business question

[jamores23]

ok, so recently I have been recieving a few calls from my online marketing. For example, yesterday a guy called me with a lincoln town car that he wants to get detailed to sell it, i quoted him 150 for a wash,wheels, clay, AIO polish, steam interior, condition leather, dress interior, dress exterior trim. he never called back, then i got another call from a guy that has a lexus rx330 and he told me hes been shopping around for the right detailer, he came across my ad with before and afters and told me he liked my work, and that he dislikes the "detailers" that work quick and dont know what there really doing... He asked me how much and again, i quoted him the same as above except since its a suv and he mentioned orange soda spills on the carpet i quoted him $180 for everything mentioned above basically and i would attempt to remove the carpet stains, he told me i was a bit too pricey.. im catching onto a too pricey trend here and to state the obvious we are in a recession... Now this line of work is not something you can just hook up people because you may drop the price but your work is still the same so its a win/lose situation.. Now what I am thinking of doing is quoting cheaper and obviously doing less work. If I can just get them in on a cheaper quote and then maybe try to sell them a bigger package I may lock in more deals, any suggestions? Also I am not mobile Ive gotten a few calls to go to them but as of now I cant do that, soon I will be able to though! Again any and all suggestions welcomed here!

[PAR Detailing]

Well if you need to get them in the door you could give them a range. For less work it would be, say $100 but for the all out it will be $150.

I would tell the customer the price range depending on the condition of the vehicle and how much work they want put into it. I would have a hard time giving someone a price without actually seeing the vehicle and finding out what their expectations are for it.

I do my prices by the hr now which I love so much more than packages. I tell them how much it is /hr and about how long it should take me and then I set a cap on the price so even if I spend over "x" hrs their price will only be "X".

[Y2KSVT]

Did each of these potential customers ask specifically for those services, and you quoted them a price, or did you just offer those services based on what you thought they needed? I think you need to cater your services to the customer, and if you just explained that you could do A, B, and C for $XXX.XX, then I can see why they might not call back. It sounds like you need to have them tell you specifically what they want done, and if you feel additional work would be beneficial to them, then educate them as to why (after you've seen their vehicle in person).

It might not hurt to ask them to allow you to quote the job in person. That way you can offer services that meet their specific needs, and you can also show your professionalism in person as opposed to over the phone.

The only thing I can think of is people don't want to hear $150+ with an over the phone quote because they probably don't understand what they're getting in return. Explain to them each service and hopefully they'll at least do something a la carte. That $50 job could turn into a $150 job in the future if they're pleased with your work.

[jbrown287]

I was thinking the same thing Y2K. Make them come in for the quote that way they are already at your shop, they can see some other works in progress and you can cater the package to their needs. It also makes the person feel better about you taking time out to look at their car instead of just shooting them a set price. There is nothing wrong with telling people over the phone but some people are more receptive to the other.