So as I learn more and more about detailing I occasionally run into small obstacles. My current one is as the title says professionalism. My main goal in the next few harsh winter months is to improve my name as a professional detailer as well as my image. Speaking with a few other detailers during a recent DB meet I held at my house, I found a few things I want to work on and change, so that I can not only work more efficiently, but also look as legit as possible. So as some of you who have been in my shop lately will know, I recently moved a lot of things around and cleaned it up a bit. I feel as if a clean and well organized work place makes a big impression on the customer when first dropping off their car. Since I am young and my work is done at my home, I feel this is important. Although my garage is no where near what my idea of a detailing shop, would be like, its getting there. I made space for 2 vehicles to be stored/detailed. Then there's the organization of my tools and products. I have all my things on a shelf so that i have quick and easy access to them. I'm going to be repainting the walls and ceiling in the springs as well as doing some stripes or something similar to enhance the look a little. Another change I want to make is my website. I have hosted a website on a free server and it has one of those annoying url's and a premade layout. I honestly think it's affecting my business to a point were the customer clicks out of the page because it is on a free website. (I may be wrong) I want to look into eventually getting a real website going but as of now i have to many bills to pay to be adding another monthly or yearly bill to. My method of detailing is also something I want to perfect/refine. I feel as if I'll be able to cut down on time and products if i develop methods for the details I perform. As I have seen discussed here before, I have cut down on a few things in my detail such as the time it takes me to do a wash on a vehicle. Now these are just a few things that come to mind now as I am typing, my question is what are other things that you think I should look to change or improve. Now I know most of you dont know me personally, but for those who have met me and seen my shop, (as well as those who have seen my writeups) what should be changed in order to look more professional and promote good business. Also for those who were in my shop at the meet, what did you think of it? (Rog I know you suggested a bathroom be put in lol ill look into it) I'll post screenshots of my site in a minute to get some constructive criticism (blurring stuff to avoid trouble ' HOME PAGE PORTFOLIO PAGE (getting redone at the moment, but there are links to some of mine) ONE OF THE EXAMPLES(notice i played with the edges of the pics a little to make it more crisp and eye pleasing) LINKED PICTURES TO SERVICES & PACKAGES EXAMPLE OF A SERVICE PAGE EXPLAINING THE SERVICE Also note I can have my girlfriend help me design an awesome layout and all i just want to know wether or not you guys think i should upgrade to a real website (url wise, current one not too bad, but its obviously a free site) and what I should add to my navigation or info
Having your own URL is critical -- any professional business shouldn't have any ads on their site if they're offering services (unless their service is to offer ads) I've pmed you again.
thanks Ty :thumb: thats my main concern with having a free site. It cheapens the look and I fear it turns some potential customers away
Yeah it's definitely important to have your own domain as well as an email address with that domain address. It really doesn't cost all that much (I use 1and1) unless you want to load your own code but even then it's still not that much. With my website I used the website designer provided by 1and1 and maximized its potential with the given limitations.
Do you have a logo? If you did than you can get a few nice collared shirts from Queensborough or some where else. That makes you look more professional.
thanks. this is something on my to do list for this winter. yep i sure do, my logo is the one you see on the banner with the lambo in the first picture. Talking to Dave (DSMS) I found that wearing a sort of uniform looks better to the client. I might have some made within the next few months to try them out. might try some tshirts though, i like to be comfortable when detailing lol
I would stick to collared shirts, they look more professional, and you can get some pretty comfaortable ones to where
I disagree Bryan. I do agree "tshirts" can look a bit cheap but as long as they are clean (ash grey hides a lot ) and are adorned with the company logo, they are fine. I used to wear collared shirts but found them uncomfortable. I started wearing North Face and Arcteryx shirts ( similar to Under Armour ). Way lighter, they stay cooler and look good as well.
