ground. There is a dealer here that will literally toss anyone they are using out of the dealership if someone else comes in and undercuts them for any amount. Work sucks? No problem they just keep sending the cars back and making them redo it or they won't pay. Why would anyone want that work?



You have to build loyalty and trust by overwhelming them with the value in what you are doing vs the hackers/lowballers. If they don't want to pay, FORGET THEM. Find other customers that will pay you a fair price and move on. I've seen so many guys that are only worried about being busy and never consider whether they are profitable. Sorry to hear that this happened to you but realize that it's completely normal when dealing with car dealerships and will inevitably happen no matter how well you service them. We just had a dealer we have been servicing for the last year try and replace us by hiring 3 idiots to work in house. Doing the math it will cost them more on wages alone to employ the 3 guys than they were spending for us to do ALL the used cars with far inferior quality. Yeah that makes a lot of sense huh? Welcome to the world of doing business with car dealers.
 
Dan said:
I think Target is a good model for inspiration. Walmart undercuts them by a noticeable margin, yet they continue to grow. People like good packaging even if the stuff on the inside is the same.
Click to expand...



Starbucks is another great example - provide customers with an experience they want and they will pay more for essentially the same product.
 
ShineShop said:
Starbucks is another great example - provide customers with an experience they want and they will pay more for essentially the same product.
Click to expand...



I believe the success of Starbucks is now more due to logo recognition, market saturation, consistency and convenience. They have many competitors that do well in local markets but just aren't on the same scale. If I could just figure out how to install a detail shop at every gas station and be able to complete a car in 10 minutes or less. :idea





Dan said:
I think Target is a good model for inspiration. Walmart undercuts them by a noticeable margin, yet they continue to grow. People like good packaging even if the stuff on the inside is the same.
Click to expand...



The Target/Wal-Mart comparison is a great analogy that every detailer should be aware of. Same business model with essentially the same products yet Target charges more. Just look in the parking lots and you will see the difference in the types of customers. Would you even bother advertising in a Wal-Mart parking lot if there was a Target across the street? Those fly by night detailers that are undercutting are just like Wal-Mart and dealers are their ideal customers. The trick is convincing potential customers that we are the Target.



There are not only people willing to pay for quality services (in almost every industry) but they are actually looking for them. We all like to think we provide a quality service, but it isn't just about doing that. We also have to figure out how to let customers know that fact. I think being mobile does have a huge advantage in that visibility can be much greater and varied where as a shop only gets seen by the people who drive by, 95% of which are the same ones over and over. I think Rich recognizes that and that the location of his shop was attracting Wal-Mart customers.
 
Nth Degree said:
I believe the success of Starbucks is now more due to logo recognition, market saturation, consistency and convenience. They have many competitors that do well in local markets but just aren't on the same scale. If I could just figure out how to install a detail shop at every gas station and be able to complete a car in 10 minutes or less. :idea
Click to expand...



That's definitely part of it. I actually attended a seminar on "experience selling" a few years back at the ICA world car care expo and one of the main case studies he used was Starbucks with respect to the experience the stores give to their customers as opposed to other coffee shops. Starbucks is able to charge significantly more than the average coffee place because they install a sense of value and prestige in shopping there as opposed to placing all the value in shopping there solely on their product. If the best coffee was the only component everyone would be buying from McDonalds which has by far the most store locations, is significantly cheaper and has been rated as the best mass produced cup of coffee of any chain several times. As for mass producing detailing, the pitfalls in doing this are the rising cost of labour and obviously the quality vs price issue. In my opinion, the only way to go with selling detailing services on a large scale is "express" services offered at locations that can produce a large amount of customers where you can cherry pick the reasonably decent condition cars and sell relatively inexpensive services such as a quick wax or a carpet shampoo that can be done fast and in a short amount of time. Almost all the franchised detail operations I have ever encountered are miserable failures.
 
Several years ago our Auto Preservation operation raised new car prep by $10 a car and used car details by $35 a car.

Lost 5 or 6 dealers, for a couple of months, and all but one came back to the fold.

The one that didn't, cussed us, called us every name in the book, a Nissan dealer in Cincinnati.

Then it happened, his "low baller" had no insurance and one of his employees totaled a two year old trade in while driving it back to the dealer.

No INSURANCE, guess who was on the hook for the car?

Not the detail operater, he folded in a day and left town.

Dealer wanted us to do his cars again, and I told him to take a hike, we didn't need to put up with dealers/people like him.

Bad dealers are bad dealers/businessmen, Nissan made him sell the dealership a little over a year later.

