I feel like I scare possible customers away

[Flannigan]

Your prices do seem low enough that people shouldn't really be thrown off by them. I think one of the main problems is communicating by text and email. I mean no offense by this, but I think texting with a new customer is very unprofessional, and really just setting yourself up to fail. Don't get me wrong, I will text current customers to let them know everything is going well, or even text them a teaser pic here and there to keep them excited, but to start off a relationship like that just isn't good in my book. I really like, at the very least, talking to my customers on the phone. I can let them hear that I know what I'm talking about and have the knowledge to make sure that their vehicles turn out exactly how they want them, if not better.

Also, you should never quote correction work without seeing the vehicle. It's just asking for trouble. What if that vehicle has clearcoat failure that the customer thinks can be corrected? If you don't see that until you show up for the job and tell the customer, they might get pissed because it's not worth it for them to get the vehicle detailed anymore. I ALWAY set up an inspection time with customers looking for corrections. This way I can see the vehicle's condition and quote an exact price. When I go to these appointments I always take a high powered light so people can see the true condition of the paint and I also take my ipad which has hundreds of pictures of correction work and vehicles I have detailed. This shows the customer what they can expect if they get a detail done by me. 90% of the time a have a car on there just like theirs so they can really see exactly what theirs can look like.

I also agree with the guys who have said don't beg for work. It's just not worth it. First off, that customer now knows that you are willing to drop you price or do a whole bunch of extra stuff for free. Personally, I don't want to be stuck giving away my services or doing anything for free. When you give a price, just say something like, please let me know when you would like to schedule your detail. It may sound pushy, but now they actually have to come back and say "I'm not interested" instead of just ignoring you.

The next thing I would bring up would be how are you advertising? Word of mouth is seriously the best form of advertising, and usually have a good quoteaid job ratio. If a current customer is telling their friend that you are a great detailer and do awesome work, that friend is way more likely to actually go to you and get work done since they trust their friend. On the other hand, if you are getting jobs from advertising on forums or craigslist your quote:job ratio is going to be much lower. People on sites like that like to shop around. They also usually don't understand what real detailing is. There are so many hacks running around out there doing "high speed polishing" for $50 that people sometimes think that is the going rate for everyone. They don't know what glazes are or that these hacks can do more harm to their vehicles than good. That is where you educating people comes in. I try to give people as much information as possible when I talk to them. Tell them how you measure every body panel with a paint meter to make sure you have enough clear coat to work with. This makes you sound like you actually know what you are doing. Tell them about wiping down with IPA to make sure you are truly removing the swirls and not just covering them up. I'm not saying you have to go through every step with your customer, but throw some things out there that make you sound better than the guy down the street that washes car in the gas station parking lot.

Finally, there are some people that just can't afford the work, or don't want to spend that much on the work. The general public (great unwashed, mouth breathers etc.) are usually perfectly happy with taking their vehicles to drive through car washes and driving around with swirls. These people are just never going to understand the high end of detailing, and that is fine. I do plenty of wash and waxes where people just want a shiny car and don't want to spend $500+ to get the swirls out. there is nothing wrong with that as long as you are doing it the right way, and using quality products.

I think that sums up my thoughts. Sorry if that is a little scatter brained, I typed it at work and had to stop to actually help people every few minutes...lol

Ah, I did forget something. I try to never just blurt out a price. As people have mentioned, find out the budget of the customer. "So what budget would you like to stick to, and what are you looking to get out of the detail?" Most people who are serious will be up front and honest. If they only have $250 to spend, and just want a shiny car, you can explain to them that you have a wash and wax package that will fit them perfectly. Or if they say they want swirls removed, but don't want to spend more than $300, you can tell them you have a great one step package that will remove a lot of swirls, but not make it perfect. However, the plus side to a one step is since you aren't going broke doing it, you won't be as upset if someone scuffs your door along the way or if you get a few swirls back over time. You just have ot make sure you have an answer for them. Remember, you are the one with all the information. You need to control the direction that the conversation goes. If you keep giving people an out or a reason to not have 100% faith in you abilities, then they will move on the the next guy every time.

