When trying to break into a demographic, have you ever done a freebie?

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DefiningDetails

New member
I wanted to ask my fellow brethren a question, as I have mixed emotions on this and want to hear some feedback from you who have maybe gone through this before;



When looking to break into a demographic where you currently have no market-share, do you ever consider comp’ing 1 or 2 entire jobs simply to build your portfolio, giving you more ammo for when you approach a potential client when breaking into that market?



Example; I’ve been having good success in the mid-to-high end daily driver market for a while. I am looking to break into the ultra-high end / exotic market however I don’t feel comfortable approaching a prospective client and proposing my services at full price, when I cannot show them my work on a similar vehicle. Currently, the highest-end vehicle I have had the pleasure of correcting is a Jaguar XJR which is about $100k.



I have a friend of the family who owns a black BMW Z8 and has ZERO interest in having it detailed or maintained (freaking blasphemy…). It is swirled head to toe and would make for an AMAZING before/after series to add to my portfolio. However, I am also very busy and not in the business of working for free LOL so I am torn between doing a balls-out correction on the car for nothing or just holding out until I end up with a client that happens to own a specialty / exotic vehicle…



So I guess the topic up for discussion is: Have you ever done a free job on a specific type of car just so that you would have photos to show to another prospective client in that market? Or have you ever approached someone that owns a specialty vehicle and offer to detail their DD for free in order to earn their trust when it comes to their prized possessions?



If so, did it prove to be a successful investment of your time? Or a total waste? Interested in your answers…
 
Only do freebies for highly influential and connected individuals. These include: car club presidents, exotic repair shop owners, celebrities, and exotic auto body shops.



I'd also ask that the owner pose next to the car for a photo and offer a (positive) quote that could be added to your website.



With those conditions met, a freebie would be worth thousands in advertising.
 
AppliedColors said:
Only do freebies for highly influential and connected individuals. These include: car club presidents, exotic repair shop owners, celebrities, and exotic auto body shops.



I'd also ask that the owner pose next to the car for a photo and offer a (positive) quote that could be added to your website.



With those conditions met, a freebie would be worth thousands in advertising.
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What he said!
 
DefiningDetails said:
I wanted to ask my fellow brethren a question, as I have mixed emotions on this and want to hear some feedback from you who have maybe gone through this before;



When looking to break into a demographic where you currently have no market-share, do you ever consider comp’ing 1 or 2 entire jobs simply to build your portfolio, giving you more ammo for when you approach a potential client when breaking into that market?



Example; I’ve been having good success in the mid-to-high end daily driver market for a while. I am looking to break into the ultra-high end / exotic market however I don’t feel comfortable approaching a prospective client and proposing my services at full price, when I cannot show them my work on a similar vehicle. Currently, the highest-end vehicle I have had the pleasure of correcting is a Jaguar XJR which is about $100k.



I have a friend of the family who owns a black BMW Z8 and has ZERO interest in having it detailed or maintained (freaking blasphemy…). It is swirled head to toe and would make for an AMAZING before/after series to add to my portfolio. However, I am also very busy and not in the business of working for free LOL so I am torn between doing a balls-out correction on the car for nothing or just holding out until I end up with a client that happens to own a specialty / exotic vehicle…



So I guess the topic up for discussion is: Have you ever done a free job on a specific type of car just so that you would have photos to show to another prospective client in that market? Or have you ever approached someone that owns a specialty vehicle and offer to detail their DD for free in order to earn their trust when it comes to their prized possessions?



If so, did it prove to be a successful investment of your time? Or a total waste? Interested in your answers…
Click to expand...



My thoughts on this are as follows...Have I ever done a freebie? YES. I have done several freebies. However after working for a while I dont find it necessary to offer free work any longer. I have built up the trust of my clients and have them for all the referrals I would ever need.



I find that if you do quality work and you can show it to a client, and you can sell yourself to them, then it shouldn't and doesn't matter what type of cars you have worked on in the past.



My question is this, what would make them think that you are any different than the other Joe Schmoe that already details his/her car for them? The answer is you have to prove it with pictures, and you have to sell yourself to them. I dont find that doing something for free sells yourself, all that does is sells you short. If you have detailed other cars then surely you have pictures of some pretty decent before/after and 50/50 shots that would make anyone proud! Sell your self to them and not short change your self.



Having confidence in yourself is also key when you approach someone about this sort of thing. You dont want to sound "unsure" and let them walk all over you, you want to besure and proud of your previous work. Sure you may not have done a lambo (neither have I), but be proud of what you have done and explain what you did and explain and educate the new customer-prospect about what you would do and why your the best candidate for the job.



