The learned skill of turning detailing work down by Mike Phillips

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The learned skill of turning detailing work down by Mike Phillips


A few years ago my good friend, pro detailer and like me, one of the few established people that teach real car detailing classes in the world, Renny Doyle, asked me and a few other guys to write a few sections of information for his book,


How to start a home-based Car Detailing Business

Mike_in_Rennys_Book_01.JPG





I ended up writing two sections,


Page 101 - What I wish I had known before I started my business

Page 124 & 125 - To do it all over again




The section that comes up the most in discussion is the section on To do it all over again, and it's the topic of this article here on the AutogeekOnline.net car detailing discussion forum that you're reading right now.


Here's the section on pages 124 and 125

Mike_in_Rennys_Book_02.JPG



And here's the key point,

Mike_in_Rennys_Book_03.JPG



And for Google...



The learned skill of turning down work

One of the biggest mistakes I made when I first started out was not charging enough for my work. I was eager for more customers to the point where I would end up charging less than what I knew I wanted for the job. In hindsight, I should have stated my price for the job and if a potential client balked at the price, I should have graciously told them that if my services were out of the range of their budget, I understood and moved on to my next job. The problem with undercutting yourself is that you are establishing your price range in the market. Once you do that, it's hard to raise your prices. So my advice to anyone starting out in this business is to determine what you're worth, set our prices and stick to them.


If you're just starting a detailing business and then do your research first and then determine what you're going to charge for your services. I'm going to write more on this topic in the near future. Until then, I've already created a very valuable resource to help you when selling yourself and your services to you customer. It's called the VIF and it's available in paper form and now as an App.


Mike Phillips VIF or Vehicle Inspection Form - Paper version


The form has a section for you to include your packages.

Packages?

Yes packages. You should have more than one package for potential customers because a one-size fits all approach doesn't work for you or your customers. Some people have a daily driver and all they want is to have it washed and waxed. Some people have something they care a little more about and want it to look good as they drive it around. Some people have a "toy", that is it's their idea of the perfect car and they want it to look GREAT!.

So you need a package for everyone. This is called,

Matching your services to your customer


This is something I teach in my car detailing classes along with about a million other things to ensure you'll be successful when you detail cars for money. I also have an article on this topic here,


A few tips on starting a part-time detailing business
Match your services to your customer


If you're reading this and you're going to start a car detailing business or if you're reading this and you already have a car detailing business, it's important to price your services fairly so that your customer gets great value for their dollar and you are rewarded fairly for your hard work, time and resources.


Stay tuned for the follow-up to this article...


:)
 
The first half of this I wish I knew years and years ago, it would have saved me a lot of time and effort, but like you mike I was eager for more clients. Can't wait for the follow up

Sent from my Pixel using Autogeekonline mobile app
 
Nice write-up Mike.

Looking forward to the next article.
 
Cruzscarwash said:
The first half of this I wish I knew years and years ago, it would have saved me a lot of time and effort, but like you mike I was eager for more clients.
Click to expand...



FrankS said:
Nice write-up Mike.
Click to expand...


Thanks Freddy and Frank... :dblthumb2:




Cruzscarwash said:
Can't wait for the follow up
Click to expand...


FrankS said:
Looking forward to the next article.
Click to expand...


The next article is an ongoing series of articles, a new project I'm working on.

Stay tuned...


:)
 
Renny's book is an excellent read and worth it's weight in gold for anybody who wants to charge money to detail someone else's car.
 
Great book and great advice from Renny and the many that wrote a few sections.

I certainly wish I could go back and change a few things I did in the beginning 30 years ago
 
Mike Phillips said:
Thanks Freddy and Frank... :dblthumb2:


The next article is an ongoing series of articles, a new project I'm working on.

Stay tuned...
Click to expand...

mike, do you ever sleep?

man I thought I had crazy days with emails and meetings and everything else but you never seem to stop


:dblthumb2:
 
I remember that section of the book. Because of it, I've turned down numerous jobs (and one of my co-workers still asks me almost weekly).

Mike, did you have an article on "knowing your customer" or something to that effect? That's something else that has helped me in the last two years.