[TimmyG]

I still don't understand how people can quote a car without actually looking at it. What if the car needs 20+ hours of correction? The fact that the customer is asking for a 3 step would make me a little nervous.

[Billand]

I assume you are mobile. I my self am mobile and I think it hurts in in a way of picking up new customers because we don't have that face to face interaction. I try and explain the process to customers and send them emails with photos before and after of cars I have detailed. I try to give customers a reasonable price but some times it's never enough and those are the customers I don't want they will be over critical about every thing.


On Tuesday I detailed a 1of 1 Shelby that was getting tuned at a friends shop I quoted 550 for correction and interior motor detail. The customer had no problem with the price and has asked if he could have the rest of his collection taken care of. That's the kind of customers I want.

[tuscarora dave]

Your prices do seem low enough that people shouldn't really be thrown off by them. I think one of the main problems is communicating by text and email. I mean no offense by this, but I think texting with a new customer is very unprofessional, and really just setting yourself up to fail. Don't get me wrong, I will text current customers to let them know everything is going well, or even text them a teaser pic here and there to keep them excited, but to start off a relationship like that just isn't good in my book. I really like, at the very least, talking to my customers on the phone. I can let them hear that I know what I'm talking about and have the knowledge to make sure that their vehicles turn out exactly how they want them, if not better.

Also, you should never quote correction work without seeing the vehicle. It's just asking for trouble. What if that vehicle has clearcoat failure that the customer thinks can be corrected? If you don't see that until you show up for the job and tell the customer, they might get pissed because it's not worth it for them to get the vehicle detailed anymore. I ALWAY set up an inspection time with customers looking for corrections. This way I can see the vehicle's condition and quote an exact price. When I go to these appointments I always take a high powered light so people can see the true condition of the paint and I also take my ipad which has hundreds of pictures of correction work and vehicles I have detailed. This shows the customer what they can expect if they get a detail done by me. 90% of the time a have a car on there just like theirs so they can really see exactly what theirs can look like.

I also agree with the guys who have said don't beg for work. It's just not worth it. First off, that customer now knows that you are willing to drop you price or do a whole bunch of extra stuff for free. Personally, I don't want to be stuck giving away my services or doing anything for free. When you give a price, just say something like, please let me know when you would like to schedule your detail. It may sound pushy, but now they actually have to come back and say "I'm not interested" instead of just ignoring you.

The next thing I would bring up would be how are you advertising? Word of mouth is seriously the best form of advertising, and usually have a good quoteaid job ratio. If a current customer is telling their friend that you are a great detailer and do awesome work, that friend is way more likely to actually go to you and get work done since they trust their friend. On the other hand, if you are getting jobs from advertising on forums or craigslist your quote:job ratio is going to be much lower. People on sites like that like to shop around. They also usually don't understand what real detailing is. There are so many hacks running around out there doing "high speed polishing" for $50 that people sometimes think that is the going rate for everyone. They don't know what glazes are or that these hacks can do more harm to their vehicles than good. That is where you educating people comes in. I try to give people as much information as possible when I talk to them. Tell them how you measure every body panel with a paint meter to make sure you have enough clear coat to work with. This makes you sound like you actually know what you are doing. Tell them about wiping down with IPA to make sure you are truly removing the swirls and not just covering them up. I'm not saying you have to go through every step with your customer, but throw some things out there that make you sound better than the guy down the street that washes car in the gas station parking lot.

Finally, there are some people that just can't afford the work, or don't want to spend that much on the work. The general public (great unwashed, mouth breathers etc.) are usually perfectly happy with taking their vehicles to drive through car washes and driving around with swirls. These people are just never going to understand the high end of detailing, and that is fine. I do plenty of wash and waxes where people just want a shiny car and don't want to spend $500+ to get the swirls out. there is nothing wrong with that as long as you are doing it the right way, and using quality products.