Yes I have done free work before, and I would still do it if someone really needed the help. IE friend of mine who has had a seriously bad run of luck and needs a break, or family member losing there job, etc. But will I offer free work to someone who is defined as successful, not likely.
 
You make great points about limiting yourself to connected individuals... I guess the thing that I immediately think is that money is not going to be an issue with these clients; trust and quality of work will be the core issues.



If I owned an F-Car, I would let someone that I don't know, who hasn't worked on a car of that caliber before, go anywhere near my Ferrari with a polisher... And I wouldn't expect any of my clients to either. Thats why I am thinking of maybe 'earning their trust' by discounting or comp'ing entirely a detail on their BMW, Benz, insert other DD here...
 
bwalker25 said:
My thoughts on this are as follows...Have I ever done a freebie? YES. I have done several freebies. However after working for a while I dont find it necessary to offer free work any longer. I have built up the trust of my clients and have them for all the referrals I would ever need.



I find that if you do quality work and you can show it to a client, and you can sell yourself to them, then it shouldn't and doesn't matter what type of cars you have worked on in the past.



My question is this, what would make them think that you are any different than the other Joe Schmoe that already details his/her car for them? The answer is you have to prove it with pictures, and you have to sell yourself to them. I dont find that doing something for free sells yourself, all that does is sells you short. If you have detailed other cars then surely you have pictures of some pretty decent before/after and 50/50 shots that would make anyone proud! Sell your self to them and not short change your self.



Having confidence in yourself is also key when you approach someone about this sort of thing. You dont want to sound "unsure" and let them walk all over you, you want to besure and proud of your previous work. Sure you may not have done a lambo (neither have I), but be proud of what you have done and explain what you did and explain and educate the new customer-prospect about what you would do and why your the best candidate for the job.



Yes I have done free work before, and I would still do it if someone really needed the help. IE friend of mine who has had a seriously bad run of luck and needs a break, or family member losing there job, etc. But will I offer free work to someone who is defined as successful, not likely.
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Great points, thank you very much. I do take a lot of pride in my work, and I really do have a lot of confidence in myself. I have an education and work background in sales, so I am pretty good there as well! I guess just due to my Sales experience, I am always borderline OCD when it comes to being prepared when presenting to a prospect, qualifying them and asking for the sale. To me, being prepared for their rebuttals would be having photo documentation to support the service and skills I am selling; Hence why I am hung up on this issue of having previous work at that level to show the client.



Thanks again, very insightful.
 
Though I am not a professional I wanted to target local vintage cars. There is a certain group near me who would not support me for reasons other than professional so I don't bother. However, I offered to give presentations to local clubs. This seems to be going well. I have tried to partner with detail supply vendors, car clubs, and others to make this a positive experience. Everyone wins in that scenario.



I have also agreed to do a "tech session" where I will go in and do a panel, wheel, and maybe a seat on a volunteer car from the club to show what is possible. And to show just how much work actually goes into what we do. It becomes far easier to justify costs when people see that it takes you two hours to correct paint, clean a single wheel, and bring up a single seat. This works best on cars people show, and not daily drivers.



I do this because I enjoy the cars. And honestly, I love the vintage cars more than anything else so that is the demographic I choose to target. I'll do modern daily drivers to cover my expenses, and/or build resume, but other than that, I stick to my demographic.



In terms of breaking into a demographic, word of mouth can often be a great help. I find it also helps to know as much as possible about the cars in question. If you want to work on exotics, then KNOW the cars. Know their weak spots, their issues for owners, etc. I am starting with older British cars because I have a strong background there. And you would not believe the comfort it gave at the presentation when I offered that I was the president of a British car club for 6 years. My father was also a GM employee for 32 years, so I've been a car guy my entire life. They also found that VERY comforting.



Go to car meets for the cars you're interested in. I find it humorous that someone would offer to do show car preparation when they've never been to a judging event. Keep a notebook handy for the marque of car you're working on, so you can show a client HOW their car will be judged in the various categories, and ask how much preparation they'd like.



These are just my thoughts, and I'm sure you get plenty from real professionals. But it's how I approached getting into this kind of work.
 
DefiningDetails said:
Great points, thank you very much. I do take a lot of pride in my work, and I really do have a lot of confidence in myself. I have an education and work background in sales, so I am pretty good there as well! I guess just due to my Sales experience, I am always borderline OCD when it comes to being prepared when presenting to a prospect, qualifying them and asking for the sale. To me, being prepared for their rebuttals would be having photo documentation to support the service and skills I am selling; Hence why I am hung up on this issue of having previous work at that level to show the client.