Thanks for putting out great content. Looking forward to your next work (crossing my fingers for a "history of.." as well).

- Jesus
 
Some other great advice I got from a veteran detailer when I got into this like this was "if a customer wants to haggle/negotiate price, just turn and walk away". I didn't heed that advice once and negotiated the price and that turned out to be the most annoying customer I've ever had. Set your price and stick to it. If someone wants a cheaper price send them down the road to the detailer that does a cheaper job.
 
This is basically the same as my freelance work as a graphic artist. I learned the hard way that the worst customers are always the ones that get things cheap. They make constant changes and expect it done right away. That's because they don't see the real value of your time and work. And if you haggle, the client thinks you don't value it yourself.
 
I ordered this book a few months ago. I need to read it again. Great article/info Mike. Second time through I need to mark up and highlight the important info.
 
Awesome Mike. :props:

Some real value in this article & I look for ward to the follow on article too. Hmmm, new book in the works Mike?

I clearly remember ready this section in Renny's book, & it changed my approach for sure. Once apon a time turning work away was losing money but that's not really the case. I had a brief conversation with Mike not too long ago about me turning away work (a relatively special car) because the paint was too thin from being "buffed out" at the dealership, only to inflict rotary holograms & remove paint but then to do exactly the same thing to try & fix the damage they did in the first place. The car came into my shop for evaluation & when I took my paint thickness readings I was horrified at how little paint was left.

I could have taken the risk, made some money & certainly improve the damage inflicted but I have worked hard for my reputation & as a Member of the IDA, it goes against our code of conduct, not to mention - my conscience.

Now, I get paid well enough for my skill set & seeing that money drive away is annoying but in this case it was the best option. It may have cost ME a respray if I had burnt through the clear, chances are the clear would simply fail in the not so distant future, & worst of all - my reputation would suffer.

To update what happened to this vehicle (sorry for the high jack Mike) the dealership laughed at my claims of the paint being too thin - saying - "buffing wouldn't take that much paint off" & last I heard, the dealership were getting their guy to wet sand the paint to remove the holograms (that'll do it) & re buff it. :dunno:

This is such a valuble article Mike, & I bet you have so much more to share on this in the future.

Thank you Mike! :props:

Aaryn NZ.
 
Aaryn NZ said:
I clearly remember ready this section in Renny's book, & it changed my approach for sure.

Once apon a time turning work away was losing money but that's not really the case. I had a brief conversation with Mike not too long ago about me turning away work (a relatively special car) because the paint was too thin from being "buffed out" at the dealership, only to inflict rotary holograms & remove paint but then to do exactly the same thing to try & fix the damage they did in the first place.

The car came into my shop for evaluation & when I took my paint thickness readings I was horrified at how little paint was left.

I could have taken the risk, made some money & certainly improve the damage inflicted but I have worked hard for my reputation & as a Member of the IDA, it goes against our code of conduct, not to mention - my conscience.

Now, I get paid well enough for my skill set & seeing that money drive away is annoying but in this case it was the best option. It may have cost ME a respray if I had burnt through the clear, chances are the clear would simply fail in the not so distant future, & worst of all - my reputation would suffer.

To update what happened to this vehicle (sorry for the high jack Mike) the dealership laughed at my claims of the paint being too thin - saying - "buffing wouldn't take that much paint off" & last I heard, the dealership were getting their guy to wet sand the paint to remove the holograms (that'll do it) & re buff it. :dunno:
Click to expand...

Wow!

You couldn't pay me to wetsand a factory finish to remove holograms that did NOT have to be inflicted into the already thin paint.

My guess is, at some point their detailer turned their buffer over and saw the color of the paint on the buffing pad..... ouch...




Aaryn NZ said:
This is such a valuble article Mike, & I bet you have so much more to share on this in the future.

Aaryn NZ.
Click to expand...


Thanks Aaryn, I always appreciate your posts and the helpful information that you share.


:)
 
I JUST finished these pages in Mr. Doyle's book Sunday evening. So far, I am enjoying and learning a lot. This little side article was much appreciated.
 
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