What is the Biggest Image Problem

B

buda

New member
You hear slot about the detail industry has an image problem.



Why do you think that is the case?
 
It's a numbers thing.

For every detailer actually taking his time offering quality work there seems to be 200 using purple power everywhere.
 
Jean-Claude said:
It's a numbers thing.

For every detailer actually taking his time offering quality work there seems to be 200 using purple power everywhere.
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Or places like Cactus Car Wash and there "amazing" $200 detail. Exterior buff, interior shampoo and engine bay cleaning/dressing.
 
Detailing has a relatively low cost of entry...anyone with $3000 can get a reasonable set up and offer "professional" detailling services. Unfortunatley the quality of work is often awful and the consumer gets a bad taste in their mouth. Not a day goes by that I do not see a set of wheels damaged from wheel acid or holograms in the paint or some other sloppy mistake. The plus side for Autopians is that once you get a customer in the door that has been to a hack they are probably going to be a customer for life.
 
haha Cactus is so good for our business it's not even funny. They are like a worse case scenario for a car.



MachNU said:
Or places like Cactus Car Wash and there "amazing" $200 detail. Exterior buff, interior shampoo and engine bay cleaning/dressing.
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Most service industries have a licensing requirement, which entrails some sort of prior qualification and formal training, along with a recognized organizing body.



[Detailing has a relatively low cost of entry...anyone with $3000 can get a reasonable set up and offer "professional" detailing services]
 
buda said:
You hear slot about the detail industry has an image problem.



Why do you think that is the case?
Click to expand...



biff.jpg
 
TOGWT said:
Most service industries have a licensing requirement, which entrails some sort of prior qualification and formal training, along with a recognized organizing body.



[Detailing has a relatively low cost of entry...anyone with $3000 can get a reasonable set up and offer "professional" detailing services]
Click to expand...



And that doesn't really get you too far either. ASE, otherwise know as Ask Someone Else. I'm not sure its the image problem as much as the Wal-Mart effect. People have started shopping everything on price. There are detailers willing to work as the prices the customers want to offer. Its not that detailers have an image problem, its detailers aren't doing a good enough job differentiating themselves. You have to do something to separate yourself from the hacks to get top dollar.
 
buda said:
You hear slot about the detail industry has an image problem.



Why do you think that is the case?
Click to expand...



Potential problem: Issue with an "image problem" pertaining to your industry.



Potential solution: Don't prove the perception to be true.



Disprove it by doing the job right, by being reliable, by looking professional, by delivering a good value for the price the customer is paying. If more guys did these things, there would be no indusrty-wide "image problem".



Not sure I agree that there is an industry-wide image problem, but the "detailer" desigantion does not typically conjure up images of prestige, that is certainly true. And it really does tweak me at times.
 
Kevin Brown said:
Not sure I agree that there is an industry-wide image problem, but the "detailer" desigantion does not typically conjure up images of prestige, that is certainly true. And it really does tweak me at times.
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Precisely why I don't call myself a "detailer."
 
i agree on the idea of walmart-ification of everything. They see detailing as I am going to be working on their car using stuff they can go out and easily get and use no problem. Granted anyone who reads enough and practices enough can be good at it and find the products to use on their own vehicles, they oft times tell me, i just dont have the patience to do it, but expect it to be done in several hours.
 
Thanks for your posts on this topic, which you all seem to agree on.



There are far too many people entering the business that are part-time, weekend warriors so to speak, that hardly know about detailing than washing a car and vacuuming it out, and maybe applying a coat of wax by hand.



What amazes me is that knowing this, and believing this many detailers will jump in and offer advise to a poster on a forum who wants to start a detail business on "$150 investment."



Sure it is great to help a want-to-be entrepenuer get started, but ask yourselves what is this person who has $150 to invest going to do to the image of the industry. It is not just him, but hundreds like him all over the country in every town and city who compete with legitimate detail businesses, going to do to image and pricing???



These week-end warriors have no expense and they will work for any price. They have no insurance, no rent; no taxes and in most cases no experience or knowledge.