Had the lowest CSI for Nissan in the region, etc.

Grumpy
 
Ron Ketcham said:
Several years ago our Auto Preservation operation raised new car prep by $10 a car and used car details by $35 a car.

Lost 5 or 6 dealers, for a couple of months, and all but one came back to the fold.

The one that didn't, cussed us, called us every name in the book, a Nissan dealer in Cincinnati.

Then it happened, his "low baller" had no insurance and one of his employees totaled a two year old trade in while driving it back to the dealer.

No INSURANCE, guess who was on the hook for the car?

Not the detail operater, he folded in a day and left town.

Dealer wanted us to do his cars again, and I told him to take a hike, we didn't need to put up with dealers/people like him.

Bad dealers are bad dealers/businessmen, Nissan made him sell the dealership a little over a year later.

Had the lowest CSI for Nissan in the region, etc.

Grumpy
Click to expand...



We have only lost an account twice in almost 19 years to another shop. Both times the dealer has come back after the lowballers dropped the balled and/or folded up shop.
 
Nth Degree said:
If I could just figure out how to install a detail shop at every gas station and be able to complete a car in 10 minutes or less. :idea
Click to expand...



I guess my sarcasm wasn't obvious enough.





Ron Ketcham said:
Several years ago our Auto Preservation operation raised new car prep by $10 a car and used car details by $35 a car.

Lost 5 or 6 dealers, for a couple of months, and all but one came back to the fold.

The one that didn't, cussed us, called us every name in the book, a Nissan dealer in Cincinnati.

Then it happened, his "low baller" had no insurance and one of his employees totaled a two year old trade in while driving it back to the dealer.

No INSURANCE, guess who was on the hook for the car?

Not the detail operater, he folded in a day and left town.

Dealer wanted us to do his cars again, and I told him to take a hike, we didn't need to put up with dealers/people like him.

Bad dealers are bad dealers/businessmen, Nissan made him sell the dealership a little over a year later.

Had the lowest CSI for Nissan in the region, etc.

Grumpy
Click to expand...





It pays to be nice to the people you meet on the way up, for they are the same people you meet on the way down. –Walter Winchell



Sometimes you just gotta look at things and think "Karma got it right."
 
This thread has mainly been focused on dealer work. This is only a small part of why I need to get of this area. Here's the other reason, ANOTHER LivingSocial deal for detailing in my area.



The Best Daily Deals in Hartford - OnPoint Connections LLC - Express Auto Detailing



I know I ran two deals last year, so maybe I should expect this, but I only ran my deals to get my name out there. Now everyone is running them and we are all killing each other's business doing this. My new area is far enough away from Hartford for this not to affect me so much, if at all.
 
ExplicitDetails said:
This thread has mainly been focused on dealer work. This is only a small part of why I need to get of this area. Here's the other reason, ANOTHER LivingSocial deal for detailing in my area.



The Best Daily Deals in Hartford - OnPoint Connections LLC - Express Auto Detailing



I know I ran two deals last year, so maybe I should expect this, but I only ran my deals to get my name out there. Now everyone is running them and we are all killing each other's business doing this. My new area is far enough away from Hartford for this not to affect me so much, if at all.
Click to expand...



As many of the groupon type deals that have been out there, I'm surprised that I haven't seen any "I fix groupon details" type ads. Might be an interesting way to get some loyal customers vs the riff-raff that will never be back for another detail.
 
My 2 cents from working as a detail manager side by side with the Pre-owned vehicles manager for 3 years.



Domestic Dealerships: Don't care about a reconditioning. They are considered with numbers and moving inventory. More often than less their customer base doesn't maintain their vehicles image or mechanics. The domestic customer mentality is to just drive and go and think of replacing vehicle when it starts to go bad.



Import Dealerships: Have higher end vehicles with a customer base that demands quality in mechanics and appearance. Import customers care for their auto hygiene as well as regular maintenance. The reason why is because the customer base believes in investing in their autos for the long run.



With that being said remember your in the presence of a salesman. Sell him and he will respect you more. Transition and value build your services. He should recognize what you're doing, smile and respectfully give you the sale. Let me explain how I would have handled your situation if I found out that my services have been undercutted.



Lesson 1: Always address prospect by first name bases. The reason is because you get their attention and to each prospect their name is the most beautiful word to them in their language.



Lesson 2: Transitioning. Transitioning is the objective of switching the prospects mind off the topic of money and back to services fulfilled on the needs analysis when an objection is present. Examples are "(Prospects Name) my reconditioning services are a small investment in YOUR inventory presentation. Also (Prospect's Names) when my services are complete the presentation exceeds that of the $30 details which in turn creates urgency for your sales staff to close on. Which leads to lesson 3.



