How do you handle these types of people

I would have tried to determine if you were offering me a promotional price or if this is standard pricing. If I had concluded this is standard pricing I would have walked away from you.

I would find it difficult to believe a professional detailer providing quality workmanship would do that amount of work for that price.

As with any business there are some customers you just can't please and have to know how to gracefully walk away.

Then again you did say you were trying to drum up business.
 
This thread is pointless really. So many opinions based on so many factors. We could argue this forever. And still be far apart. Do the best you can and never stop moving up in the industry.
 
hernandez.art13 said:
Yeah APPROACHING or when APPROACHD by people with the whole $40 dollars an hour strategy hasn't really worked for me. Especially when you straight out tell them you charge $40 an hour. Something needs to get tweaked there... (Just saying) I'm going to say I charge $100 per hour just to see reactions lol.

I have had more success with "how much would you be looking to spend and what concerns you on your car?"

Like the red Datsun. He just said:

"The paint and I have $100"

Then I asked him, would you want any interior? He said no it's fine

Then I said well the paint will look polished and looking nice and shiny but the wheels and tires will not match if they are not detailed too and might as well and clean the outside windows too. Plus I'll look around the car and see what I can find on the car and maybe I'll add it as a bonus on your detail.

So for $125 (since your my neighbor) , I'll wash the paint, clay the paint, and polish the paint with my silver package paint detail.

Plus I'll go ahead and wipe down the outside windows, really clean the wheels and tires for you and see what I can find for you for $125 since we are always talking and your right next door to me.

So I said how does that sound? He thought about it and said ok sounds good.

So got the job, It took 3.5 hours plus I polished the exhaust tip of the car for him. Which took 3-5 min to do.

He then came to pick up the car, was extremely happy with it handed me the money. Then I became happy. :D

I then said to him, (in the Godfather voice) tell your friends and family and remember this was your price since your my neighbor and we are always talking.

I can help them out and take care of them too. Just like I did with you.

(Then the Godfather theme song came on)

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:iagree:
 
Just to clear the air to a bunch of posts i just read I did see the car. The guy sent me to a website that had a bunch of pictures of his car. I thought about posting the link here but then thought how bad would i look if this guy stumbled upon this site then sees his car and then sees me and every one bad mouthing him. I didnt see it in person which is why i said "sight unseen".

How i typically quote a person is like this. 80% of the people that call me dont know what the heck a detail is let alone what they want. So they ask "how much for a detail?" So i then begin my questions. Whats the year make model of the car, how is it normally washed, do you have any kids or animals, whats the color, how many miles yadda yadda i then tell them that i offer a bunch of different packages and it just depends on the level of perfection you desire. Typically they say "i just want it clean" or some will say "i want it looking new again" so then i tell them some of the packages i offer i think they might be interested in. After i give them a quote i tell them that "this is a sight unseen quote and is not an exact amount" I then tell the person that a final amount will be given before i touch their car so there are no surprises.

Now say i got out to the car and it was covered in dog hair, had hard water spots, break dust galore caked on to the rims, oil and dirt all over the entire engine, and anything else that would increase my time substantially i wouldnt do it for $160 either. Frankly I didnt want to do it for $160 but i justified it because he didnt want any polishing done to the paint and since my business is fairly new im in need of the exposure. On top of that I dont live in an area of the united states where people are willing to pay hundreds of dollars to get a basic detail on their car although there are some. My going rate is around 30 bucks an hour +/- and i figured with out polishing i could possibly do the car in 5-8 hours and the final price would have been given once i was able to see the car in person. If i was closer to 8 or 10 well then id price accordingly.

Perhaps i should have worded things a little differently. My purpose of this thread wasn't because im actually curious as to how to handle people like this it was more so to create a discussion and share stories.
 
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