There are many people in car detailing companies looking to make a quick buck with limited knowledge and supplies. Express Detailing is a term, which has been marketed and inevitably defined by fixed site car washes in their attempt to increase average per ticket transactions. By using express detailing as an “add-on” service for between $35.00-$60.00 they are able to up sell a $4.99 exterior wash direct mail coupon that a customer brings in to a $40.00- 70.00 charge. Their theory is sound and tends to work well for them. A car wash in and out wash which takes 10-15 minutes for vacuum, tunnel wash and dry and then another 15-20 minutes for a solvent polymer wax, with dash and tire dressing is consistent with their industry $/hour goals. Now car wash owners have gone one step further with The Blue Coral Wax Treatment.
This
is a wax put on while the car is still wet, thus eliminating the drying
step. The wax is rubbed on the wet car, dries to a haze and is wiped
off which dramatically increases efficiency and adds even greater
revenue. Thus by speeding up the process they cater even more to the new
consumers attitude. “I want it now”, the quicker the better, give me my
detail, I have things to do, I’m outta here. Similar customer attitudes
are found in the demands of e-commerce where you buy a product today
and it shows up at your doorstep next morning guaranteed by Fed EX or
Two day service by RPS, Airbourne, UPS, Emery Express, or Fed EX.
In
a world of co-branding, point of destination strategies and co-op
marketing, all industries are evolving and diversifying to capture
greater profits within a single brick and mortar location or as is
appearing more commonly on Internet web sites. In general much of the
new thinking has been customer driven due to lifestyle changes, low
unemployment, time factors and quality of life issues of the consumer.
If you look at amazon.com which now sells tapes, records and toys when
previously it was strictly a books sales site. It can quickly add new
revenue streams by offering it’s customer base more reasons to buy more
things. You to see the revolutionizing effect of this trend? We have
on-line search engines being paid million dollars from car companies and
furniture companies for their industries exclusive rights to e-commerce
directly on those sites. As Starbucks begins to sell housewares on
their web site, and Home Depots add McDonalds inside their stores and
Bank of Wal-Mart opening it’s own brand of bank within its 5
superstores; you have to think that ‘express detailing’ at car washes is
simply a natural progression. Many professional detailers would
disagree saying these types of services are different animals. Some
complain that fixed site car washes have ruined the true definition of
the term detailing. Yet if you look closely this is nothing more than
true capitalism in a free market system generating additional revenues
with existing resources.
Think about it for a minute. Professional
Detailing Centers often do glass repair, window tinting, pin-striping
and graphics, gold plating, ozone treatment, dent repair, color sanding,
upholstery repair, wood grain paneling, and even after market auto
accessories. These are all industries in their own right and these
industry leaders with their own definitions and trade publications and
accepted operational procedures complain about us offering similar
services as professional detailers. They say we are stealing their
customers and not providing the same quality workmanship as the
craftsmen do in those industries, which may or may not be true. For
example a person specializing in upholstery repair for twenty years can
obviously do a better quality job than a detailer on fabrics of almost
any type. You are affecting his bottom line with an inferior service
since you don’t have 20 years experience in upholstery repair
understanding the dynamics of thirty different types of fabric, dyes,
and manufacturers suggestions for preservation.
Should he be mad
at you for offering a greater array of service to you customers? No, the
upholstery craftsman will need to have his own set of value added
services and products he can offer to his customers such as removing and
replacing seats and headliners and using the highest grade fabrics and
stainless steel screws. You must have a specialty or an area of
expertise, but you must also understand and then cater to the needs and
more importantly the wants of your customer. If you don’t know their
wants and needs, ask your customers directly in an informal survey or
indirectly during conversations.
Saying that fixed site car washes
have destroyed the meaning of the word detailing may be true to some
extent. Yet one must ask, “Did McDonalds destroy the definition of a
hearty breakfast when it introduced the ‘Egg McMuffin’ in Santa Barbara,
CA?” Comparing ‘express detailing’ with a complete detailing service is
merely another apples and oranges issue. We as professional detailers
realize that there is no comparison. Why does this make so many of us
angry? It is all those years of perfection being thrown out the window?
