Customer asked for a quote on a hand wash and wax (Claying if needed) - how should I respond to the following?

Dan Tran

Dan Tran

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How should I reply to this email.

"Hi Dan,


I spoke to my brother he said that they clear coat the vehicles so much that I would not need to do anything to my new truck, so with that said I will do this in the spring please put me on a follow up."

Should I take the time to educate her or just let this go?


 
well your wash and wax should (normally) include the price of a clay so that will be included in the price either way
 
also you should quote during inspection and at that time educate the client on why you will preform whatever task is needed so she can understand why the factory paint work might not be up to snuff, also that's why I use analogy's like face washing so its easier for the majority of my female clients to understand
 
Well it's funny because I was at my insurance agency and my agent introductions me to this woman. Long story short she went to a place where four guys detailed her interior and wash the exterior and did an incomplete job for $100 today. In top of that she mentioned they LITERALLY waxed her car in 5 minutes.

Either way, I actually did explain her everything and I mentioned to her I will look at the car and then give a quote. Since she had my email, I got this message.

I at the time mentioned it would be a good move to put it on before the winter. Also explained IF over time she does CAR for the exterior, such a thing as clear coat failure can eventually take place.

She was also turned off about the fact I use meguiars. I explained I don't use big box store stuff etc.

::sigh::
 
when I tell clients I use megs for whatever use, im sure to say megs pro or megs detailer lines, so they know its not the wal mart special
 
I have been detailing cars for about 12 years. One family, who are customers, buy their cars brand new, they drive the cars from the dealership to my house. After I wash these new cars by hand, I treat the cars with Iron-X and I take pictures of the purple running down the car, I clay the cars and take pictures of the pollutants on the clay. People don't even ask anymore. One guy simply said, "Give it the new car treatment."
As I understand it, the freshly painted/clear coated cars still sit outside the factory where industrial pollution affects the clearcoat, the cars still get put on rail cars where rail-dust and other pollutants get impaled on the clearcoat, the cars get sprayed down and wiped with who knows what kind of towels while sitting in the dealership. The best thing a new car owner can do is get their new car to a detailer to get the paint properly washed, decontaminated, and waxed-sealed-coated.
 
there was a detailer here who posted pics of his "inventory" and it was all armor all and blue crystal items
 
Yes I would educate her. Shouldn't be too difficult, I'm sure she has seen cars with clear coat failure just didn't know what it was. Personally I would tell her it's a new truck so if she wants to wait til spring that would be ok. Then explain things to her. You'll gain her trust and hopefully she'll decide to go ahead and have work done. That way she won't feel like your feeding her a line of BS to get some work. Just my opinion
 
I found that out REAL fast. I mentioned another brand I use (from AG of course) and of course I had to re explain a pro line.
 
also if the "other guys" messed up the trick then you can explain how they can be properly corrected
 
Well put it this way, as I was at the insurance agency waiting for my real agent to do what he needed to do, I literally spent way more than 40 minutes listening to her and taking to her about car care. I have confidence in myself of what I told her.

Maybe I can politely just follow up with her in the spring time.
 
I think you need to get more work elsewhere and forget about this lady. Give your insurance agent a great job and tell him you will make sure any client he refers is 100% happy. If you have to work for people like her that got robbed by someone they are naturally suspicious already and harder to sell compared to recommendations from existing happy clients. Call your existing customers and let them know you are trying to book a few extra jobs from new clients to buy a special gift for your mom and they should be happy to help.
 
Yeah, I was turned off when I went into deep explanation on things. She said her was highly recommended by friends and family to go to the other detailer.

There is a reason why my prices are higher than most local detailers in town. It's to fish out the customers who want the world for nothing.

And besides, I felt she would trust her family's judgement over mine anyway even though she asked for my honest professional advise on something....

Thanks team, I'm moving on.

There are bigger fish out there to catch.
 
Her brother is obviously an expert....

I wouldn't even e-mail back. They're not your target customer. If they are satisfied with the service they have been receiving they won't see the value in paying more for what they perceive to be the same thing.

Spend the time targeting customers who are looking for a superior level of detailing and how to best sell/teach to that market.
 
First, do what she asks because the last thing you want to do is pit yourself against her brother.

That said, I would tell her that while her brother has a point to a degree, it really doesn't hold up when it comes to proper maintenance in terms of making sure the money she spends on a wax-related detail lasts much longer. I would ask her if she would be interested in seeing the rear deck lid clayed and waxed as a test spot to illustrate the point - maybe half of the hood or roof to illustrate it differently. If she has an SUV; even better as the rear gets dirtiest much faster due to the air flow. If she is open to spending money on proper detailing you will find out soon enough with this approach.
 
I definitely do agree with everything said here. Especially the point about pricing. I also employ pricing tactics to appeal to a certain market segment. There is very little point in trying to reason with and sell to certain people I have learned in my many months selling premium detailing products as well as detailing... The people who wash with dish soap and polish after every single wash refuse to change their ways, it seems your client in question is not different.

The most I've learned to do is acknowledge what they say if they won't listen to my opinion when I have experience with the actual thing after i start explaining. In this way, it saves you time and money and may have you feeling less annoyed as well.
 
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