autogeekonline car wax, car care and auto detailing forum Autogeek on TV
car wax, car care and auto detailing forumAutogeekonline autogeekonline car wax, car care and auto detailing forum HomeForumBlogAutogeek.net StoreDetailing Classes with Mike PhillipsGalleryDetailing How To's
 
Page 1 of 2 12 LastLast
Results 1 to 10 of 19
  1. #1
    Super Member Calendyr's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jun 2013
    Location
    Montreal, Quebec
    Posts
    3,996
    Post Thanks / Like

    Opti-Coat Pro installer cerfification

    This is a question for you guys who are certified Opti-Coat Pro installers....

    I spoke with Yvan Lacroix yesterday morning. Very nice guy, hope to meet him soon.

    So basicly in order to be an Opti-Coat pro installer i need to give proof of insurrance.

    The training is optional but it allows to get the certified title on their website.

    Since the training is 2 days long and cost 1000 US$, my question is: Is it worth it?

    Did you see increased business from getting the certification? And if not certified, do you get leads from Optimum?

    Finally, what coatings are you offering? I am thinking about offering all 3 pro coatings: Paint-Guard, Opti-coat Pro and Opti-Coat Pro+

    Right now the only coating I am offering is McKee's 37. So if I go with Optimum, I am not sure it would have a place for Gloss-coat in the line up. Since McKee's 37 is less expensive, I could offer than instead of Gloss coat... not sure if Gloss coat is better than McKee's but I doubt it and it's about 2 to 3 times the price... what do you think?

    Finally, what demand are you getting from customers? Does the Optimum brand help you sell more coatings?

    Any thoughts and or suggestions would be appreciated.

  2. Likes DScherer14 liked this post
  3. #2
    Super Member The Guz's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jun 2013
    Location
    LA, CA
    Posts
    8,719
    Post Thanks / Like

    Re: Opti-Coat Pro installer cerfification

    Check out the 4 part series that Matt Morman did on the Optimum Training on his youtube channel and see if it is something you want to do.

    I am only posting the first episode.



    Many authorized installers on the optimum synergy podcast say the training is worth it. I have also listened to various guests mention only carrying pro+ and gloss coat as their entry level coating. I'm going by memory here and I recall the reason for only pro+ was due to generating more revenue and not enough sales for pro. I recall it was due to the warranty offered with pro+.

  4. Thanks Calendyr thanked for this post
    Likes Calendyr, dlc95, DScherer14 liked this post
  5. #3
    Super Member Calendyr's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jun 2013
    Location
    Montreal, Quebec
    Posts
    3,996
    Post Thanks / Like

    Re: Opti-Coat Pro installer cerfification

    Thanks Guz, I will go watch that right now!

  6. #4
    Super Member Calendyr's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jun 2013
    Location
    Montreal, Quebec
    Posts
    3,996
    Post Thanks / Like

    Re: Opti-Coat Pro installer cerfification

    I had seen most of this presentation in Pan's video with Yvan. I like the way he approaches the razor blade use. Very curious to see how he gets a better finish with a rotary vs a DA! Thanks again for the link. It doesn't answer any of my original questions but it was fun to watch

  7. #5
    Super Member Dan Tran's Avatar
    Join Date
    Sep 2015
    Location
    Portsmouth, NH
    Posts
    1,055
    Post Thanks / Like

    Re: Opti-Coat Pro installer cerfification

    I would love to see more responses to this because I had a conversation with Yvan a month ago as well.

    Did it take a while for people to recognize that you’re an authorized/certified installer?

    How immediate did you see ROI?


    Sent from my iPhone using Autogeekonline mobile app

  8. #6
    Super Member TMQ's Avatar
    Join Date
    Mar 2015
    Location
    Germantown, Md
    Posts
    2,243
    Post Thanks / Like

    Re: Opti-Coat Pro installer cerfification

    Why insurance?

    From what I've read...insurance is only good if you damage car while in your possession from hitting things, place burns down etc. It doesn't protect
    you if you damaged paint from polishing. That's on you.

    So what's point of having insurance then?...

