Stuck doing basic washes!!!

jgibson2980

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Like the title says I am stuck always doing basic washes . These consest of wash, wheels ,windows in and out ,vacuuming ,and tire shine . I do these all the time . Dont get me wronge its fine sometimes when i have alot of vehicles at one spot . And i do get some hand waxes and full detailes here and there . But it seem so hard to get up sells . I mean people just seem to want the dust knocked off and a fairly clean interior more than any other service i offer . Do any of you have any advise to give to get out of the grunt work . ?

Sent from my SPH-L710 using AG Online
 
If you don't mind me asking... what are you charging for your services? The only reason I ask is because I think there is a fine line in pricing that you need to find (if you want to step up to higher end, more advanced work) that will discourage the average "Joe Car Owner" from asking you to wash his car for him and attract more car enthusiasts to your services. I fully believe in the logic that if your prices are too low, people may have a hard time trusting you with their car, which is why you may be picking up some lower end/grunt type work.


Also, it is all about who you are marketing to. If you market to the general population of car owners, typically most of the responses you get are from people who are either unable or not interested in taking care of the car themselves, so they just want it to look "clean".

I, for instance, only market to local car clubs and car forums because these are people that are truly passionate about their vehicles and see them not only as a means to get from one place to another, but as a hobby and a true piece of art (for the most part). These people are the ones that are more likely to take your advice to heart when you show them the proper washing techniques and point out paint defects to them such as swirls and scratches. They are more likely to want these defects removed from their beloved car and are typically more willing to pay for your services! The vast majority of the work I do is paint correction because that is what I display on my site and that is what I talk to people about. If you can show them what is wrong with their car and then show them how it can look when you are done, you'll have no problem picking up some more in-depth work.

Good luck!
 
If you don't mind me asking... what are you charging for your services? The only reason I ask is because I think there is a fine line in pricing that you need to find (if you want to step up to higher end, more advanced work) that will discourage the average "Joe Car Owner" from asking you to wash his car for him and attract more car enthusiasts to your services. I fully believe in the logic that if your prices are too low, people may have a hard time trusting you with their car, which is why you may be picking up some lower end/grunt type work.


Also, it is all about who you are marketing to. If you market to the general population of car owners, typically most of the responses you get are from people who are either unable or not interested in taking care of the car themselves, so they just want it to look "clean".

I, for instance, only market to local car clubs and car forums because these are people that are truly passionate about their vehicles and see them not only as a means to get from one place to another, but as a hobby and a true piece of art (for the most part). These people are the ones that are more likely to take your advice to heart when you show them the proper washing techniques and point out paint defects to them such as swirls and scratches. They are more likely to want these defects removed from their beloved car and are typically more willing to pay for your services! The vast majority of the work I do is paint correction because that is what I display on my site and that is what I talk to people about. If you can show them what is wrong with their car and then show them how it can look when you are done, you'll have no problem picking up some more in-depth work.

Good luck!

Wow Zach thats some great information. :xyxthumbs:
 
Like the title says I am stuck always doing basic washes . These consest of wash, wheels ,windows in and out ,vacuuming ,and tire shine . I do these all the time . Dont get me wronge its fine sometimes when i have alot of vehicles at one spot . And i do get some hand waxes and full detailes here and there . But it seem so hard to get up sells . I mean people just seem to want the dust knocked off and a fairly clean interior more than any other service i offer . Do any of you have any advise to give to get out of the grunt work . ?

Sent from my SPH-L710 using AG Online

If you let ppl start doing washes only, 95% of them will never do anything else but that (and I can hardly blame them)

Your basic package should include everything you are already doing + a spray wax
You should be spending right around 2 hours per car and charging $90-$110. You should also have a minumum of 2-3 cars per location (or have them drop them off at your place)

Driving all over town for just 1 wash at a time will put you out of business! :nomore:
 
Yep,

If you want to produce show car finishes, then you have to get to know/meet car enthusiasts/hobbyist who want "show car finishes"

Like attracts Like

Get to know and meet those people. IMO
 
Yep,

If you want to produce show car finishes, then you have to get to know/meet car enthusiasts/hobbyist who want "show car finishes"

Like attracts Like

Get to know and meet those people. IMO

Really? Everytime I go to a car show I see a bunch of geezers dragging dirty california dusters across their "dusty-swirled-out" $20,000 paint jobs. Tring to educate them has proven to be useless

Now I just look at them and laugh to myself. Watching this stuff is definitly worth the price of admission IMO
 