I think that sums up my thoughts. Sorry if that is a little scatter brained, I typed it at work and had to stop to actually help people every few minutes...lol

Ah, I did forget something. I try to never just blurt out a price. As people have mentioned, find out the budget of the customer. "So what budget would you like to stick to, and what are you looking to get out of the detail?" Most people who are serious will be up front and honest. If they only have $250 to spend, and just want a shiny car, you can explain to them that you have a wash and wax package that will fit them perfectly. Or if they say they want swirls removed, but don't want to spend more than $300, you can tell them you have a great one step package that will remove a lot of swirls, but not make it perfect. However, the plus side to a one step is since you aren't going broke doing it, you won't be as upset if someone scuffs your door along the way or if you get a few swirls back over time. You just have ot make sure you have an answer for them. Remember, you are the one with all the information. You need to control the direction that the conversation goes. If you keep giving people an out or a reason to not have 100% faith in you abilities, then they will move on the the next guy every time.

Great posting!

When I get a call from a perspective client, the first question I ask them is how they found out about me. This allows me to proceed in the right direction as far as getting the correct or needed information from them. If they found me in a google search and know nothing about what I do or offer, I need to gather a little information about their vehicle, their expectations and how they currently care for the vehicle. I ask them, "What year, make, model and color is your vehicle?" "How do you currently care for the vehicle?" "Do you carefully hand wash it or do you take it through the automatic car wash?" "Have you had the car professionally detailed in the past and if so what was done to it or who did it?"

While asking all of these questions, I assure the prospective client that these questions are relevant to figure out which detailing package that would fit them best and that I have several different ways to approach a customized detailing package that is tailored to the way that they will be caring for the vehicle. I offer an example such as, a daily driver that is used as an appliance to get from A to B will be treated differently (for cost effectiveness reasons) than would a sports car daily driver that will be showed at the local "Soda Jerk Cruise Ins" and that some want absolute show car perfection and some just want a clean and shiny car. This helps the prospective client to understand that I actually do "Custom Work" and don't just toss the word "Custom" out there to sound good for advertizing and marketing purposes as so many advertizing businesses do. It tells them that I am a specialist in the car care industry and enables them to make an informed decision as to how they want to proceed.

I let them know that specialized detailing services have different price points and that the budget that they fall into will determine what products and/or processes I will use on their vehicle (I tell them that I can't use a "$50 dollar per bottle polish or compound" or a "$100 per 8 ounce jar" wax on a $175 detail) , then I give them a starting price (dependent on vehicle condition and inspection) then I give them an example of what a show car detail could cost.

If they are price shopping they normally bail out by the time I get through all of this (which is usually a 5 minute conversation) and sometimes their interest is piqued and they stay on for the rest of the conversation and make an appointment. If they demand a ball park price over the phone after listening to what I already said about needing to see the condition of the vehicle, I throw them the price of the "99%ers package" which is the Mothers Machine Glaze exterior with a thorough interior vacuum and wipedown. I am very clear with them that carpet stain removal and paint scratch removal is not included in this package.

At this point it is either yes or no. I have no problem directing price shoppers to "Triangle Car Wash" across town.

[Flash Gordon]

My GT500 has only taken me 3 weeks and a
pony keg in the Kegarator

To give you an accurate price I would need to see the vehicle,

Looking at a "dirty" vehicle tells me very little about how long it will take to correct the paint. Its not untill after the wash (2 hours later) that I'm able to tell what kind of condition the paint is "really" in. The truck I'm working on now had overspray all over the windows and on 3/4 of the paint. This took me an additional hour (I got lucky it wasn't worse) alone. Glad they didn't ask for a quote

The only thing I'll give a quote on is a 1 step polish, everything else they will just have to trust me or go see Mr Carwash like Roadrage said

Your prices are more then fair

you do a lot of mistakes.