This is what the motorist thinks that detailing is all about, the neighborhood kid trying to earn a few bucks. That is why they resist paying a legitimate detailer the prices we must charge to make a living.



If I am wrong please tell me why.



If a person wants to start a business then they must play by the rules, obey all the of the laws of the land.



To me it is tragic and an insult to our industry and profession when someone comes on a site and wants to know how they can enter our industry with $150.



Just some well intentioned thoughts.



Bud Abraham
 
Hey Bud, I started my business with not much more than $150. I'm now getting to be known as the only real quality shop in the area. Now I see why there's alot of people on this site that don't like you. Actually I saw that a long time ago but gave you the benefit of the doubt until you just insulted me.



Sure, there's alot of hacks wanting to get into the business for cheap and won't do quality work. But what about those of us who say, got laid off, couldn't find another job IT job in this economy and wanted to get into the detailing business and not be a hack but didn't have alot of money to start? How are you to say that person that asked that question about getting started with $150 is or isn't a hack. Maybe he is, but maybe he wants to be a quality detailer and just doesn't have the $ to get started "the right way". So he comes on here and asks the pros if it's possible and gets some good advice from people who were once wondering the same thing. Is that really a problem? What's wrong with starting small and working your way up? We don't all have thousands of $ to lay out to start a business. I've busted my *** getting where I am and then someone like you generalizes and puts me in a category with the hacks? Kiss my *** Bud.
 
buda said:
Thanks for your posts on this topic, which you all seem to agree on.



There are far too many people entering the business that are part-time, weekend warriors so to speak, that hardly know about detailing than washing a car and vacuuming it out, and maybe applying a coat of wax by hand.



What amazes me is that knowing this, and believing this many detailers will jump in and offer advise to a poster on a forum who wants to start a detail business on "$150 investment."



Sure it is great to help a want-to-be entrepenuer get started, but ask yourselves what is this person who has $150 to invest going to do to the image of the industry. It is not just him, but hundreds like him all over the country in every town and city who compete with legitimate detail businesses, going to do to image and pricing???



These week-end warriors have no expense and they will work for any price. They have no insurance, no rent; no taxes and in most cases no experience or knowledge.



This is what the motorist thinks that detailing is all about, the neighborhood kid trying to earn a few bucks. That is why they resist paying a legitimate detailer the prices we must charge to make a living.



If I am wrong please tell me why.



If a person wants to start a business then they must play by the rules, obey all the of the laws of the land.



To me it is tragic and an insult to our industry and profession when someone comes on a site and wants to know how they can enter our industry with $150.



Just some well intentioned thoughts.



Bud Abraham
Click to expand...



Wow, there are so many things wrong with this statement that I don't even know where to begin. What kind of an insulting, uninformed blanket statement is it to say that "weekend warriors" work for any price, are uninsured, don't pay taxes and hurt the industry? Did you take a poll? Did you interview every "weekend warrior" on this site? Because I don't remember getting a phone call or filling out a survey.



I don't want to name names, but I could give you over half a dozen "weekend warriors" from this forum alone that are well-known and respected industry giants, one of which has already replied to this thread. With the work these guys put out, please explain how it is "insulting" to the industry that this isn't their full-time job? Or would it be better to rattle off the names of several local detailing businesses that produce absolute garbage, yet are "better" for the industry because they hack up cars full-time.



As for the $150 investment poster, as long as he does the best job he can and doesn't promise what he can't deliver, more power to him. Everyone has to start somewhere. And it's not always going to be with a 4-bay detail shop, 3 employees and an IDA certificate hanging on a wall.



Sorry if this reply is a little confrontational, but don't be surprised if it's not the only one. Generalizations like you're making won't help your cause, and I would have thought from such an industry leader, you would be a little more diplomatic in your posting.
 
And how about the big chain detailing shops, car washes, dealership detail shops, etc. that do hack work? Did they only spend $150 to get into this industry? I really doubt it.
 