Luckily the majority of the car scene in my area is younger and more open to change... unlike the "bunch of geezers dragging dirty california dusters across their "dusty-swirled-out" $20,000 paint jobs" that you get the privilege of witnessing haha
 
Really? Everytime I go to a car show I see a bunch of geezers dragging dirty california dusters across their "dusty-swirled-out" $20,000 paint jobs. Tring to educate them has proven to be useless

Now I just look at them and laugh to myself. Watching this stuff is definitly worth the price of admission IMO

Haha yep, yep (have seen this too lol)

But out of 1 million who use a car duster on there paint. You might find 1 who doesn't do this. (Because he knows why not to)

That is when you go up to them an start the conversation.
 
If you don't want to do grunt work, then don't. Market yourself for full details only and not just car washes. If there's no work for you, then do a car wash package with a light polish/aio and interior included and raise the price a bit. Personally, there's no way I would just wash cars.
 
Luckily the majority of the car scene in my area is younger and more open to change... unlike the "bunch of geezers dragging dirty california dusters across their "dusty-swirled-out" $20,000 paint jobs" that you get the privilege of witnessing haha

Amen to that!

Some of my best customers fall in the age range of 29-40. They appreciate quality work and don't mind paying the price

I'm going to start marketing to teenagers next. They should really be BIG SPENDERS! :p



Haha yep, yep (have seen this too lol)

But out of 1 million who use a car duster on there paint. You might find 1 who doesn't do this. (Because he knows why not to)

That is when you go up to them an start the conversation.

I don't like hustling for business that way. I don't like strangers coming up to me doing that, so I don't do it to others

God will make it happen if it's destined to be :)
 
I hear you Flash Gordon, yeah I didn't mean, to go up to them as a sales man. Just start a conversation to get to know them.

i.e. when I went to my last car show, I met a bunch of them and saw a classic car with fading single stage paint (oxidation I think is what it's called)

I told them (if they want) they can go get some Meg's #7 and to bring out the shine then some Meg's Ultimate wax.

These are not Detailer's, just car hobbyist so if I would have said "Collinite 476s" they would have just been "huh...?" Lol

So I told them they could buy all that stuff at Pep Boys and do it by hand.

They said "thank you" I said your welcome and walked away.

Was making friends not sales
 
Good point you have there Art. I too was in the same predicament a couple months ago. I was doing a bunch of basic washes and was tired of it, I changed my packages and totally got rid of my basic washes, yeah I lost some businesses but now I'm happy with doing full details and paint corrections.
 
You should check out all the real estate offices in your area they are always looking for full details because they drive there clients... And whats good is you could get multiple cars at one location
 
My friend hit me up, wanting me to properly wash a car.

I said, I don't wash cars for money but I will show/train you how to wash a car for free...just let me know. They said "wow thank you"

Also showed them the Meg's 5 steps on my phone, when it got to the polishing part I said "that's what I do by machine not hand" lol
 
If you go to the old school cars most guys take care of their cars them self. You have to go to like corvette,viper and sports cars shows to get people for paint correction jobs. Thats how I got 15 new customer at a corvette club did one paint correction.
 
If you go to the old school cars most guys take care of their cars them self. You have to go to like corvette,viper and sports cars shows to get people for paint correction jobs. Thats how I got 15 new customer at a corvette club did one paint correction.

Thank You Pureshine did not think about this, but now it makes so much sense
 
Quick tip.
Know any beauty salon owners in Star City/Salem?
Captive audience that seek what you deliver. Best word of mouth/referral cental.
Usually have nice cars and expendable cash.
Great location for mobile.
Great location for maint. customers.
 
Thank You Pureshine did not think about this, but now it makes so much sense

Ya worked for me and I live in a high end neighborhood too which helps a lot. I just go up to people at shows and we talk about their cars for awhile. Then let them know I detail cars for a living and I invite them to come by my shop or take a look at my website to see my work.
 
Ya worked for me and I live in a high end neighborhood too which helps a lot. I just go up to people at shows and we talk about their cars for awhile. Then let them know I detail cars for a living and I invite them to come by my shop or take a look at my website to see my work.

Yeah you have a whole setup (congrats btw)

Thanks to AG I have been making money.

Prior to AG I worked for pennies but not anymore...
 
Yeah you have a whole setup (congrats btw)

Thanks to AG I have been making money.

Prior to AG I worked for pennies but not anymore...

Thank you:) AGO is a great place people are very help I have learned a lot here to.
 
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