    Tom
    Mr Tommy's
    Wash, Buff, Wax
    Website: mrtommyshine.com

  9. #7
    Super Member Calendyr's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jun 2013
    Location
    Montreal, Quebec
    Posts
    3,996
    Post Thanks / Like

    Re: Opti-Coat Pro installer cerfification

    Quote Originally Posted by TMQ View Post
    Why insurance?

    From what I've read...insurance is only good if you damage car while in your possession from hitting things, place burns down etc. It doesn't protect
    you if you damaged paint from polishing. That's on you.

    So what's point of having insurance then?...

    Tom
    I called my insurance company and spoke for about 30 minutes with my rep regarding commercial insurance. She told me I needed 2 contract (this is for Canada, might work differently in the US).

    The first one is a general liability insurance. This covers damage you might do to the property where you work. So for example, you move the customer's car, forget to put it in gear and put the hand brake on and the car starts rolling and hit the house, this contract will cover the damage you do to the house.

    Second one is the garage keeper's insurance. This covers damage you do to the car in your possession. So in the same exemple, the damage the car would take when hitting the house would be covered by this one. She told me damage I do to the car while working on it is also covered. So let's say your DA's backplate snaps off while working and the shaft of the machine make a huge scratch on pannel, the repaint would be covered. This might not be the case with every insurance company, but the one I contacted do cover it.

    So why does Optimum wants to make sure you are covered? I have no idea. Maybe it's proof you are a professional detailer, maybe it's something else.

    Now, I am supposed to get the quote today. Last time I asked they quoted me 1000$ for the year. I operate only 7 months out of the year because of weather here in Montreal... so I decided not to take it. In 5 years, I had to go out of pocket once for an issue with a customer's vehicle. When I did the engine detail, water went into the spark plug well and it killed one of the ignition coils. It costed me 200$ to have it fixed for the customer. Even if I had been insured, the first 500$ or 1000$ is usually on you before the insurance starts paying. And if you make a claim, they raise your policy price for the future contracts, so you only want to make a claim if it's a huge amount.

    I would say that unless you have a fixed location, it's probably not worth it to get these insurance unless you drive customer's cars, or move them over distances where something might happen. I typically don't move the cars unless I have no other choice. In five years it happened maybe 4 times. Other than that I don't see what could possibly happen that would cause damage that would warrant making a claim. Even if I damage a panel and the car needs a repaint, I am looking at about 1000$, and I don't think I would make a claim for that knowing that they would raise the cost of my insurance a 100$ or more afterwards and I would still have to pay the first 500$. I guess it depends what you do. If you put the car on a lift, and take the wheels off, then yes, absolutelly get insurance... it that think breaks and the car comes crashing down with no wheels on, you are looking at very expensive repairs! Other than that?

    So depending I hope the policy is not gonna be too expensive if I take the bare minimum. That is also why I am curious to know if being a certified Optimum Opti-Coat installer brings in a lot of business or not. My experience selling coatings have not been too good so far. The close rate is about 10% from the calls I get. Compared to about 70% for my other services. It actually went down since I took a yellow page ad. Now a lot of people call me looking for a car wash

  10. #8
    Super Member oneheadlite's Avatar
    Join Date
    Aug 2015
    Location
    Andover, MN
    Posts
    1,715
    Post Thanks / Like

    Re: Opti-Coat Pro installer cerfification

    Quote Originally Posted by Calendyr View Post
    This is a question for you guys who are certified Opti-Coat Pro installers....
    ...
    Since the training is 2 days long and cost 1000 US$, my question is: Is it worth it?
    Just an average Joe who used to listen a lot of the Optimum podcasts - Doesn't part of that $1000 work as a credit towards $XXX dollars worth of product? Seems like that could help build some value into doing the training.

    Also, not sure how much other detailing classes normally cost, but I would think you could get value from the experience just by being exposed to someone else's way of doing things. Or pick up tips and tricks from other detailers attending the class also.

    I'm in a different industry (Auto repair vs detailing), but it seems every time I've been to a training class, there's always a lot of great info from the "off script" portion of training or things you pick up during the hands on time.

