Official Discussion: Auto Detail Certification

[vanev]

Official Discussion: Auto Detail Certification

This is a subject that comes up on this forum from time to time.
It will come up again as new generations of Auto Detailers start their own business.
The purpose of having an Official Discussion Thread on this, or any subject, is to have a central thread location for a subject matter that will inevitably keep popping up.
The benefits relate to research more than anything else.
Such a specific Thread can be referred to and referenced.
Generally these are Necro Exempt as information, evolution in technology, and people's views are always ever changing.

I will begin by asking some questions:
- Do you believe in the concept of an official licensing body crediting certification in the Auto Detail Business?

- Should such a certification be mandated by law to obtain in order to go into business as an Auto Detailer?

- Do you believe having such an official certification would add credibility to the industry of Auto Detailing?

- Do you believe having such an official certification would better educate consumers on what exactly auto detailing is and how it is different than a guy with a bucket of soap&water hustling to sell car washes for cheap?

- Do you believe having such an official certification would add/offer any legal protection from non certified self proclaimed Auto Detailers under charging and thus undercutting pricing?
* Think Anti-Trust Law as well as a legal penalty/fine for performing a service when not certified.

- Do you believe having such an official certification would create better skilled Auto Detailers?

Reference Threads:
- kmsdetailing: Auto Detailing Certification
http://www.autogeekonline.net/forum/...ification.html

- kyny: Certificate?
Certificate?

Relevant Quote:
Mike Phillips
http://www.autogeekonline.net/forum/...tml#post713267
I am posting this so that Mr. Mike Phillips does not feel the need to endlessly say the same thing over and over again related to this topic of discussion.
He is the forum go to guy and head moderator.
I am sure he gets asked this question all the time on this forum as well as other social media as well social events.
It is relevant and is worth citing.

Great idea and good question, here's the problem everyone and anyone teaching classes on this topic runs into.
Even if you teach a guy the right way to do things, after he leaves he can flash his certification and then do hack work with lousy products. This makes the company that awarded the certification look bad.
That's why at Meguiar's and now here at Autogeek we award a,
Certificate of Completion
That means you were here, attended the class and completed it.

Also, as I'm sure others will bring up, there are so many products, pads, tools and techniques to reach the goal, (a clean shiny car), and for the most part all the different approaches "can" work.
That is there is no right or wrong way to approach getting a car clean and shiny if the end results is a professional job that pleases the customer.
The problem lies with people that do lousy work which I explain in detail in this article,
http://www.autogeekonline.net/forum/...detailers.html

I'm all for the idea though... now figuring out a way to accomplish the goal.
For what it's worth, I helped out a guy via e-mail today that bought a brand new Infinity from an Infinity dealership and the paint was a wreck when he picked up the car. He sent me at least a dozen pictures.

Shouldn't the detailer at a Infinity Dealership be qualified to "touch" the paint on a brand new Infinity without ruining it for the customer? Again, read through the article above, I spent a lot of time writing it to explain the problems without carelessly blaming everyone in this industry for doing hack work.

[FUNX650]

* Think Anti-Trust Law as well as a legal
penalty/fine for performing a service
when not certified.

That's not how I think of The Anti-Trust Law(s)...
My understanding of The Antitrust Law(s), as
amended, is that they contain several basic objectives:

-Making sure that Businesses operate efficiently;
while keeping quality up and keeping prices down...
-those are strong incentives that go a long way
towards protecting the process of competition.
-and tagging along behind? there's the perceived
benefit of some protection for the consumer.

- Do you believe having such an official
certification would add/offer any legal protection
from non certified self proclaimed Auto Detailers
under charging and thus undercutting pricing?

^^^Isn't this a form of price-fixing?^^^


Arrangements made among businesses (and
individuals) to fix prices can effectuate markets
being divided: These are unjustified and indefensible
actions that are violations of the Anti-trust Act(s),
as amended.



