Question for the pros. How do you "get rid" of a customer?

[RTexasF]

Either inform him of the upcoming price hike in a contract to be signed by both parties or drop him as a customer.

[pickles]

Is tipping a standard in high end detailing?

[Bill D]

I had one very favorite customer who used to tip me 100%! I always felt weird charging him full price for a detail since he was a friend of my father but I guess he felt I was charging him too little so that’s why he tipped me so much. No other customer I had ever tipped me and I never really expected them to.

[dnadrifterr]

My opinion as a customer would be increase the price to what others are paying and what you want to receive. If I was told the following as a customer, I wouldn't like it, but I would understand and wouldn't be mad at the individual.

"Dear Joe, We have really appreciated your business and you have been a long standing customer since we started. Although your rate has not seen an increase previously, our rate since you signed on has increased several time as our business has matured. Due to your loyalty we have tried to keep your rate the same over this time. Unfortunately, we can no longer offer you the previous rate after X date. The new and current rate is X, which is consistent with our current our rate plan. We would be happy to continue service at this rate after X date, but I completely understand if you would would like discontinue service due to the rate increase. If you need the names of alternative detail services, please let me know."

[Calendyr]

I had one very favorite customer who used to tip me 100%! I always felt weird charging him full price for a detail since he was a friend of my father but I guess he felt I was charging him too little so that’s why he tipped me so much. No other customer I had ever tipped me and I never really expected them to.

I use Square for my credit card transaction, and the interface asks the client if he/she wants to leave a tip. Surprisingly, many do. I think people don't think about tips when they are dealing with detailers. When people pay me cash, I very rarelly get a tip, but on credit cards it's about 1 in 3. One client left me a 20% tip on a 700$ detail once, I could not believe it.

[Coatingsarecrack]

It’s a labor based business where you should be charging a fair rate. As a business owner you should be asking every customer for a google review. Learn how to make a QR code and put it on your invoice. The more google reviews the more often you will pop to the top. Offer discounts or a free follow up wash if they leave one. These will more than pay for themselves!

Just think if you have 100 google reviews and the next guy has 22. If your overall reviews are great your getting the googler. My advice to any detailer out their. GET GOOGLE REVIEWS. It’s how most of your customers find you. Plus more reviews means bad unwarranted ones will affect your overall rating.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[sudsmobile]

I don't know if it's standard everywhere, but in SoCal it's pretty standard. We average $400-500 a week in tips. Again, it's not the tip, whether they leave one or not. It's the fluctuating tip used to express dismay with the price. I charge him $84.90 for two washes. He pays $99.99, so a $15 tip. Yesterday, I just did his Cayenne, which again hadn't been touched since mid December. I sent him a pic to which he replied "Amazing!". I invoiced him $54.95 which is my standard mid size SUV rate. He paid $54.95. So, he's willing to pay more money for the job and tip on top of that, but yesterday he decided that regular price is too much. I don't like that.

Thanks for the replies. I've made up my mind, I will be notifying him that in one month we will no longer be doing scheduled maintenance washes. I don't even want to give him the opportunity to sign on at a higher rate. I like the guy, I don't like how he deals with money issues.

[Calendyr]

Well if doing this is preventing you from making more money doing something else, you should absolutelly cut that service. I have not done maintenance plans yet. I intend to propose them this year and see how it goes... not much money in it from what I calculated but it is steady income. Hopefully I can reserve 1 day a week to do them all on the same day. Otherwise it can be difficult. My typical detail takes a whole day on it's own. So trying to add washes on top would be almost impossible.

[ClearVue18]

Tipping is not required but if you did it would be nice.

Sent from my SM-N960U using Autogeekonline mobile app

[FUNX650]

I don't tip the owner of a Detail/Wash business.
The guy(s) doing the work gets a tip from me.

Note:
If the guy doing the work is the owner—still no tip.


Bob