  11. Likes DScherer14 liked this post
  12. #9
    Super Member Calendyr's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jun 2013
    Location
    Montreal, Quebec
    Posts
    3,996
    Post Thanks / Like

    Re: Opti-Coat Pro installer cerfification

    Quote Originally Posted by oneheadlite View Post
    Just an average Joe who used to listen a lot of the Optimum podcasts - Doesn't part of that $1000 work as a credit towards $XXX dollars worth of product? Seems like that could help build some value into doing the training.

    Also, not sure how much other detailing classes normally cost, but I would think you could get value from the experience just by being exposed to someone else's way of doing things. Or pick up tips and tricks from other detailers attending the class also.

    I'm in a different industry (Auto repair vs detailing), but it seems every time I've been to a training class, there's always a lot of great info from the "off script" portion of training or things you pick up during the hands on time.
    Yvan did not mention any products included with the training. They do cover hotel for 2 days and food. Maybe they changed it this year? Or he forgot to mention it but that seems unlikelly since it would be some serious incentive

    The training would be mostly useless for me. I have seen the training in various videos, it's pretty much always the same. I know that part of the training goes towards marketing, so that might be good depending what they say But as far as detailing techniques and all of that, I know all they are teaching already. So if I take it, it's gonna be purelly to get the certification. So the certification has to be worth at least 1500$ of extra busines to me since i will be spending 3 days (not getting revenue) at the training and paying for it as well.

    As far as learning things at trainings, I watch about 10 hours per week of detailing videos, and I have been doing that since I started in 2013. That's 10 hours per week average every week for 6 years or 3,120 hours of detailing info. This is on top of the 1 hour per day I spend here or elsewhere on the web reading about detailing and the actual experience I have on customers cars. So when I say I feel there is very little I can learn, it's not bragging, anytime I am not 100% certain about something I ask here and usually get an answer within an hour. There is only 1 thing I have never been able to find a solution to, and it's removing salt from carpets that have been sitting there for years. I have tried everything people have suggested and never found anything that actually works. The issue is that most detailers here are in the US, so they have never experienced Canadian winter salt stains we get. When there is an inch thick of salt imbeded in the carpet, it's like concrete and nothing seems to affect it. Anyway, back to the training, the course was filmed in it's entirety in the video posted by Guz, and I learned nothing because I saw Yvan give that same presentation in several other videos. He does touch on using a razon blade on paint (which I had not seen him do before) but I already knew about that and already use it (very rarelly). He said something I found useful about wet sanding that's about it. So again, for me, it's just a matter of knowing if the certification will pay for itself in added sales or not.

    This is why I am interested in knowing what Authorized and or Certified Optimum detailers think about it.

  13. Thanks oneheadlite, DScherer14 thanked for this post
    Likes DScherer14 liked this post
  14. #10
    Super Member rlmccarty2000's Avatar
    Join Date
    Dec 2013
    Location
    Fitzgerald, GA
    Posts
    2,002
    Post Thanks / Like

    Re: Opti-Coat Pro installer cerfification

    Very good questions that apply to all Pro type coatings.

Page 1 of 2 12 LastLast

Similar Threads

  1. Replies: 12
    Last Post: 01-16-2014, 02:16 PM
  2. Opti Coat Installer need in Lake Worth, FL
    By hamza7 in forum Auto Detailing 101
    Replies: 1
    Last Post: 08-20-2012, 11:19 AM
  3. Replies: 11
    Last Post: 04-13-2012, 03:23 PM
  4. Opti-Coat/Opti-Guard and Poli-Seal Problem
    By gmck in forum Auto Detailing 101
    Replies: 24
    Last Post: 11-29-2011, 07:33 AM
  5. David F. Opti-Coat Test & What to do with Opti-Coat?
    By Old Tiger in forum New Car Care Products
    Replies: 5
    Last Post: 01-16-2010, 03:52 PM

Members who have read this thread: 0

There are no members to list at the moment.

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •  

» March 2024

S M T W T F S
2526272829 1 2
3 4 5 6 7 8 9
10 11 12 13 14 15 16
17 18 19 20 21 22 23
24 25 26 27 28 29 30
31 123456