I HIGHLY disagree with that statement. When you get hungry and you don't want to cook dinner where do you go eat? sometimes Mcdonalds, sometimes Ruth Chris. Imagine a world where every restaurant charged 150$ for a meal just because that's what other restaurants charge. I'm not saying that the mcdonalds of detailing is just as good, its not obviously, hence why you need to separate yourself from them in your quality which is what will empower you to charge the prices you do
i see where your coming from but its just the fact that people like this call themselves professional detailers is what gets me. its like mcdonalds saying they have the same food 5 star restaurants have for a lot less. thats where my comment comes from. People like this claim to be professional (as they do in the other part of the ad) and thats what makes us look like jokes when we quote what we do.
Well I met with the owner today. The truck is a 2006 not 1996 as stated in the email. We talked for a while about the different levels of a detail and a few points on how people just over use the word detail. So he is booked for Sunday am. When he gets his new ride I will be back there this time to do what needs to be done after I see the new car in person.
We place ads in Craigslist daily. We also get a fair amount of customers from them, mainly for PDR work but many times it leads to details, window tint, PPF, etc. It all depends on how you structure your ad to your potential market.
I believe that this is nothing more that a situation of educating the customer in the necessary steps involved in reconditioning an automobile. When I quote a vehicle, I always make it a point not to quote anything over the phone as many of you already practice this very strong technique. Become friends with the customer. Invite the customer to meet you somewhere for a free estmate. Have them feel as if they are the most important person in the world to you at that point in time. I always want to see a vehicle as well as put my hands on the vehicle. This shows the skill and care that a professional in this industry should exhibit. Most important however, is that in performing in this manner it grants the time needed to educate the customer in what exactly a professional corrective detail is and to explain in detail (no pun intended) what the quoted price breaks down into. I find that this usally helps to ease the initial shock of the quote. Also the tactic of using simple, extremely low overhead add-ons (fabric protecting floor mats, tape stripe, headlight/taillight restoration) usally seals the deal. In this business you have to be 80% high quality detailer and 20% used car salesman. Please realize, that doing all of this does nothing more than get your foot in the door. The quality of the detail is what the customer really cares about. There is no substitute for honest hard work. Any detailer can promise the world....but if he cannot deliver.....well, that customer is never going to use your services ever again. Not to mention destroy the most powerful (and free) form of advertising at your disposal......word-of-mouth. So much of my buisness comes from the referals of current customers. On another point.... Yes, I agree that some of these lesser quality car washers should not be advertising themselves as professional detailer, however any average customer is almost always looking for a bargan. This is what the average 'Joe Bucket' brings to the table. I have in the past used this to my advantage. When a customer questions my quote, I politely explain that it is my skill, time, and products that will be used on this certain job that sets the price. I also explain that it is peace of mind for the customer knowing that a detail will be performed wih the upmost quality and that the results are very close to, if not exactly what was promised. If this continues to brew discussion, I gladly encourage the customer to seek out the services of these more economicly priced individuals and see the results of their work for themselves. Bottom line...anyone who is going to question and hagle price is not a customer that is going to do your business any good, because they will never be truly satisfied or appreciate with the level of work that is presented to them.
Thanks everyone for all the feedback. It is funny last month at this time I was unemployed and beggin for a detail. I finished 72 hours of work this week and have this detail lined up for tomorrow, thank God. Oh and while at work my fiance called sayin she found a deal on a couch on CL so now we just need money for a washer and dryer.
Just got back from the detail. The owner and his wife were blown away and were askin me about polishing. He aslso took all the busineess cards I had in my wallett lol. Well I forgot my camera but I have some pics from the cell. I will post when we get back from the laundrymat
+1 to that. I charged $250 the other day for a small SUV, used 501 and then AJT. I thought considering it wasn't a true polish job it was high, then I realized it consumer 9 hours of my time. Looked good either way.