Lesson 3: Value building. You value build after transitioning just like in example. Start out saying "Keep in mind (Prospect's name) when my services are completed the presentation exceeds that of the $30 details which in turn creates urgency for your sales staff to close on just based off presentation."



Lesson 4: Close. (Prospects name) I know you don't sell a vehicle with an empty gas tank. (Prospect's name) Let's get YOUR presentation right with my process so customer's can't say no. (Prospect's name) let's sell your customers a full detail whilst building value to your inventory so customers can't point out flaws such as stains, scratches or smells. (Prospect's name) I value your business and keep in mind that my services are fairly priced for the level of service you receive. (Prospect's name) I'm hoping you reconsider our relationship as I only want to produce a quality image for my business and contracts held.



just my perspective,





J Young
 
ExplicitDetails said:
This thread has mainly been focused on dealer work. This is only a small part of why I need to get of this area. Here's the other reason, ANOTHER LivingSocial deal for detailing in my area.



The Best Daily Deals in Hartford - OnPoint Connections LLC - Express Auto Detailing



I know I ran two deals last year, so maybe I should expect this, but I only ran my deals to get my name out there. Now everyone is running them and we are all killing each other's business doing this. My new area is far enough away from Hartford for this not to affect me so much, if at all.
Click to expand...



I hadn't checked any of the deal sites in my city in a while so after reading this I checked Groupon and the local Suzuki dealer has "detailing" deals on this week and there seems to be a new one on every couple of weeks. The sad part is people actually buy this garbage
 
ShineShop said:
I hadn't checked any of the deal sites in my city in a while so after reading this I checked Groupon and the local Suzuki dealer has "detailing" deals on this week and there seems to be a new one on every couple of weeks. The sad part is people actually buy this garbage
Click to expand...



And it's not only the bargain hunters who are buying these deals, they are becoming more and more mainstream. It's not a garantee that when you get one of these deals for detailing you will get a crappy job done, but you most likely will. I made it a point to go above and beyond on every one I did, but looking at some of these online reviews for other shops, not many are willing to do this. Which also means almost all these people who would never get their car detailed without a deal are going to get a bad taste in their mouth for getting their car detailed.
 
ExplicitDetails said:
And it's not only the bargain hunters who are buying these deals, they are becoming more and more mainstream. It's not a garantee that when you get one of these deals for detailing you will get a crappy job done, but you most likely will. I made it a point to go above and beyond on every one I did, but looking at some of these online reviews for other shops, not many are willing to do this. Which also means almost all these people who would never get their car detailed without a deal are going to get a bad taste in their mouth for getting their car detailed.
Click to expand...



Get this, I just drove by the Suzuki dealership and they rented a portable billboard and put "BEST DETAILERS IN THE CITY" on it. Ironically, here's a review someone left on our google places account a while back:



I got a "complete" $200 detail at a Suzuki/Saab dealership and they claimed that the scratches on my car were too deep to buff out. I went to Scotty's and it turns out they weren't scratches but merely scuff marks. The manager wiped it off for me free of charge and buffed out other scratches on my car in 2 minutes. Very honest and professional people - highly recommended.
Click to expand...
 
OK so I'm reading this and thinking you are part of the problem. I know you are a good guy because I know a detailer in the Hartford area that calls you and stops by from time to time to see you. I understand that your a sharp guy and have a decent shop. That being said why would you ever even consider doing one of those groupon deals? I mean you get 25 cents on the dollar. You did it starting out but you have a problem with other start up guys doing it. If I do 100 percent of the work I want 100 percent of the money. Why are detailers dumb enough to do the work while the groupon sites make all the money? Don't move up my way because now I see some of those groupon deals in the Springfield area for detailing companies that don't even exist.
 
rustytruck said:
OK so I'm reading this and thinking you are part of the problem. I know you are a good guy because I know a detailer in the Hartford area that calls you and stops by from time to time to see you. I understand that your a sharp guy and have a decent shop. That being said why would you ever even consider doing one of those groupon deals? I mean you get 25 cents on the dollar. You did it starting out but you have a problem with other start up guys doing it. If I do 100 percent of the work I want 100 percent of the money. Why are detailers dumb enough to do the work while the groupon sites make all the money? Don't move up my way because now I see some of those groupon deals in the Springfield area for detailing companies that don't even exist.
Click to expand...