The site look great Ev....I would go with collared shirts or a shirt you would see in a car shophttp://www.dickies.com/product/product_detail.jsp?FOLDER%3A%3Afolder_id=2534374302024405&PRODUCT%3A%3Aprd_parent_id=1408474395181232&PRODUCT%3A%3Aprd_id=845524441761545&ADD_CART_ITEM%3A%3AATR_Sku_Size=_
good to see you're looking to improve yourself and your business Ev. i guess i'll give a shot at helping you out. as for the website, i agree with what everyone else said. get your own domain name, and in my opinion, i would lose the pink lettering and outlining. as for your shop, you have a nice sized 3 car garage to work out of. i mean that place has plenty of room (im jealous!). i would concentrate on shaping up the looks of the garage. paint the walls, and epoxy coat the floors. i know ou mentioned that might be an issue with all your fathers (? not sure if it was his or not) equipment in there, but i think its worthwhile. i epoxy coated my fathers garage floor last year right before i started working out of there, and it looks great. the main and most important thing i would recommend someone in your position to work on right now is your skills, capabilities, knowledge (of processes, products, different cars and their paint systems, hell even get a little knowledge going on about aftermarket accessries etc). this accelerated level of skill, capabilities, and knowledge of detailing and cars will be invaluable. if someone wants their car detailed, and all you can really tell them is what precisely YOU are going to do, i guess that will suffice. but if you have the knowledge to be able to talk cars, mods, and throw some technical stuff their way about cars and detailing, it will make you look obviously more professional as well as educated. i have customers more often than not that really are into their cars and/or have a LOT of questions about their cars, modifications regarding their cars, upkeep and maintenance of their cars both cosmetically and mechanically, etc. being able to help them with all of that in my opinion is invaluable because it makes you look good, and it make you look more qualified than the average detailer. and it keeps you fresh in your customers mind alot if their into cars. i get calls all the time from customers asking about car related stuff that has nothing to do with detailing, or about how they have questions about how to properly care for their car, or how they want to book for the next season. its all good customer service, which is ESSENTIAL to a successful business, i think. i am not saying that by any means that you are lacking in the skills area ev, so dont get me wrong. but to be completely honest with you, theres always room for improvement, for us ALL. the more you can offer the customer, the better. maybe think about getting your hand on a rotary. and pratice! try out different products. i dont know why, but in my experience, having a pretty substantial arsenal of products at your disposal that the customer can see when they drop off, somehow entices them. let me put it this way, id rather have the customer roll up and see my formidable arsenal of products rather than them see me with a couple odds and ends here and there. i guess in a way it makes you look more "successful" in that you own a lot of product, but its not essential by any means. let your skills and work speak for themself. thats what gets you the busines and repeat business at the end of the day.
Here are some pictures taken by billy and some other members, at the recent DB meet i held at my house. I will try to get better ones up soon. As you can see in the pics theres still alot to be moved around and organized. The plants are in my garage temporarily lol they would die outside in the winter. here is the other side of the garage, what i like to call "Detailing Bay 2". as you can see theres still some sheet metal against the walls that needs to be put away Bay 2 look good but not really my style lol thanks though, i might look at regular tshirts haha yeh the pink lettering is unfortunately part of the layout and it was the only one that was "alright". but like i said I'm definitely going to get my own domain and real website soon yes the equipment in there belongs to my father and I have plans to repaint the entire interior this spring. I will be repainting the walls white (they look a bit dull and dirty now) and i will have my girlfriend help me with some designs and putting up my logo neatly this time lol. epoxy on the floor would be something i'd love to do next summer if the money is there. not sure if those $100 kits do the job but if so id like to go forward with it. good point. i'm always learning new things on DB and i know that ill never stop learning. During the meet I realized there was a lot I still need to learn and that a big reason behind all this. I want to improve overall so that I will be more productive and so that i can be more successful. Gotcha. rotary is definitely the next thing on my list of acquiring. I also am looking at experimenting with more products so I can see what benefits me as well as my customer. As I discussed with Dave, I want to give my customers the highest quality service, as well as finished product. I want to do this by improving my image and the products/methods I use. Thanks for your great response, it really gave me feedback to a lot of things I was thinking about.
If I was you and you were me and we were one, I'd section off the largest of the three bays for your detailing bay. You could easily put up a 2x4 wall and drywall it ( don't forget the door into the other bays LOL or just hang a heavy canvas curtain. This will allow you to keep all your stuff outside your bay so it always looks neat and tidy. Keep a small shelf in your bay to hold your spray bottles and enough MF for the task at hand. Put up a shelf in the other bay to hold all your gallon jugs etc. T8 flourescent fixtures add alot of light and use very little power so you could put 4 - 6 eight foot fixtures on the ceiling. That'll give you a ton of light. You will need a couple outlets and if you have a shampooer, i would have an outlet dedicated for it so nothing else is on that circuit. I have built 6 shops (don't ask) so have lots of ideas.
The garage looks very promising. Personally I'd blow that company logo of yours up to a larger size! That would definitely look awesome yet professional at the same time. I kind of have mixed feelings about the collared shirts. Personally, I only do collared shirts when I'm out to do an estimate or just to speak to a customer about particulars. However, when it comes to the actual work, I dress in what's comfortable yet presentable (t-shirts with company logos come to mind).
any places to find those T8 cheap? I like the company logo the size it is now, maybe a little bigger would be better. Maybe I'll do it bigger on another wall with a different color or design. I'm thinking just the outline in red.
im not sure exactly what lighting you have installed in the garage already, but they're definitely not T12's. i would say its a safe bet you already have T8 lighting in the garage judging from the amount of light while we were working on the cars in there during the meet. as you can see in the pictures you posted up, its lit up like its daylight in there. i dont think we even used halogens.
Bill could be right. Have a look at the tubes. Right below the manufactures name will be the type of bulb.