Bob

[GSKR]

A detail certification may or may not be beneficial ,if you have to go thru time consuming obstacles I would pass,2 out of 10000 people may ask you if you are certified.coating application is a different.getting a occupational license yes,you are coded under car wash polishing.for it to be mandated the city would not have any control of all these pop up overnight detailers they can fly under the radar.I gotta say this is a very controversial discussion I'm stuck here.I guess in a way it may boil down to pricing and image and character and professionalism sometimes it's not.Depends on the customer if he owns a Bentley and wants a detail and has 2 choices to pick from ,a guy with a 25000 dollar van that's committed to detailing or a guy with a Nissan Altima working out of the trunk,pretty much the guy with the van will earn his trust.at the end of the day a certification will make you more creditable.But in this day in age you will never know what you are getting,this is where word of mouth comes into play.

[GSKR]

Official Discussion: Auto Detail Certification

This is a subject that comes up on this forum from time to time.
It will come up again as new generations of Auto Detailers start their own business.
The purpose of having an Official Discussion Thread on this, or any subject, is to have a central thread location for a subject matter that will inevitably keep popping up.
The benefits relate to research more than anything else.
Such a specific Thread can be referred to and referenced.
Generally these are Necro Exempt as information, evolution in technology, and people's views are always ever changing.

I will begin by asking some questions:
- Do you believe in the concept of an official licensing body crediting certification in the Auto Detail Business?

- Should such a certification be mandated by law to obtain in order to go into business as an Auto Detailer?

- Do you believe having such an official certification would add credibility to the industry of Auto Detailing?

- Do you believe having such an official certification would better educate consumers on what exactly auto detailing is and how it is different than a guy with a bucket of soap&water hustling to sell car washes for cheap?

- Do you believe having such an official certification would add/offer any legal protection from non certified self proclaimed Auto Detailers under charging and thus undercutting pricing?
* Think Anti-Trust Law as well as a legal penalty/fine for performing a service when not certified.

- Do you believe having such an official certification would create better skilled Auto Detailers?

Reference Threads:
- kmsdetailing: Auto Detailing Certification
http://www.autogeekonline.net/forum/...ification.html

- kyny: Certificate?
Certificate?

Relevant Quote:
Mike Phillips
http://www.autogeekonline.net/forum/...tml#post713267
I am posting this so that Mr. Mike Phillips does not feel the need to endlessly say the same thing over and over again related to this topic of discussion.
He is the forum go to guy and head moderator.
I am sure he gets asked this question all the time on this forum as well as other social media as well social events.
It is relevant and is worth citing.

yes there should be training ,I worked at a mb dealer for 9 years 5 of us detailers went to Montvale New Jersey for training.dealers don't invest training to employees it's a revolving door,but there some that do.

[roguerobot]

Certifications are only as valuable as the associated marketing to encourage customers to seek them out. Just creating a certification program, but no marketing, is simply selling pieces of paper.

Think Realtors, ASE mechanics, CPA, CISA, CFP, AIA, etc. All of these have large marketing budgets to build awareness for consumers, whether its real estate, auto repair, accounting, IT, financial, or architecture.

This is the value of certification: build awareness, and differentiate the practitioners. Often standards are developed as a result, and those standards used to support the certification group, perhaps to suggest a 'best practice' that is not available elsewhere. Often it is a code of conduct that is being 'sold'.

Don't confuse certifications with licenses. Licenses are granted by a legal authority, typically a municipal authority. These are usually required by established laws, or standards associated with laws. Legal protection is not assured by certificates but can be aided by laws, or at least limited by laws.

[vanev]

That's not how I think of The Anti-Trust Law(s)...
My understanding of The Antitrust Law(s), as
amended, is that they contain several basic objectives:

-Making sure that Businesses operate efficiently;
while keeping quality up and keeping prices down...
-those are strong incentives that go a long way
towards protecting the process of competition.
-and tagging along behind? there's the perceived
benefit of some protection for the consumer.

^^^Isn't this a form of price-fixing?^^^

Arrangements made among businesses (and
individuals) to fix prices can effectuate markets
being divided: These are unjustified and indefensible
actions that are violations of the Anti-trust Act(s),
as amended.
Bob

Auto Detail is an industry, but it is not specifically defined in the legal or business sense.
One professional is trained, educated, experienced and qualified, the other picks up a bucket, some terry clothes and some dish soap and that is their complete inventory.
Both call themselves Auto Detailers and market themselves as such.
One charges the worth of the actual service, the other charges a fraction of the cost, undercuts the market, damages the vehicle to be serviced, brings the value of the profession down, and misguides the consumer by misrepresenting the profession and providing misinformation.