Thanks again, very insightful.
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I think you are more than ready to approach the customer-prospect and try to land the job. Being OCD is a good thing, and means you should always be prepared.



Be prepared and it just like a job interview, gotta say the right things! Sell yourself to them and you will have no problems. Be prepared and you will have no problems. That is of course if they are interested....



Go for it!
 
DefiningDetails said:
You make great points about limiting yourself to connected individuals... I guess the thing that I immediately think is that money is not going to be an issue with these clients; trust and quality of work will be the core issues.



If I owned an F-Car, I would let someone that I don't know, who hasn't worked on a car of that caliber before, go anywhere near my Ferrari with a polisher... And I wouldn't expect any of my clients to either. Thats why I am thinking of maybe 'earning their trust' by discounting or comp'ing entirely a detail on their BMW, Benz, insert other DD here...
Click to expand...



If you're trying to earn their trust, think of it this way... you have 2 options,



1. Coming to the owner as an experienced detailer with quality products and results to match, charging what you normally charge, and maybe more due to some of the exotics being a bit more complex to detail, curvy, etc... simply speak with confidence and tell the owner(s) that you know you can easily improve the look of their vehicle's finish... they're more likely to take you seriously this way than #2, which is...



2. basically coming off as an amateur trying to detail a 'nice, cool' car for less than you normally charge...



I would never in a million years let someone near my car if they said they'll discount the price simply to do the car..



Now if you come with a proposal of a discounted or free detail in return of advertising with say your bus cards, shirts, etc. it's a different story...



I'm not telling you what to do here, and you obviously might get a 'yes' for "#2" and turned away for "#1", I'm just giving you my perspective on it from my short experience of dealing with clients with $100k+ cars.
 
lecchilo said:
If you're trying to earn their trust, think of it this way... you have 2 options,



1. Coming to the owner as an experienced detailer with quality products and results to match, charging what you normally charge, and maybe more due to some of the exotics being a bit more complex to detail, curvy, etc... simply speak with confidence and tell the owner(s) that you know you can easily improve the look of their vehicle's finish... they're more likely to take you seriously this way than #2, which is...



2. basically coming off as an amateur trying to detail a 'nice, cool' car for less than you normally charge...



I would never in a million years let someone near my car if they said they'll discount the price simply to do the car..



Now if you come with a proposal of a discounted or free detail in return of advertising with say your bus cards, shirts, etc. it's a different story...



I'm not telling you what to do here, and you obviously might get a 'yes' for "#2" and turned away for "#1", I'm just giving you my perspective on it from my short experience of dealing with clients with $100k+ cars.
Click to expand...



Great advice, thanks Ivan.
 
Lets put it this way...that 1987 lambo I just did was exactly what you are talking about!



I have done hundreds of cars ranging from a wash and wax, to full on correction details on cars ranging from terrible condition honda civics to jaguars, bmw, mercedes, yet never on an exotic!



I threw out the offer of a free detail on a forum that I sponsor/answer questions and all of a sudden 15 cars come out of the woodwork! lambos, F-car, high end porsches...where were these cars when i charge the normal rates??? Anyway, I finally landed an exotic and a 997 porsche to detail to show off so to speak. I will take those pics and take them to shops like mentioned above and SHOW them I know what I am doing, rather than TELL them I know what I am doing...there is a HUGE difference!



I have done about 15 free details for people to help spread the word of my business, yet none returned anything for me! I have done 1/2 off's as well, with nothing in return. Time for those cheap/free details to come to an end! This weekend will be my last free detail to help me promote/advertise to a more affluent market!



So be weary of who you are giving the free detail for...it could be worth it, but only in the right setting!
 
i have done a few freebies and i will tell ya i never got a thing from them. truthfully I just don' t think its worth it. if i will ever do a freebie again it will benefit me fully! it will be a car that i can use for promotional reasons. i think if your trying to work a new market area maybe just let your work speak foritself.
 
I've only done freebie's to people that will send me volumes of work. I used to go to the dealers and say first one is free to try me out. If you like it send a bunch (most did) if you don't like it you're not out anything. But to offer a freebie to an exotic owner is really self defeating... Unless like mentioned they happen to be the presiedent of the local "exotic" club (no pun intended) Unless you can see you're self getting pleanty of work from it there's just no real point to offering free stuff.
 
We just completed an SLR for the local Merc dealer. Charged them for the chemicals. So, 40+ hours for $225.00. GUess I'll never get rich like that?!?!?!:nixweiss
 
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