Dealership Coating Contract

FinishingTouchA

FinishingTouchA

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I finally made the jump in my business. I spent most of 2015 doing AIOs and interior details. My goal is 1-2 coatings a week this year. I do a lot of social media marketing and word of mouth on coatings is awesome, once someone gets their car coated they tell all their friends and coworkers.

The issue I always run into is the vehicle needs correction work and the price doubles. This got me thinking, how can I get the vehicle before the plastic wrap gets ripped off? Impossible, even if I spent tons of marketing money trying to teach customers to tell the dealer they don't want it washed, I may see one or two in my lifetime. There's got to be a way...

Bingo! Dealer contract! Yes, we all know dealerships are in it for the money.. so show them the money. Right now the main local dealership in my area installs xzilon sealant. From what I've heard the product costs $30 and is super easy to install and they charge $400-600 for it. How can I make my offer more attractive than this for the dealer? A few thoughts pop into my head: compare xzilon to OC Pro and GC in a spreadsheet to show them how real coatings are better than their crap(honestly this is the least of their concerns), develop a pricing structure than nets them more money, get inside the pants of the salespeople.

The great thing about designing a system like this is it solves another big issue, people don't like spending that kind of cash (1k-3k for a correction/coating) but will gladly opt in if it only adds $20-50 a month to their payment.

I can't be the only one who's thought about this. Anyone have any success getting dealerships on board with upselling coating jobs?
 
Now you got me thinking..... even so, most new cars require a little bit of correction from what I've noticed..
 
OTSDetail said:
Now you got me thinking..... even so, most new cars require a little bit of correction from what I've noticed..
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Agreed (if they've been washed), but if you can get to the vehicle before the plastic wrap comes off 9 times out of 10 you won't have to do any more correction than the primer polish. This would have to be in the contract (price void if dealer removes plastic wrap or washes vehicle).
 
The only way to make your offer more attractive to a dealer is to be cheaper than what they're currently doing. Somehow I doubt you'll be able to do that.

One very slight exception may be if you have a high-end dealer in your area. Ferrari,Lamborghini etc.
 
blkSRT said:
The only way to make your offer more attractive to a dealer is to be cheaper than what they're currently doing. Somehow I doubt you'll be able to do that.

One very slight exception may be if you have a high-end dealer in your area. Ferrari,Lamborghini etc.
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Outsourcing coatings would also mean lower overhead on new car prep. And let's say you charge the dealer $6-800 for OC Pro and they forward the deal on to the customer charging them $1500-2000...

This is exactly why I asked the question, I'm working on a contract that the dealer can't ignore, all you gotta do is make them see dollar signs :xyxthumbs:
 
I've thought this over a lot over the last year or so and haven't really come up with any great ideas. It's very true that a coating on a new car could be the best way to go, but the fact that (1) the dealer already has a really cheap product and (2) they don't care/don't want to spend on a better product done by a true professional.

I've tried brainstorming a bunch on how to make this work and really the only thing I could think of is if you were able to find higher-end dealers that don't already have some sort of coating option for their customers.

Competing with a very low quality product for someone who really doesn't care about the quality is a really tough battle. I'm definitely interested to hear the discussion on how to go about this as if this code can be cracked it could be a game changer for any business willing to go through with the process involved.
 
FinishingTouchA said:
Outsourcing coatings would also mean lower overhead on new car prep. And let's say you charge the dealer $6-800 for OC Pro and they forward the deal on to the customer charging them $1500-2000...

This is exactly why I asked the question, I'm working on a contract that the dealer can't ignore, all you gotta do is make them see dollar signs :xyxthumbs:
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Do you think they'd be able to sell that option to their customers for that much of a higher price compared to what they're already offering? I guess it's worth a shot, maybe you're on to something...
 
FinishingTouchA said:
Outsourcing coatings would also mean lower overhead on new car prep. And let's say you charge the dealer $6-800 for OC Pro and they forward the deal on to the customer charging them $1500-2000...

This is exactly why I asked the question, I'm working on a contract that the dealer can't ignore, all you gotta do is make them see dollar signs :xyxthumbs:
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For me personally, I wouldn't want to deal with the certain warranty issues. The sales people pushing xzilon really sell you on the warranty and I can remember the crazy xzilon warranty claims that would come through the door when I worked at the local Mercedes dealership a long time ago.
 
jarred767 said:
Do you think they'd be able to sell that option to their customers for that much of a higher price compared to what they're already offering? I guess it's worth a shot, maybe you're on to something...
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I think the key is in the sales people. You've got to get them to truly believe in what they are selling. Though the major issue, I think, would be convincing the general manager.
 
Honestly, I'd be really happy if this thread started going off on another tangent. How does everyone here promote coatings?

I'd consider myself a hustle fanatic. I know word of mouth is the best form of advertising but just doing quality work and asking for referrals isn't enough for me. I love the challenge of getting new customers and growing my business. I don't just wait for things to happen, I make them happen. When I set the goal of 1 coating a week I started doing 2 a week (3 weeks in a row), now this week I don't have any coatings booked and it's bothering me haha.
 
FinishingTouchA said:
Honestly, I'd be really happy if this thread started going off on another tangent. How does everyone here promote coatings?