1. you quote a car you never see , you have no idea what kind of job you get into.
2. poor customer service , add more details about what you charge for , what he gets for the money
3. be more confident in your work , will help you to sell strong
4. add an act of action when you price a project
5. dropping your price too much , make you even more cheap , so add value , not with price but with knowledge
6. sometimes the client can`t afford your service , live with it
7. if you think the client can be a long term than drop the price or keep the price but add some extra work/service
8. i never beg for a job , "let me know if you are interested", you can say " let me know what works for you" , he contact you already so he is interested.
9. have a website that sells your work , your skills , when a client call me he knows few things: i deliver results , i deal with expensive cars , others trust me and my work already, i am "professional"/"expert"
10. when the client request swirl free and he is in doubt , ask for a test spot to see what he pays for or to see the diferance.
11. when the clients fishing around , ask them straight what`s the budget and what they wanna have done , based of that you tell them what you can do for that , as an example they ask for swirl free but the budget is way low than what you charge for a full exterior , do only the paint if fits in your package , so no wheels , interior etc , you will have an happy client , you address the issue and you got the money for correction.
12. if i don`t trust a client , i don`t work for him , so go out there see the car and meet the owner, that way you give him chance to decide if you are capable to deliver results.
13. address any client as a business man not as a detailer

good luck ,
Cosmin

[PAR Detailing]

If you read any sales book out there all of them will tell you that if the person tries to speed up the sales process by jumping right to price they arent a customer anyways. If you give a price without a thorough explanation of what that price includes the potential customer has no idea what kind of value they are getting. I would recommend rehearsing and practicing your "sales pitch ". If anyone tries to cut the process short by trying to get the price before they know what they are getting for that price, politely tell them that you will get to that is just a second. If they won't wait they weren't a customer anyways.

[slickooz]

Subscribe for later. Sneaked back home real quick from work. LOL

[tach18k]

I'm no detailer and just an average joe, but I want my new car to look good as I drive 90 miles a day on it.When I shopped for tint, I called 12 dealers, vary in price from $125 to $450 depending on material, maker and warranty. I spent about $300. I would say nine windows, Pruis 2012 and non metalic material. Of the ones I called, no one ever called me back to follow up. would not have made a difference, the one I wanted could never get me a time to do the job. My point: No one tried to sell me their buisness. As far as those that call and ask for price, it is mostly price shoppers, looking for the cheapest $$. 3 step to him may mean wash, wax, vacumm. May need to ask his version of the process. But be there when they call, I got a lot of answering machines, no returned calls.

[Buggy Bath]

I usually will not give a quote until I have seen the car. I will say the price STARTS at.... so they at least know the minimum cost.

One way you could help yourself is to mention what they are actually getting with their purchase. Like all the prep work-wash, clay, etc. Let them know that what their purchasing doesnt just have a cosmetic effect but is actually protecting and restoring their investment.

Just hit the talking/selling points in the text so they are reminded why or learn why they want it done to begin with. I think using technical terms will help your cause. It helps customers feel more confident. Just be sure to KNOW what you are talking about. 'don't be a bullcrapper'. hahaha

[storm100]

you do a lot of mistakes.

1. you quote a car you never see , you have no idea what kind of job you get into.
2. poor customer service , add more details about what you charge for , what he gets for the money
3. be more confident in your work , will help you to sell strong
4. add an act of action when you price a project
5. dropping your price too much , make you even more cheap , so add value , not with price but with knowledge
6. sometimes the client can`t afford your service , live with it
7. if you think the client can be a long term than drop the price or keep the price but add some extra work/service
8. i never beg for a job , "let me know if you are interested", you can say " let me know what works for you" , he contact you already so he is interested.
9. have a website that sells your work , your skills , when a client call me he knows few things: i deliver results , i deal with expensive cars , others trust me and my work already, i am "professional"/"expert"
10. when the client request swirl free and he is in doubt , ask for a test spot to see what he pays for or to see the diferance.
11. when the clients fishing around , ask them straight what`s the budget and what they wanna have done , based of that you tell them what you can do for that , as an example they ask for swirl free but the budget is way low than what you charge for a full exterior , do only the paint if fits in your package , so no wheels , interior etc , you will have an happy client , you address the issue and you got the money for correction.
12. if i don`t trust a client , i don`t work for him , so go out there see the car and meet the owner, that way you give him chance to decide if you are capable to deliver results.
13. address any client as a business man not as a detailer

good luck ,
Cosmin