But do not look at it that way, look at it as an incredible opportunity.
Channel the frustration and anger into energy and perseverance. The
fixed site car washes with their quick wax, ‘express detail’ have
popularized the phrase ‘detailing’ to an entirely new group of consumers
who normally might not be interested in your services prior to this
introduction. It is up to us to expand upon this and take advantage of
the fact that now the general workforce is buying detailing services.
Sure it’s inferior, but a need, a want and desire to spend money for
detailing has been formally introduced. This has opportunity written all
over it as Bud Abraham said in a speech he delivered at the ICA
(International Carwash Association) annual conference in Las Vegas.
Many
feel that this new spin on the old terminology of detailing has
adversely affected the professional detailers retail business. Fixed
detailers must adapt to this market challenge or loose a large
percentage of their retail detail volume and thus have their
profitability affected. By differentiating their service and educating
customers to the definition of a ‘Full Detail’ or ‘Complete Detailing
Service’ the professional detailer is able to cater to the ideal retail
customer in the middle to upper income classes. Generally members of
this market segment understand the difference and are aware of the value
of a real detail versus an express service. This high-end crowd can be
as much as 15-35% of the professional detailers retail clientele. Let’s
say that a Professional Detailer has 70% of its business in new and used
Car Dealerships and other fleet customers who occasionally need
detailing. Vehicles such as rent-a-cars, work vans, or sales cars for
corporations and 30% in individual retail, the higher per car profit of
all services offered. It is not good business sense for a Professional
Detailer to simply ignore that much of their customer base, and
therefore they must develop a strategy to help customers and clients
understand the difference between the express service and full detail.
Some
of the communication problems come into play when a customer is
convinced that the $50.00-$60.00 (sometimes as low as $35.00) he or she
paid for an express detail is the same service they will get when they
pay a $100.00+ complete detailing service. Even when the higher price
comes from a professional and reputable detailing establishment and not a
30 minute ‘express service’ from a car wash. Unfortunately unless
otherwise educated, perception becomes reality.
The problems are
compounded when you throw the mobile detailer into the loop. Usually
charging $60.00-$80.00 and then calling his detailing services a ‘full
detail’. This market player is fiercely competitive for price as he
attempts to establish his new business and has the advantage of on-site
service. Many of these new small companies will be in business for a
summer or two, or at most a couple of years. Many opt later to establish
fixed sites and raise their prices due to increased capital
expenditures such as a phone system, fixtures, electrical work, reclaim
devises and work benches and increased overhead or rent, electricity,
office supplies, water, and reclaim waste water removal. Established
mobile detailers who last over two years generally develop a larger
clientele and raise their prices simply because of supply and demand
economics. Their prices will usually be $100.00+ for a complete detail.
Many
also offer a monthly program including washes, detailing services and
monthly billing. Most mobile operations have not adopted the term
Express Detailing because they believe they do a better job than the car
washes with regard to quality. Many mobile operations will continue the
low price of their original full detail of $60.00-$80.00, but now use
the term ‘mini-detail’. This allows them to charge a full detail price
to new customers but still offer previous customers and those original
customers’ word of mouth referrals a low price without giving away
services. It also allows them to tap into the customers that may not be
able to afford a real detail but still wish to have detailing services
for ego reasons, being able to tell friends, “I had my car detailed.”
Why own a BMW if you can’t have it detailed. This appeals to the young
executive on his way up the ladder.
A few mobile detailers have
used the term ‘express detailing’, which adds even more confusion to the
issue. “What is an Express Detail anyway?” Most of the new mobile
detailers eventually go out of business or raise prices due to
environmental reclaim issues, competition, seasonal weather, lack proper
image, inferior learn as you go training or lack of industry knowledge.
Many of the new professional detailers in our industry come from the
mobile sector and they tend to price and deliver whatever they can sell
to the customer, using the word detail whenever they think it will
command a higher price. They will use the word detailing loosely to sell
the job.