I'd consider myself a hustle fanatic. I know word of mouth is the best form of advertising but just doing quality work and asking for referrals isn't enough for me. I love the challenge of getting new customers and growing my business. I don't just wait for things to happen, I make them happen. When I set the goal of 1 coating a week I started doing 2 a week (3 weeks in a row), now this week I don't have any coatings booked and it's bothering me haha.
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Sounds like whatever you did for the last three weeks, should be repeated :) it seems like that helped to get your coating end of things really going. Were they new car prep or correction/coating jobs? I'd say if you found something that works, keep repeating it:dblthumb2:
 
jarred767 said:
Sounds like whatever you did for the last three weeks, should be repeated :) it seems like that helped to get your coating end of things really going. Were they new car prep or correction/coating jobs? I'd say if you found something that works, keep repeating it:dblthumb2:
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I think a lot of it had to do with people being done with holiday shopping and just getting paid etc. 4 of the 6 were people who had stopped by for information this fall and finally decided they were ready. The other 2 had just bought new vehicles and wanted them protected. 90% so far has been word of mouth and the fact that now I mention a coating to everyone with a vehicle newer than 3 years who wants the exterior done. I'm starting to have some success on Facebook with videos but I still feel I haven't even scratched the surface there (sooo much to learn). I keep telling people, if you aren't using Facebook for business you are missing out.

Now that I think about it maybe I just need to focus on one thing and make it work before jumping to other ideas. I guess that's the downside of having so many good ideas ;) :buffing:
 
Take your truck to the dealership (assuming it's coated) and light the hood on fire. Then buff off any residue and drop the microphone. Surely that gimmick will convince someone with pull at the Stealership.

One other thought is to seek out dealerships that have smaller cars like Fiat, Smart cars, Mini Cooper...Less time to prep and coat so $600-800 is still a reasonable deal for you.
 
FinishingTouchA said:
Outsourcing coatings would also mean lower overhead on new car prep. And let's say you charge the dealer $6-800 for OC Pro and they forward the deal on to the customer charging them $1500-2000...

This is exactly why I asked the question, I'm working on a contract that the dealer can't ignore, all you gotta do is make them see dollar signs :xyxthumbs:
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They got the customer at a price point locked in at 600 to 800 .for you to come in and charged almost double they won't go for it cause a majority of people can't grasp that concept of waxing there car even though your applying a coating for that much money.The coating that the dealer sells is pretty good stuff,I used it on many cars even before this whole coating thing was available ,for 30 bucks they give you a nice size bottle that you can get 4 cars or more out of one bottle.That same product makes glass and interior coatings.Its not that easy to work with either.so hey be positive and sell your services and see what happens.you may have better luck in the service dept let them sell detail services and for every car you do you give a writer 10 spiff,I've done that for,six years and worked great.
 
jarred767 said:
Do you think they'd be able to sell that option to their customers for that much of a higher price compared to what they're already offering? I guess it's worth a shot, maybe you're on to something...
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Maybe if you tap into the service dept you may have a better shot of doing details,and forget the coating.at a nice size dealer on average per year you can do 10 to 15 cars a week and work out some kind of spiff plan with the writers.
 
FinishingTouchA said:
Outsourcing coatings would also mean lower overhead on new car prep. And let's say you charge the dealer $6-800 for OC Pro and they forward the deal on to the customer charging them $1500-2000...
Click to expand...

I don't mean any offense/disrespect, but your thinking process is backwards on this subject. In house protection services cost dealers very little. That includes labor, product and warranty costs. They then quintuple (or more) their price to the consumer.

Dealers will NEVER pay $6-800 for a protection product. And many times most will not be able to upsell it to $1500-2000 as finance companies will not roll this much into a bank loan.
You'd be much better off talking to Dr. G and look into what is necessary for becoming a OPT consultant to the dealer. You'll get a steady stream of income without really lifting a finger.
 
I always got the impression that a dealer coating was essentially an extended warranty or even added insurance for the finish. I have had this on two cars so far. I never requested it, it was just on the car. Whether I paid for it is tough to say, but I didn't conciously pay for it.

Anywayy, you pay $500 for the coating and they tell you that the finish is warranted for 5 years. They hand you a bottle of special wax that is supposed to 'renew' the coating. But what they don't tell you is the fine print: you have to use this wax several times a year, and you can come into the dealership to get more for free. Of course, if you never go get more, you are not using it, thus your warranty is invalid.

Heck I have perhaps applied the wax once to any of my cars, and decided to use something that works instead.

So to me, you are selling the wrong thing to the wrong customer: Dealers don't really want to sell a coating, they want to sell a warranty at a profit. They don't want a year worth of shiny, they want a cheap, nobody will file a claim insurance policy.

Instead, you should sell to car buyers, tell them how this works, and to instead refuse to pay the dealers coating and buy a real one from you.
 
I worked a different angle and while I don't get the cars until after the dealership has their way with them it hasn't been that bad. Minor correction if any.
I offered to coat the salesmen's car at a discount. I've done several from different dealerships and they all tell their customers about it. 4 or 5 coatings a month comes from them.
 
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