Limiting the Types of Vehicles You Do

[davisautodetail]

I just did another nasty MiniVan. I did a nasty dog-hair infested Chevy 2500HD the other day.

Frankly, I'm over these types of vehicles. I didn't even finish the minivan because the lady didn't want me to spend more than 3 hours on it. It was gross, so I was able to steam and scrub the 2 front seats, and the 2nd row, and do the dash, and vacuum and quick wipe down of the rest, but it's way sub-standard of what I want my details to end up like. I needed 2 more hours at least.

I'm doing a huge 40' 5th wheel inside and out tomorrow and Thursday, could be $1000 job, and the client is willing and able to spend that.

I have other sources of income, so I don't need to be super hungry, so to speak, I can be a little more choosy, even if it means only doing 1-2 bigger jobs a week.

I'm wondering how I would go about discouraging these types of jobs? When they call and say "I have minivan that's really dirty," do I just tell them I'm booked up for the next several weeks? Do I price those vehicles at 50% more to make it worth while? I use a lot more product on them, so they are not only miserable, but they are more expensive to do.

I realize I'm not going to just be doing Ferraris and fresh-off-the-lot cars, but I want to actually enjoy this work. If I wanted a job I hated, I'd go work at McDonald's.

Thoughts? Thanks!

[Vegas Transplant]

Do I price those vehicles at 50% more to make it worth while?


I used to over-quote, wild numbers, with the expectation of being turned down.
But when you rep preceeds you, and it's a referral...they'll pay it. And then you're stuck with that nasty vehicle.

So my advice is to just turn it down politely...you'll figure it out.

See my sig line.

[Mike Phillips]

I'm wondering how I would go about discouraging these types of jobs? When they call and say "I have minivan that's really dirty," do I just tell them I'm booked up for the next several weeks? Do I price those vehicles at 50% more to make it worth while? I use a lot more product on them, so they are not only miserable, but they are more expensive to do.

I realize I'm not going to just be doing Ferraris and fresh-off-the-lot cars, but I want to actually enjoy this work. If I wanted a job I hated, I'd go work at McDonald's.

Thoughts? Thanks!


I can completely relate.


If someone were to call me and tell me their van really needs to be cleaned, the words really needs sends up a flag telling me I don't want to do this job.

The owner doesn't' want to do it either, that's why they're trying to farm it out.


In Renny's book I have a section on cherry picking, that is the learned art of turning work down. It can actually be harder than you think because you want to be the "nice guy" but sometimes being nice means cleaning the icky van.

Two options,


1. Price the job high enough that you'll be happy to do the work. Happy like skipping all the way to the bank. This will offset the ickiness and in most cases the customer will shop around.

2. Develop a relationships with another detailer that actually likes to do interiors or is hungry for the work. Only send them the jobs you don't want.


:)

[Andr3wilson]

This is a very good point and question you brought up. I personally focus on exterior and paint correction work, but I will do interiors and what not.

Because I dont own a big steamer or hot water extractor (best case use a wet vac) I simply charge an extra $150-$250 for dirty interiors. This means the icky stuff can cost $350-$500 for an interior.

Majority of the people turn me down at this price because the local Bubbles franchise high volume detail shops here will do the job for $50-$100 (and other than spraying silicone over everything, they are pretty thorough).

I specialize in paint correction, not wiping up messes and gunk. Anyone can wipe up a mess, not everyone can do what I do. In my experience the people who have the really dirty van are cheap and I cant afford to be giving away my time and services.

So keep this in mind when you are developing your detailing reputation. Are you one to do fast, cheap work and have 6-7 cars a week (which I want to be clear there is nothing wrong with!) or do you want to be a "yoda" and do the high paying low volume jobs.

[mfrickman]

I have referred jobs to higher volume detailers either because I didn't have the proper equipment to clean to my standards or was completely booked.

I remember I had a phone call one day from a woman that just purchased a minivan from what she described as an animal rescue. Needless to say, she told me it wasn't THAT bad but she knew it needed to be gutted (seats out) in order to clean it properly. I didn't have an extractor or steamer at the time so I referred her to a local chain. She ended up coming back for exterior work and we both won. She got the inside cleaned the way she wanted and I still made some money.

Sent from my SCH-I545 using AG Online

[RaskyR1]

Price seems to weed out most of the jobs I'd rather not do, but if someone is willing to pay my rate I have no problem taking on just about anything...within reason that is. I've also narrowed my service offering on my web page too.

When it comes to exteriors, paint is paint and I could care less if it's a Festiva or a Ferrari....I just like making paint shine. :)

[TundraPower]

Lots of ways to approach this one. The main thing that saves me is that I will not quote interior work without looking at it first, no exceptions. If people won't honor this they are very likely hiding something horrifying. I only do one or two vehicles per week, but they are almost always $500+ and 12+ hours of work.

[davisautodetail]

Great info and advice guys, this really helps a lot. Like most detailers that are good at what they do, I can definitely get an interior looking awesome, it's just tedious work, and the nastiness factor makes me want to get paid more for them.

I actually do lot of interior work thanks to where I live, but it's easy to get burned out on them.

