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I started my own mobile car detailing business back in 1986. Like many startup detailing businesses, I figured that if I had enough price points, I would surely gain a lot more new customers, simply because I would be meeting the needs of that many more people.
It did not take me very long to realize that I did not want to be associated with the other car care businesses who were also offering detailing services at extremely low prices. So very early on I decided to limit my services to doing only complete detailings. Of course, I still had to have somewhat different prices depending on the size of the vehicles.
During the start-up phase of my business my prices were based on small, mid-size and full-sized vehicles. A few years after I was in business I began to notice how the fast food restaurants had done away with small servings. In other words, if you went into a fast food restaurant and ordered small fries or a small drink, what you would get was their medium fries or a medium drink. Within a few years they had gone from small, medium and large sizes to medium, large and supersizes. No more small sizes. Basically, the portion size really did not change that much, however the perceived value from a customer standpoint changed drastically. Some people actually began to think they were now getting more for their money.
Okay, back to my thoughts on pricing. When I saw what the fast food places were doing with their pricing, I began to think it could also work to help simplify my own pricing strategy. So for more than a decade now, I have no real pricing for small cars. The small cars simply fall into the mid-size group. I also do the same with suv's and pick-up trucks. They are considered either mid-size or full-size. Hey, I guess you could say that detailing a HUMMER would fall into the supersize category.
So the next time you go into a fast food place, try ordering small fries or a small drink and see what happens. They will most likely look at you a bit strangely and think, 'hey, this guy is ten years too late'.
It did not take me very long to realize that I did not want to be associated with the other car care businesses who were also offering detailing services at extremely low prices. So very early on I decided to limit my services to doing only complete detailings. Of course, I still had to have somewhat different prices depending on the size of the vehicles.
During the start-up phase of my business my prices were based on small, mid-size and full-sized vehicles. A few years after I was in business I began to notice how the fast food restaurants had done away with small servings. In other words, if you went into a fast food restaurant and ordered small fries or a small drink, what you would get was their medium fries or a medium drink. Within a few years they had gone from small, medium and large sizes to medium, large and supersizes. No more small sizes. Basically, the portion size really did not change that much, however the perceived value from a customer standpoint changed drastically. Some people actually began to think they were now getting more for their money.
Okay, back to my thoughts on pricing. When I saw what the fast food places were doing with their pricing, I began to think it could also work to help simplify my own pricing strategy. So for more than a decade now, I have no real pricing for small cars. The small cars simply fall into the mid-size group. I also do the same with suv's and pick-up trucks. They are considered either mid-size or full-size. Hey, I guess you could say that detailing a HUMMER would fall into the supersize category.
So the next time you go into a fast food place, try ordering small fries or a small drink and see what happens. They will most likely look at you a bit strangely and think, 'hey, this guy is ten years too late'.
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