Thanks for your input. Though I don't know of any detailer in the Hartford area who has ever called me or stopped by my shop. We all live and learn, I made this thread to help other people, not to be insulted, but I wish you the best of luck with your part time detailing business. I just edited what I had previously written here because I am above what my initial reaction to your response was. It's too bad that you have to insult me by calling me dumb for running the deals I did. I did not run the deals to make money. It's called marketing and in case you didn't know, the money that LivingSocial made off me is a tax write off and I have not lost a dime doing it. It's not just start ups running all these deals, it's also shops that have been around awhile and did not do their homework before they ran the deal. Which is hurting all of us now because they did not consider how many deals they would sell and therefore rushed to get them done, which resulted in many bad reviews for them on the review sites and lots of people with a bad taste in their mouth now for detailing. Don't worry I'm not going to work in your area, it's too far from where I live. Probably a good thing for you. Oh, now I'm going in that direction of the response I just deleted, I should stop. It's too bad that you have to be insulting to someone trying to help other people. I PM'ed you and you can take what I said however you want. I think this response by you in another thread says alot "If a car is extremely dirty with caked on mud it needs to go to a car wash. I do auto detailing." Clueless.
 
rustytruck said:
OK so I'm reading this and thinking you are part of the problem. I know you are a good guy because I know a detailer in the Hartford area that calls you and stops by from time to time to see you. I understand that your a sharp guy and have a decent shop. That being said why would you ever even consider doing one of those groupon deals? I mean you get 25 cents on the dollar. You did it starting out but you have a problem with other start up guys doing it. If I do 100 percent of the work I want 100 percent of the money. Why are detailers dumb enough to do the work while the groupon sites make all the money? Don't move up my way because now I see some of those groupon deals in the Springfield area for detailing companies that don't even exist.
Click to expand...



Detailers offer these "deals" for the same reason all the other businesses offer them - Groupon and all these "deal" sites prey on small businesses that are desperate to expand or drive work into their business. They sell the "deal" as a great thing and make it sound like a very attractive offer that is going to just pound you with new customers that you couldn't reach without spending thousands upon thousands in advertising which most of the small, struggling businesses just can't afford to do. The issue is that the people that frequent these sites do very little research about who they are actually buying from and get caught up in the "getting a bargain" aspect as opposed to buying a quality product. As I believe I mentioned earlier a good deal of the places I see offering detailing in my area aren't even detailing businesses - often car dealers and small garages that are looking to just get people in the door by offering a deal. The customers get ripped off and then are sour on the whole "detailing" business. I've had multiple people that bought a "dealfind" deal from a crappy little car lot/garage in my city that offered a detailing deal and were PISSED because all they got was a quick wash and vac when it was presented as a full detail for $35. Almost none of them read the fine print where they hide the fact that the "full detail" they are advertising is often just a wash/vac + shampoo the floor mats. I'm hoping that most of these sites will just go away sooner than later - they are a cancer on small business
 
ShineShop said:
Detailers offer these "deals" for the same reason all the other businesses offer them - Groupon and all these "deal" sites prey on small businesses that are desperate to expand or drive work into their business. They sell the "deal" as a great thing and make it sound like a very attractive offer that is going to just pound you with new customers that you couldn't reach without spending thousands upon thousands in advertising which most of the small, struggling businesses just can't afford to do. The issue is that the people that frequent these sites do very little research about who they are actually buying from and get caught up in the "getting a bargain" aspect as opposed to buying a quality product. As I believe I mentioned earlier a good deal of the places I see offering detailing in my area aren't even detailing businesses - often car dealers and small garages that are looking to just get people in the door by offering a deal. The customers get ripped off and then are sour on the whole "detailing" business. I've had multiple people that bought a "dealfind" deal from a crappy little car lot/garage in my city that offered a detailing deal and were PISSED because all they got was a quick wash and vac when it was presented as a full detail for $35. Almost none of them read the fine print where they hide the fact that the "full detail" they are advertising is often just a wash/vac + shampoo the floor mats. I'm hoping that most of these sites will just go away sooner than later - they are a cancer on small business
Click to expand...



The deal sites are here to stay so is there any way to make them work for a detail shop? I have thought long and hard about it and no matter how I structure a deal I cant make the numbers work. The only service I could possibly make work would maybe be an ozone treatment...no labor, minimal cost. It would probably attract a different kind of customer and allow you the chance to upsell an interior detail before the ozone treatment. DrivePur could work too but a little more labor intensive and higher cost per treatment. The beauty is you may not sell many deals, but you are putting your company name in front of thousands of people.



What do you think?
 
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