I'm slowly becoming the go-to guy in town for boats and RVs, as well as planes, so I can do more of those and less interiors.

I think what I'll do is look at a "nastiness tax" for really dirty interiors. That would cover excessive pet hair, kid funk, stains, etc. I can justify it by the extra effort, skill, and materials required to get the car clean. Thankfully, I have a steamer and a nice extractor, so that makes it a bit easier.

[Coyote33]

I was asking myself this same question. I have a FT occupation during the week, bur love to detail cars on the weekend. I wanted to build my website and referral base in order to get some higher level cars and clientele so I took on some older and nastier cars to prove myself, but am now wondering if that has backfired because I have inquiries from people who have trashed cars and think I can save them.

While I love the fact that I can save a vehicle, it still sucks having to spend several hours cleaning up nasty funk when I would rather be polishing a paint job.

[davisautodetail]

I was asking myself this same question. I have a FT occupation during the week, bur love to detail cars on the weekend. I wanted to build my website and referral base in order to get some higher level cars and clientele so I took on some older and nastier cars to prove myself, but am now wondering if that has backfired because I have inquiries from people who have trashed cars and think I can save them.

While I love the fact that I can save a vehicle, it still sucks having to spend several hours cleaning up nasty funk when I would rather be polishing a paint job.

That's the problem I think. Of COURSE you can save them. With the right tools, chemicals, and techniques, you can bring a car back from pretty far gone.

I think we'd all love to be where some of the other guys are, picking and choosing paint polish jobs from an array of high end cars. It takes a while, and the right market to get there. I'm not sure I can, quite honestly, not here, but I need to make the best of it, and make the work enjoyable.

[dipolley]

I am a full-time detailer so my customer base is usually anyone with a dirty vehicle in need of my services and those whose money is green. After that I'll do just about any job so long as I am equipped for it.

That being said, being equipped for any job is a key ingredient in doing just about any job that comes your way. This will allow you to not only to do the job right, but in a time frame that you are comfortable with and is profitable. Exterior detailing supplies are fairly easy (and is the fun, sexy part of what we do) but interior detailing is a different animal. A good vacuum is the first investment to make. Next I got a great cold-water extractor. The next purchase is a steamer. I had to spend a lot of time doing interior jobs that were extremely nasty and took way too long to have the cash on hand to purchase the equipment needed to speed up my time. Now it is worth my time and profitable to tackle just about any interior.

Here is a great example of something that happened to me today. A company called me to come out and do a basic in and out detail on three vehicles for their employees. I gave them a quote over the phone knowing that one vehicle had pet hair. I didn't see the vehicles before hand (my mistake). But I wanted the job because I expect it to bring more work from the company and their employees. I lost my butt on the first detail ("some" pet hair turned into enough to build my own dog). An hour and 15 minutes was budgeted and it took a little over 2 hours. But on the next car I saw that it had some egregious paint transfer and badly faded headlights. I made an upsell. It took 20 minutes to do both items and I made up for my misstep on the first car and then some. I got my profit margin back up.

And Mike's advice is great. You can always say no. By the way, Renny Doyle's book is great and I highly suggest it. I have been in business a few years now and I have learned a few things from this book even thought it is geared more towards the noob. Got it on my kindle and phone for easy reference.


So, know when to say no; get the proper equipment; make sure you are getting the hourly rate you want/need; look for upsells that are more profitable and easy and quick to do.

I could go further but this post is getting long as it is. :-)

[statusdetailing]

I feel you man. I try to quote them out of existence, but it doesn't always work.

I worked on a Toyota Matrix today that was absolutely blown away. If you've done one of these you know that they have velcro carpet and super tightly woven seats that are harder to clean than seat belts.

They lady told me it was bad on the phone. I quoted her $180, interior only.

When it arrived, it was waaaaay worse than I could have imagined. The smell! OH my God, the smell! It was a $300 + detail for sure, but I didn't feel like working 10+ hours.

I worked on it for 6 demoralizing hours and stuck to the original $180.

I got the grime and smell out, but it was far from perfect.

I actually enjoy taking a moderately bad interior and really turning it around, but the horrible ones are burn out city!

The problem I've found is that with an outrageous quote comes outrageous expectations. People will expect perfection for a $200 plus detail, and the longer I detail the more I realize thats not possible on a neglected vehicle.

Bad interiors are trouble for sure. It's the worst part of the business.

[sharpreflection]

dipolley I agree with everything you have said and what others have said. For me it is a must that when a customer calls for a detail I will just schedule a appointment to go over and see the vehicle then i can price accordingly. But dipolleys advise is awesome!

[Pureshine]

I do this for a living and never turn down a job why you say its called $$$$. I not a fan of doing nasty jobs but I just charge more for them and most people are willing to pay for it. I have 4 high end customers who have me detail their cars ever week but that can get boring to.

[dipolley]

dipolley I agree with everything you have said and what others have said. For me it is a must that when a customer calls for a detail I will just schedule a appointment to go over and see the vehicle then i can price accordingly. But dipolleys advise is awesome!


Thanks.

BTW stopped by your fb page. Noticed you already liked mine. So thanks! We'll have to make sure our paths cross some day since your not too far away.