Form of price fixing, no.
The intent would be to establish a baseline definition and a set of defined qualifications that does not currently exist.
This would not prevent an unqualified professional from performing the same hustle.
It would prevent them from identifying their business and services offered as Auto Detailing.
This would create a defined line to the consumer who is proven qualified, and who is not.

yes there should be training ,I worked at a mb dealer for 9 years 5 of us detailers went to Montvale New Jersey for training.dealers don't invest training to employees it's a revolving door,but there some that do.

Certifications are only as valuable as the associated marketing to encourage customers to seek them out. Just creating a certification program, but no marketing, is simply selling pieces of paper.

Think Realtors, ASE mechanics, CPA, CISA, CFP, AIA, etc. All of these have large marketing budgets to build awareness for consumers, whether its real estate, auto repair, accounting, IT, financial, or architecture.

This is the value of certification: build awareness, and differentiate the practitioners. Often standards are developed as a result, and those standards used to support the certification group, perhaps to suggest a 'best practice' that is not available elsewhere. Often it is a code of conduct that is being 'sold'.

Don't confuse certifications with licenses. Licenses are granted by a legal authority, typically a municipal authority. These are usually required by established laws, or standards associated with laws. Legal protection is not assured by certificates but can be aided by laws, or at least limited by laws.

Yes.
Training and education.
If there was a defined curriculum both in the classroom and in the shop, this would create a baseline of skillsets and knowledge adding definition to what Auto Detailing is.
It would also provide a place where those interested in the profession of Auto Detailing could go and learn everything they need to know, based on the current information of the age.
It could be offered by Universities and Colleges.
So, one would not have to travel cross country to a single location.
It would be the real deal.
Not a one day class.
More like a 12-24 month program with the end result of earning a degree/certification.

[RFrommann]

I think being authorized to install pro coatings speaks of your quality of work.


Detail king in Pittsburgh has a course and you actually get a diploma, as they're registered with board of education of pa

[ev780]

Be careful what you wish for. Politicians love to seize on the opportunity to regulate based on a certification program.

Also the certifying organizations love to sell continuing education in order to "maintain" your certification.

Has value but can be a double edged sword.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G890A using Tapatalk

[GSKR]

I don't think certification means that much today,you can walk in a doctors office and see certifications from accredited colleges on the wall,yes I would rather go to a doctor who is board certified rather than a doctor who is not.but it doesn't mean he is a blown out of the water awesome doctor.lets use a hair stylist for example they have to be certified licensed insured and one year hands on school traning which cost thousands,then take a state board 100 question test.a lady who wants a color cut and blow dry she charges 300 and walks out pissed off and butchered .The lady down the street charges 200 for the same services,the prior customer who got ripped off,seeks the 200 job and is ecstatic and tells all there friends ,so in essence all certifications and a higher prices deosnt insure the customer she is gonna get a great job.Its all within the pride of the graduate,doctor lawyer,car wash guy,hair stylist etc.Thats what sets us a part from a I don't care lazy bad work ethic professional.so there a fine line when it comes to certifications deosnt mean squat,look at all the medical malpractice suits a year,a doctor who is certified and years of schooling leaves a sponge in someone's head and closes the up that's called sloppy work,Ben Carson has been sued left and right for this kind of careless mistakes.

[SATracker]

I've told people that anyone with a bucket of soap and bottle of wax can say they are a, "detailer" just like anyone with a screw driver and handful of wrenches can call themselves a, "mechanic". I think certification is a good first step and IDA is trying to address that with IDA membership, then IDA certification (meaning you know some stuff), and finally IDA "skills validated" certification (you've shown you can do it). In fitness, personal trainers have the same issues for years and have various accrediting agencies. Certification could be helpful in being hired by a detailing company and could be used to begin a conversation with a potential client. But ultimately it comes down to the quality of your work and your ability to relate to people.