I started with probably $100 in supplies including my $40 shopvac. I can guarantee you I was causing less damage than most "pro" shops cause. I got business because people wanted to clean their own cars but didn't have time. These days I am just a weekend warrior that doesn't earn a dime, I do it because I have a passion for teaching others and making cars look great.



I have every bit of respect for people trying to eek out a living. The only people I look down on are those that think they know it all and have nothing to learn.
 
Originally Posted by buda

Thanks for your posts on this topic, which you all seem to agree on.



There are far too many people entering the business that are part-time, weekend warriors so to speak, that hardly know about detailing than washing a car and vacuuming it out, and maybe applying a coat of wax by hand.



What amazes me is that knowing this, and believing this many detailers will jump in and offer advise to a poster on a forum who wants to start a detail business on "$150 investment."



Sure it is great to help a want-to-be entrepenuer get started, but ask yourselves what is this person who has $150 to invest going to do to the image of the industry. It is not just him, but hundreds like him all over the country in every town and city who compete with legitimate detail businesses, going to do to image and pricing???



These week-end warriors have no expense and they will work for any price. They have no insurance, no rent; no taxes and in most cases no experience or knowledge.



This is what the motorist thinks that detailing is all about, the neighborhood kid trying to earn a few bucks. That is why they resist paying a legitimate detailer the prices we must charge to make a living.



If I am wrong please tell me why.



If a person wants to start a business then they must play by the rules, obey all the of the laws of the land.



To me it is tragic and an insult to our industry and profession when someone comes on a site and wants to know how they can enter our industry with $150.



Just some well intentioned thoughts.



Bud Abraham
Click to expand...

Posted by MikeNap

Wow, there are so many things wrong with this statement that I don't even know where to begin. What kind of an insulting, uninformed blanket statement is it to say that "weekend warriors" work for any price, are uninsured, don't pay taxes and hurt the industry? Did you take a poll? Did you interview every "weekend warrior" on this site? Because I don't remember getting a phone call or filling out a survey.



I don't want to name names, but I could give you over half a dozen "weekend warriors" from this forum alone that are well-known and respected industry giants, one of which has already replied to this thread. With the work these guys put out, please explain how it is "insulting" to the industry that this isn't their full-time job? Or would it be better to rattle off the names of several local detailing businesses that produce absolute garbage, yet are "better" for the industry because they hack up cars full-time.



As for the $150 investment poster, as long as he does the best job he can and doesn't promise what he can't deliver, more power to him. Everyone has to start somewhere. And it's not always going to be with a 4-bay detail shop, 3 employees and an IDA certificate hanging on a wall.



Sorry if this reply is a little confrontational, but don't be surprised if it's not the only one. Generalizations like you're making won't help your cause, and I would have thought from such an industry leader, you would be a little more diplomatic in your posting.
Click to expand...



All I can say is "wow"...







Bud... do you have that much contempt for some of us?



I am one of the "weekend warriors"... I already have a career, work 2 per diem jobs related to my career field and still find time to detail. I must be doing something right, as I get a lot of repeat clients and referrals.



Many of the well respected detailers here started out as clean car fanatics and began detailing as a paying hobby on weekends, because they had to work in the 9 to 5 world, or second and third shifts or like myself and others in the public safety profession... a rotating schedule including nights, holidays and weekends.



I have read and learned a lot from people like ScottWax fro Scott's Auto Detailing, RickRack of Unique Car Care, Todd Helme from Bella Macchina, Mike Phillips from Autogeek, Mike Pennington from Meguiar's, Accumulator, Todd Cooperider of Esoteric Auto Detail, Barry Theal of Presidential Details, Marc Harris and Jacob Bunyan of AutoLavish, Eric Shuster of Envious Detailing, David Fermani and countless others. They are my inspiration to improve my detailing skills, not some ramblings by a magazine editor/contributor.



What have YOU contributed other than "snide comments" and "opinions"?

Do you even touch a polisher anymore?

Try out new products and share the information?

Inspire others?



Bud.. you get more bees with nectar than you do with vinegar...
 
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