I think it would be fair to say that the word ‘detail’
has been over used for marketing purposes at fixed site car washes and
has caused problems with the definition and mystique of professional
automobile detailing. It has caused havoc for those true professionals
who have worked hard and sacrificed to keep the word sacred for many
years and have prided themselves in the most excellent service.
Many
Old Time Detailing Professionals have been forced to address this
express detailing issue by adding express services to their menu of
services. This appeases the customer’s desire for quick and affordable
service between quarterly of semi-annual full detailing appointments.
Sometimes this cannibalizes full detailing services but if done
correctly it can attract new customers to your business ho will
eventually try the real thing. Once they do they will be hooked forever.
By letting your customer’s experience a full detailing service you will
build your complete detailing customer base.
See the chart
provided to us by Nicholas J. Vacco, a seasoned detailing veteran. These
are the things most full and complete detailing services include:
FULL DETAILING-INSPECTION CHECK-LIST
EXTERIOR:
_____ Make sure all wax is removed
_____ Check for wax dust
_____ Check emblems and crevices
_____ Check to see if \chrome has been polished
_____ Check grill and all front areas for bug removal
_____ Look at rocker panels for tar
_____ Check wheels for brake dust
_____ Check white walls
_____ Make sure tires are dressed evenly
_____ Check wheel wells
_____ Make sure wheel well lips are clean
_____ Check all bezels for wax removal and cleanliness
_____ Check windows for smears/paint overspray
_____ Look at mirrors for cleanliness
_____ Check headlights/tail lights for cleanliness
_____ Check moldings, weather striping, front air dams, bumper strips for dressing
_____ Make sure vinyl top is clean and conditioned
_____ Check wipers for overspray
INTERIOR:
_____ Make sure carpet is vacuumed
_____ Check under seats
_____ Check ash trays
_____ Check rear shelf
_____ Check carpet for stains and cleanliness
_____ Check seats for stains and cleanliness
_____ Look at door panes for cleanliness
_____ Check dash board; ac vents, gauges, radio knobs, steering column, levers, crevices
_____ Check all chrome including seat belt ends, door handles, step plates
_____ Make sure all vinyl and leather has been evenly dressed
_____ Check headliner, visors, sail panels
_____ Check dome light area
_____ Check seat belts
_____ Make sure all pedals are cleaned
_____ Check lower dash for dressing
_____ Check all door jambs for cleanliness and tar removal
_____ Check consoles and glove compartment for cleanliness
_____ Check windows; below inspection stickers, inside rear brake lights, window tips
_____ Check rear view mirror
_____ Check vanity mirrors
_____ Make sure mats are in trunk
_____ Check to see that personal items are placed in clear plastic bag
_____ Check for plastic drivers seat cover
_____ Check for paper mats
_____ Be sure a hand-out flyer has been placed in car
——–
If a professional detailer will simply look past customer perception that “a detail is a detail” and educate them on the differences, then that professional will get the best of all worlds. By letting car washes introduce the idea and market to the consumers of the world, you will get free advertising. By car washes using the term detailing, even if it is out of context and even if they lower the once high standards in the minds of consumers, they still have opened the market ten fold. Now that this market is wide open and almost everyone has become in their own minds a detailing customer; it is up to the professional detailers to show them ‘a real detail’. It is up to us to expand our retail market mix, to expand that percentage of our business’ total sales.
Once the customer experiences the difference, they will see our point and know that an ‘express detail’ is merely a glorified wash with a hand wax, some extra dressings, and perhaps some carpet cleaning thrown in for good measure. It is hardly what professional detailers call a ‘complete and full detail’. Once your customer has become accustomed to a real detail and received a service which has exceeded their wildest expectations, that person will be a walking, talking one-person sales army for you and every other professional detailer in our industry. So press on! Let’s make believer out of our retail clientele one customer at a time.
“Lance Winslow” – Online Think Tank forum board. If you have innovative thoughts and unique perspectives, come think with Lance; www.WorldThinkTank.net/. Lance is an online writer in retirement.
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