Detailing: The overhype vs the truth!

Dr Oldz

Dr Oldz

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Well I’m sure ur asking what I mean here.........


So let’s face the truth..... we all enjoy the paint polishing process! We talk about the best compound, the best polish, how many hours we spent on burnishing the paint! Yay for us right!! The polisher we use is the best, the pads we use are the best! We brag on the forums who has or did the best buffing job...... blah blah blah. Nuba, sealant or ceramic coating! Yea it’s all macho and makes look great online!

But let’s face some reality in our industry......... I would say about 3% of the common clients can tell a difference between a one step and a 3 step! They see less scratches and swirls and shiny paint! BOOM happy!

Now what really makes a true Detailer is: door jambs spotless, clean fuel filler areas, spotless glass, silky feeling leather, a clean gauge cluster, clean cup holders, a clean smelling interior, clean pedals, a natural ungreasy dash, carpet stains vanished, and so on!

The point I’m making here is to not let your ego get ahead of you compared to what is important to the client! I recall doing a 30 hour correction and the compliment I got was..... “wow, I didn’t realize how bad my windows were till U cleaned them” or “wow my seats feel nice”

Communicate with your client and find out what their concerns are(and fufill them) and you can be very successful in this industry!
 
:iagree:

Well said Dr Oldz. :props:


Aaryn NZ. :dblthumb2:
 
This is the same sentiment I hear from watching detailing videos on YouTube. The kind of stuff we mention here is only important to enthusiasts. When you’re detailing for money gotta have certain priorities and stick with them to please the client.
 
Agree. Key to any success story is finding out what the customer is looking for and exceeding that expectation without going overboard. I'm all for having clients pay thousands for crazy stupid levels of detailing but that's not the market I target nor really care to have. I have zero interest in spending 30+ hrs working on a vehicle unless it's a show car with little to no road use.
 
Dr Oldz said:
But let’s face some reality in our industry......... I would say about 3% of the common clients can tell a difference between a one step and a 3 step! They see less scratches and swirls and shiny paint! BOOM happy!

Now what really makes a true Detailer is: door jambs spotless, clean fuel filler areas, spotless glass, silky feeling leather, a clean gauge cluster, clean cup holders, a clean smelling interior, clean pedals, a natural ungreasy dash, carpet stains vanished, and so on!
Click to expand...

Ding ding ding!

We have a winner!

Totally agree...good post!

Bill
 
It’s the little details that count. At the end of the day, our last pass was called “trim & detail”. That’s when the q-tips came out and all the little fine icing on the cake gets done.






Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
My favorite thing to do is the fuel filler area, but I never mention it. Then few days later I get a text saying how surprised they were that it could brand new and never thought to clean it, all for 2 min. of work.
 
My favorite—

Me: After 10 hours of work exterior only, “WHAT DO YOU THINK?”

Client: “Looks good, but how much do I owe ya?”

They never looked at the whole thing.

Yeah the money is good but it’s definitely saddening that they don’t view the results the way we do.

So true, ask questions to set realistic expectations for not just them, BUT for yourself as well.

GOOD POST!


Sent from my iPhone using Autogeekonline mobile app
 
I only had one weird experience. All my customers cover their mouths with big smiles and say “is that my car????” Like I’m on What Not to Wear or something. One woman said that while crying.

Ok so the one and only weird one. The gentleman was very discerning. During the VIF he was pointing stuff to me, down to the minute details.... Normally I’m the long winded OCD child during the VIF, but it was clear he was OCD too. Which is good!

We spent about 12 hrs on his car (yes there is a show and shine on this forum for that particular car… Not saying which one).

He gave me a check, jumped in the car and took off! Didn’t say a word.

Normally my clients spend about 30 minutes taking in the car and allow me to show them all the little things we did. Nope, he jumped in and took off. The check was good, it cleared no issues, so it wasn’t that...

Never heard from him again. Our opinion was that perhaps his wife was upset with the price.

It was weird....


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
It may sound like a cliche but I still do every car like it's my own. I don't tolerate dirty gas filler areas, polish or product in seams, less than clear interior dash or navi screens, streaky glass etc. Unfortunately I don't get many follow up comments a day or three later but every once in a while I get a text, email or call saying something like "geesh, you even cleaned the ____ area".

All of my clients spend some time at pickup wow'ing at the work I did but most don't see everything I did until they've lived with it again for a bit.

That's what brings 'em back!

To me, "detailing" means doing everything possible for the work requested. Let' say a customer simply wanted a wash and "wax". The interior will not be touched nor a full decon, cut and buff. The wash and wax I do is flawless and passes MY scrutiny and is the best they've ever had.
 
not a pro, so I'll go forward saying "people" instead of "clients"

Some people really do care about their paint. Enthusiasts and owners of nicer more expensive cars usually. I think it's even obvious. They spent a lot on a vette or sports car because they value the car, whereas even the owner of a 5 series bmw might just be an A to B driver.

But i'll agree that the interior is far more important for most people. That's what they see all the time. That's where they're spending their time. I will also admit I've never once cleaned my pedals though haha.
 
Dr Oldz said:
Well I’m sure ur asking what I mean here.........


So let’s face the truth..... we all enjoy the paint polishing process! We talk about the best compound, the best polish, how many hours we spent on burnishing the paint! Yay for us right!! The polisher we use is the best, the pads we use are the best! We brag on the forums who has or did the best buffing job...... blah blah blah. Nuba, sealant or ceramic coating! Yea it’s all macho and makes look great online!

But let’s face some reality in our industry......... I would say about 3% of the common clients can tell a difference between a one step and a 3 step! They see less scratches and swirls and shiny paint! BOOM happy!

Now what really makes a true Detailer is: door jambs spotless, clean fuel filler areas, spotless glass, silky feeling leather, a clean gauge cluster, clean cup holders, a clean smelling interior, clean pedals, a natural ungreasy dash, carpet stains vanished, and so on!

The point I’m making here is to not let your ego get ahead of you compared to what is important to the client! I recall doing a 30 hour correction and the compliment I got was..... “wow, I didn’t realize how bad my windows were till U cleaned them” or “wow my seats feel nice”

Communicate with your client and find out what their concerns are(and fufill them) and you can be very successful in this industry!
Click to expand...

I agree with you. I never try to sell 2 or 3 steps polishing to anyone. For 95% of people, a one step AIO will be night and day.
 
Paul A. said:
It may sound like a cliche but I still do every car like it's my own. I don't tolerate dirty gas filler areas, polish or product in seams, less than clear interior dash or navi screens, streaky glass etc. Unfortunately I don't get many follow up comments a day or three later but every once in a while I get a text, email or call saying something like "geesh, you even cleaned the ____ area".

All of my clients spend some time at pickup wow'ing at the work I did but most don't see everything I did until they've lived with it again for a bit.

That's what brings 'em back!

To me, "detailing" means doing everything possible for the work requested. Let' say a customer simply wanted a wash and "wax". The interior will not be touched nor a full decon, cut and buff. The wash and wax I do is flawless and passes MY scrutiny and is the best they've ever had.
Click to expand...

I am the same way. I do what the client asked me to do. Sometimes it's painful, like if they just want a basic interior and you know that doing a shampoo would make it 10 times better. But if the client is not paying me to do the work, I am not throwing in extra hours as freebies because of my desire to make everything perfect.
 
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