What's the Ceiling?

mikenap said:
Just a thought here.....and again I'll use Tood Cooperider as an example. If I had to guess, Ohio isn't the hotbed of Ferrari owners, yet Todd has made a name specializing in them. He has cars shipped to him from all over the country just so someone can say Todd C. detailed their Ferrari. This shows how important marketing yourself to the right clientele can be. Todd is a great detailer, but his marketing and self-promotion skills are equally on point.:cool:
Click to expand...

Marketing is highly important in any business, there is no dispute. TC has done a outstanding job of it. I would be willing to believe that his detailing and others like him represent very few percent of the detailing work done every day across this country.

Maybe I should have stated in my original post. The average person that gets his car detailed once a year if that, or the one hit wonders ( we have all had those) I don't see as someone willing to shell out several hundreds of hard earned dollars for this service.

I have chosen to play in a much different environment than what TC is in. The one that I'm in has a ceiling or threshold for price and value.
 
Beemerboy said:
Maybe I should have stated in my original post. The average person that gets his car detailed once a year if that, or the one hit wonders ( we have all had those) I don't see as someone willing to shell out several hundreds of hard earned dollars for this service.
Click to expand...

People want clean cars but as someone has said they do not necessarily want a de-swirled car. Often the reason more people do not want their cars detailed because they do not realize what it means. They see little difference (value) than going to a local car wash where they get it vacuumed, washed, and some shiny stuff on it. They do not notice the incremental damage done to the paint each time it is washed since happens over time that degrades the new car shine.

I appreciate a well maintained and landscaped yard but I am not going to pay much to have one. I mow it myself including seeding and fertilizing and only this year decided to get outside help to control some weeds. It does not mean that much yet I know it will raise the value of the house. It is about priorities - spending on detailing stuff. I surely do not want to pay someone $100 per hour to fix it.
 
Beemerboy said:
Marketing is highly important in any business, there is no dispute. TC has done a outstanding job of it. I would be willing to believe that his detailing and others like him represent very few percent of the detailing work done every day across this country.

Maybe I should have stated in my original post. The average person that gets his car detailed once a year if that, or the one hit wonders ( we have all had those) I don't see as someone willing to shell out several hundreds of hard earned dollars for this service.

I have chosen to play in a much different environment than what TC is in. The one that I'm in has a ceiling or threshold for price and value.
Click to expand...

All good points, and I'm definitely not trying to be argumentative. I think we already established you and I have a similar demographic, so I totally understand where you're coming from. With that said, I personally feel that I need to start marketing myself differently than I have been. And marketing is a skill that I struggle with more than anything else. Any time I see someone who excels at that aspect of their business, I can't help but give them credit for going beyond just the detailing aspect of it.
 
Post 20 and 21 bring up some very valid points. TC has marketed and gone after a market who wants and is willing to pay for perfection. Once that it focused on it brings in referrals and opens doors in that category. Word of mouth alone can be very powerful. Many collectors and "just a toy or two" in clubs all talk. They also know who has what. They tend to call another person to let them know where to go even without being asked. I call this leveraged marketing or unsolicited referrals. Getting involved with groups or clubs like this can be very powerful.

The market I have been in caters to the collectors who consistently drive the collection big or small. They are not always looking for perfection. Yes they want it to look great and show well. They just know keeping it perfect and doing rallies and other driving events will leave no paint in the end. They hold the perfection detail off till they sell it. Their major concern Is a good looking vehicle with perfectly kept mechanicals. It was once said by a client " I would rather buy a perfectly sound vintage exotic with some cosmetic issues but perfect mechanicals. Because the mechanicals can far exceed the cost of a repaint or cosmetic repairs."

Surprisingly Ohio is quite the place for Ferrari's and exotics old and new. It just depends on who you cater to and who you are exposed to along with how hard you market. I do get some perfection work. I enjoy though the regular priced maintenance and repeat work for shows, and just to keep the vehicle fresh. In other words my pricing is no where near what some would think for what I work on. It's just a different market approach.

I personally like the callenge of competing with a well driven vehicle in a major event. It is an accomplishment to beat a little driven vehicle at least for me.
 
I find that of all my clients who are willing to shell out top dollar for work, they are always the ones who spent some time online researching and understand how much time it takes to do the job correctly before they even contact me. A proper detail is also worth a lot more to a car enthusiast than it is to a soccer mom...target the right audience and the $$$ jobs will come in. ;)

Just my $.02
 
RaskyR1 said:
I find that of all my clients who are willing to shell out top dollar for work, they are always the ones who spent some time online researching and understand how much time it takes to do the job correctly before they even contact me. A proper detail is also worth a lot more to a car enthusiast than it is to a soccer mom...target the right audience and the $$$ jobs will come in. ;)

Just my $.02
Click to expand...

Your exactly right!
 
Hi Dave,

I think the ceiling is only dependent on the price the consumer's willing to pay...

Three attributes that directly relate to the prices paid.

  • Workmanship
  • Demographics
  • Clientele
  • Customer Satisfaction
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top