Cut time down??

[the other pc]

Originally posted by Big Ben
…alot of my clients are used car dealers. and as you all know there is no way in hell that used car dealers will pay $300.00 to get a car detailed unless you're detailing very high end vehicle…

Which is exactly why you must cut back on performance when you do these jobs. This customer doesn’t care if the final result is a Rolex or a Timex. They’re only paying for a Timex. Give them what they want and pay for. (Remember, dealers are the ones ruining finishes right and left. You only have to use the most basic good techniques to give them far more than they expect.)

Originally posted by Big Ben
…some of us have to work in blue colar areas where people will not pay $500.00 to get a full detail...

…most of my clients are regular Joes who wants their cars done once a year….

That’s why nobody opens a Rolls Royce dealership in their neighborhood. They only expect to pay for Buicks and they are quite happy to drive Buicks. If you can give them the cleanest, shiniest Buick on the block at a fair price they’ll come back again and again.

That’s exactly why Meguiar’s makes products like #66, #6 and the entire Detailer line. To give you the tools to do a superior job quickly and efficiently, giving you and your customers maximum value.


PC.

[RLdetail]

I know where you guys are coming from.

This was a high profile client that I hope to keep around and with this being one of the first few "paid jobs" I would like to have it rolling around with my name attached to it! So to me it was worth the time I put into it......I think!!!

I did a BMW today that took a lot less time due to lessons learned. I did use the leather cleaner/conditioner that I have and I also have the other 2 pictured.

I didn't grab any leather cleaner the last time and paid for it. Actually I also went with the assumption that it was not leather(wife's fault should have double checked myself!)

A couple more and I will be in the "detailer zone"! Meaning I'll have my time down to the minute as to how long it should take me to accomplish a certain task. I noticed that I was spending too much time washing as well. Not necessary when clay and polishing is to follow.

I have found that I only use the #83 on rough stuff and the #80 most of the time so switching to the #66 would be a big plus from a profit stand point.

I have a sample of #66 but have yet to try it. Maybe with the extra day off this weekend I'll give it a whirl on the in-law's car!

I'm also looking to use the rotary more as that seems to give great results in a far shorter period of time!! I need to get a better quality one that will stand up to repeated use as mine is on it's last leg.

The thought of one of these 2 day "classes" has crossed my mind but most seem to be product based instead of technique based. I don't mind using their products but what good does it do if they are more interested in hyping the product than teaching proper technique? What about what to do and what not to do when detailing? Aaaaaah forget it!

I can take a poke in the right direction as long as it's not just hooey from someone that THINKS they know what they're doing!

So thanks a bunch for all the input!!

[Carl]

I've learned a lot from these threads in the Professional Detailing Section.

It's hard for someone who is doing this part/half time trying to juggle something like school or another job. You can't devote yourself to it fully, including your time and money. You almost have to ease your way into stocking up on the more expensive equipment ($700 proper extractor, for example). Up until then, you need to make do with what you have. What's most important is experience. It'd be foolish to purchase thousands and thousands of dollars in equipment, supplies, insurance, etc. without having any experience to base this business on. IMO this is one situation where you may need to start slow, part time, perhaps not providing the absolute perfection that'd you like to achieve, and once you're experienced with these things you'll have enough know-how and profit to move up to equipment that will help you speed up the process and do even better work.

Personally, I've been at this for just short of a year and I finally feel that I'm getting up to the level where I could almost do this as a legitimate job. My next step will be purchasing insurance and an extractor. The past period of time was more of a prototype and test pilot for this job to see if I could do it, enjoyed doing it, and to gain experience. Over the past months I've streamlined my process/products to the point where I almost feel that it's as fast as I'm going to be still maintaining this quality level, a level to which I'm satisfied, and 98% of the time if I'M satifsfied, the customer will definitely be.

It takes me 6-8 hours for a "full" detail, minus engine (which I don't want to get into). The customer needs to be comfortable with this, because I already am, and also that it will cost them x amount to achieve what I want to do. This business of mine does not need to support a family so I can pretty much turn down minivans and trashed cars.