1st customer, 1st refusal

hey all DB, I jus wanna share my throughts with you and see what you guys think.


I jus wanna start saying that I never done a detail on anybody else's car, but mine and 2 friends. so my service advisor recommend this car for me to do. its a 2009 Audi A5 brilliant black from one of his friends. I kinda had a idea of what this car's paint condition already. water marks, swirl city, marring, and chips n scratches, because I service the car. being my 1st customer detail, I told the guy $150 jus so I can get some experience and business. he offered me $75 and I kindly say " I'll think about and get back to you "

heres the car




http://www.detailingbliss.com/forum/detailing-collection/16547-heres-my-inventory.htm



Im not sure if any of yous seem my inventory,but I have all the right tools for the job.
plus I have a high-line meter coming. Vx5000 is also on the way. so is this how I should start? tell the guy this is a one time deal only or refuse to do his car. im not insured by the way, and his car is 50K . I have friends that is lined up for me in later April and they are willing to pay more than him and their cars is easier, mazda miata, Toyota rav4 and Avalon . and all these cars are female owners, does female pay us more???? lol

 

walk away from it. that so lowballed it aint funny.

you have some good products in your inventory.

Hell, I start at $75 just for interior-only details.

 

It really depend on what you intend on doing. The price is definitely very low. Product alone depending on what you are trying to achieve will cost that much.

Just a few questions...

Are you trying to build your portfolio?

How much correction do you plan on doing?

What are his expectations?

 

Because I know what a pain brilliant black is to work on I would say you would be in for a TON of work considering the condition but with that you would have been able to learn a lot from that 1 detail.

I agree your refusal was the best thing purely from a pride standpoint, nobody should tell you what they WANT to pay so kudos for having the balls to stand by your number.

In the future it may be worth making very little profit to get a few more cars under your belt, working on various finishes with different issues speeds up the learning curve quick! Your initial $150 is very very cheap for that type of deatil but about what you can expect from 1st time customers and gauging your skill set.

Best of luck in the future :headbang:

 

Well said Dave. I neglected to think about him trying to bargain with you. Your original price of $150 is great depending on what you plan on doing to her.

That being said you won't have fun detailing when you've been bargained down. For me in every aspect of life you get what you pay for (most of the time).

Good luck and keep us updated.

 

yes im trying to do my portfolio


theres only a few chip and very light scratches, so im trying to make this car new again. I think this winter in NJ mess the car up.

I don't really know what he expected, cuz his offer was so low, I couldnt see myself doing his car cheaper than my friend's cars.

 

I charge a custome $75 for a wash/clay/seal. That includes door jambs, cleaning/dressing wheels, tires and wells, and sealing exterior glass. If that's what he wants, then go for it. Don't polish for free. Unless you are only doing a test section, which will pretty much force him to do the rest lol.

Oh, and interiors start at $75 too, just like slanguage stated.

 

$75 seems to be a good deal

meg apc
folex
metro vac
steamer
303 protection
leather master conditioner after steam
swissvax brushes, horse hair brushes.

 

Oh man, that was a cheap shot on his part. I would let him walk, I easily see you spending 8 hours on that car trying to get it "new" again, and at $75 dollars it isn't worth your time. Even if he were to bring you more of his cars or other peoples cars you are almost stuck with low-ball details because of that initial detail.

 

yup, his wifey has a white benz, I dunno what model n year, but im not goin to do any because im not getting what I want, luckily this is only part time, so if I get it , great! if I don't i, ts ok. my cousins pays me $20 to wash their cars, I spend like a hour or hour 1/2 on it. I firgure $20 x 6 = $160, so thats how I came up with $150 for the car.

 

I have had some people heckle me like crazy about pricing before. It sux, but every once in a great while I'll take the hit just for some cash.

Detailing is on the side for me. I have other jobs that pay my bills.

 

$75 is way too low for the work he wanted you to do. Best to walk away.

 

this is what happen when you refuse to pay me!!!!! lol j/k but this is the car. he also want to to install something in his rear bumper, lol hell no for $75

 

I agree - What is he thinking? $75? I don't care if he has a nice car or not, A$$holes are A$$holes.

Look - I had a detailer in Portland (Perfection Autodetailing) come to me and asked me to look at his A8 (black metallic). He wanted it swirl free. (Most so called detailers don't have a clue in Portland about paint correction). Since I have chatted with him in the past and seemed like a nice fellow, I said I'll give you a break and do it for only $300. His response: Ohhhhh, I have to start saving up for it. So I asked him what he wanted to pay. He said $200, while he was doing his $99.00 mini ditail on a yellow car. I couldn't help but question his estimate based on what he was charging for the car at the time. His buddy also picked up an 07 Black Vette that gave me the same story. $200.

I DON'T THINK SO.

Good for you for taking care of yourself. :thumb::thumb:

 

right now in this day and age sometimes you can't tell a client no as that is potential income but at the same time in some cases it is something that needs to be done. Some people will just find things to nit pick at in the end. I encounter some folks like that and can't stand how they try to dictate the price because of joe shmoe down the street charges this much.

sometimes it's best to take what the customer is looking for into consideration and tailor a package around their wants.

i would not do any paint correction for that low of $$ though. The bad part about it is in the end your name gets stamped on the work performed. I worry about that all the time where the situation is the car is swirl city but the customer just wants a wash and wax . . . . . in the end i feel like crap looking at the end results and my name goes on the completed job.

If you want to get some cars under your belt my suggestion to you would be to get some cost effective cards made or some little brochures and offer some type of like 1 step special just to get more experience and a portfolio going or you can do full corrections but just offer moderate discounts to get people to go to you to see what they are missing out on

or maybe offer then a certain percent off on a paint correction service if they sign up for a maintenance program of some sort.

just a few ideas for you to consider.

 

This car came to our dealer to swap his summer wheels n Tires back on the car. its a R8 v10. and our dealer detailer scratch the shit outta it with his soft bristle brush and 1 bucket soap with no grit guards .

 

Some good points being made.

I have had people tell me the guy down the road is cheaper. so I say to them, "go there, but don't get pissed when I point out everything he missed, or tell you it looks lie poo".

I had one lady come up to me last year with a Maxima, and wanted it fully done. I looked at it and threw out an estimate on the spot. After I told her the price, she looked at me like I had been born with 3 heads.

I just turned my back and walked away without saying a word. I didn't care if it upset her, but one thing, the interior was TRASHED on that car.

 

Good for you for walking away from it. That is ridiculously low. Most of the good detailers I know around here charge $40-$80/hr for paint correction.

 

yes Im ordering a big bulk of MF and stick my flyer inside the bag and sell it. making a few bucks while doing it. I have a girl thats helping me out with my logo n menu and all that.plus all my friends said they will help me sell these towels. I sold a few at the shop already to my co-workers. so thats is that,

back to get cars under my belt, Im here to make money, I think $150 was the lowest I can go for a 2 step and light interior cleaning. i rather polish my car or body shop doors than bust my ass for .2 cent. I think its just waste of time, I have all kinda doors to work on, if we're talking about different paint and stuff. I wet sand n do crazy stuff. hehe very fun.

 

I get $75 for a wash eace:

Tell the ass clown to be like Michael Jackson and beat it :dance: