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This post initially originated from a previous email I sent. There was a lot of positive feedback from it so I decided to turn it into a blog post for others to read 🙂
Let’s dive in…
A frequent question I get is, “How long does it take you to complete XYZ?”
Whether that be cleaning leather seats, cleaning the engine bay, or polishing paint, people want to know how your methods compare to theirs..
Although I document plenty of my details on my YouTube channel, I don’t really provide a thorough breakdown of everything we do.
I’ll do my best to make these numbers accurate, but I am primarily working off of memory. So bare with me 🙂
Both of these vehicles were at the same location and there were two of us working. So most of this process was done simultaneously.
Oh, and I’m using my Samsung S7 for photos. So please excuse the low quality photos, ha.
Here’s the breakdown
Vehicle #1: Cadillac Escalade Service #1: One-step exterior polish
Clean wheels and tires (15 mins)
Wash car (10 mins)
Clay car (15 mins)
Dry car (10 mins)
Polish paint (2 hours)
Apply/remove wax (15 mins)
Dress tires (5 minutes)
Clean door jambs (15 mins)
Clean exterior/interior glass (15 mins)
Service #2: Interior maintenance cleaning
Wipe down interior (25 mins)
Vacuum (25 mins)
Price: $290 Budgeted time: 9am to 12:30pm (3.5 hours) Actual time: 9am to 1:30pm (4.5 hours)
I know a lot of people struggle with prepping the vehicle when it comes to paint polishing. We finished the entire prepping process within an hour.
Of course, this comes with the service you’re performing. This was just a one-step polish to give some increased gloss to the paint. We weren’t going for a showroom finish.
ALSO, we were moving with purpose on this detail the entire time. We knew this was going to be a lot of work and if we didn’t move faster, we’d be there much longer.
So if you’re surprised that we wash completed the prepping phase in an hour, it probably means you’re taking way too long on your prep 🙂
This goes back to have a clear understanding of what the customer wants and what you’re going to deliver.
Don’t try and perform a show car level detail when the customer is only actually paying for something far less than that.
Vehicle #2: BMW M5 Service #1: Interior maintenance cleaning
Wipe down interior (15 mins)
Vacuum (10 mins)
Service #2: Exterior maintenance wash
Clean wheels and tires (15 mins)
Wash/dry car (15 mins)
Price: $30 Budgeted time: 1pm to 2pm (1 hour) Actual time: 1:30pm to 2:30pm 1-hour
It actually took longer than expected just because the car was parking in the garage and we could only get to half the vehicle while we worked on the Escalade.
I would have charged an additional $20 for the interior, but since it wasn’t that bad, I didn’t charge him more (and because we expect to get more work from him later).
I’d love to hear your thoughts on this! Leave them in the comments below.
If I asked you to write down a list of things you want to do in your life, what would you write down?
It probably doesn’t take too much time for you to figure this one out.
You’ve thought about it several times:
Lose weight and get stronger Travel the world more Spend more time with family and friends Go skydiving Etc…
It’s no surprise if you have start a detailing business on there as well.
I think starting a business is something that crosses everyone’s mind at one point or another.
They think of a good idea, or they have some skill that someone says, “You can charge for that” and a little seed is planted in their head about a potential business.
Of course, the real differentiating factor between someone wanting to start a detailing business and someone actually starting a detailing business is taking action and making it happen (or at least giving it a shot).
Everyone would love to open their own business and work for themselves.
But as life goes, it doesn’t happen to everyone…
I asked this question on a recent video on my YouTube channel; what’s holding you back from starting your detailing business?
In this article, I’m going to cover:
Why your reasons excuses of not starting a business shouldn’t matter
What you need to do to make your first $100
Why we set limitations to ourselves
[bonus]BONUS: If you just want to download the 3 actionable steps to make your first $100, [link]click this link to download it[/link].[/bonus]
What’s Holding You Back?
If you take a look at the comments, you’ll see that everyone has different reasons excuses on why they haven’t started (or why they can’t start) their business:
Waiting on tools and products:
What is holding me back at the moment is a good hose reel for pressure hose. Currently researching about them. I have the Kranzle Hd7/122 but need a solution for the hose. Other than that just need to order a good quality polisher and I think I am set.
I have some basic products. I’ve received some requests from employees at a Resort and new car owners that I work with and have turned some jobs down because I don’t own a polisher or steamer which in turn have given me some discouragement. This has stalled me for the last 4 months.
You are so right that’s exactly what I’ve been doing just waiting and collecting stuff
I want to buy a generator but I’m just a paycheck away from my full-time job from purchasing one. what should I do?
I can guarantee you that a lot of times when we’re just waiting on “that one thing to buy”, it’s not really going to change much in our actions.
At least that’s what happened with me.
I kept on telling myself, “What I get XYZ, then I’ll be able to go full throttle!”
And once I did get “the next thing”, a couple days later, I was looking at other things to purchase. It’s a never ending cycle.
Because the real problem is the confidence you have in yourself. It has nothing to do with the next tool and product you need to buy.
This one is an easy fix. It’s all about improving. NO business, in the history of business, has ever started with what they have and not grown to something better.
So if all you can afford is a cheap XYZ tool/product, then so be it! In a couple months, you can upgrade to something better.
What might happen:
How do I be an official business? After do I just post to facebook? What’s the process from showing up to an appointment to quote the vehicle and then just get the keys to a corvette to wash it? Do they even give you the keys or do they just pull the car into the garage for you or do you still detail outside in the sun?
Only that’s holding me back is not getting customers. I’m a pretty good detailer and have a very convenient system. Still customers aren’t swarming in.
How is someone like me going to compete with others in my area that have more experience/equipment (and my full package is around 200$ avg while all competitors range from 250-700 for full packages)
It’s always good to prepare yourself. There’s no replacement for that. If you want to be successful, prepare yourself to be successful.
But that doesn’t mean you need to think about every wrong thing that can go wrong and then truly believe that they will go wrong.
The more you think of negative outcomes or results, the more likely you are to believe they’re true because that’s all you think about!
Emotions:
The only thing holding me back is the fear and anxiety of thinking about doing it
The only thing that stops me is I get nervous to go out and talk to people.
My confidence in detailing sucks. I know what I’m doing, just afraid of disappointing a customer.
You have to realize that you are the only want that makes these claims true. You are the only person that’s holding yourself back from taking action.
Is it true that you don’t have a van? Yes.
Is it true you get nervous when you’re about to take action? Yes.
Does that mean you can’t service customers until you get a van? NO.
Does that mean you have to allow those fake thoughts to stop you from taking action? NO.
If you show up to a customer’s location without a van, will the customer refuse you to service their vehicle? 99.9% sure they won’t.
Are you going to be nervous talking to customers for the first time? Yes. Will you say something wrong, talk to fast, and perhaps underquote yourself? You bet.
But the more frequent you are, the better you’ll get. The faster you are to being more frequent, the faster you’ll get better at it.
Where Do These Reasons Excuses Come From?
Why are there so many things holding us back from doing what we want?
Because the truth is, this isn’t only about starting a business. These are limitations that we set on our lives as a whole.
If you’re being held back to start a business because XYZ reason excuse, then there’s probably dozens of other things you’ve wanted to do but haven’t.
All because you’re telling yourself that it’s not possible. Or that can’t do it at this time until you <insert excuse here>.
Where are you getting your information? What or who has influenced you in your life to develop this train of thought?
Did you take business advice from someone that’s never actually started his or her own business?
You can talk to a Director of Operations that oversees a 2+ million dollar per year HVAC Company about running a business, but they are only experienced in running an already established company.
They may have no clue on what it takes to start a business from zero.
Or it could be you have a mentor that has a successful business, but the advice he/she is giving you is from the 1980s, when they first started.
If that person hasn’t evolved with technology and times, then their advice may not be the best fit for you to use in the times we’re in.
These are very generic, but you get the point.
Just because you think you’re talking to someone that’s successful, or has an idea of what they’re doing in business, doesn’t necessarily mean their advice is good for you at this moment.
[bonus]BONUS: If you just want to download the 3 actionable steps to make your first $100, [link]click this link to download it[/link].[/bonus]
Do This To Get Your First $100
If you’re interested in starting your business, you have to focus on gaining traction FAST.
All that excitement and motivation has to be translated to action and revenue (money in your pocket).
Why?
By taking action and getting a few customers (and money in your pocket), it’s going to get the ball rolling. It’s going to give you the confidence to push forward to bigger goals.
And this is where the reasons excuses start to really kick in on why you can’t start…
I would start but I just need to get…
I’ll start next week once my…
After I get my package in the mail, I can…
Stop that. Let’s get your first $100 in your pocket.
You have a few methods to reach this goal:
You can get 10 people to pay you $10
You can get 5 people to pay you $20
You can get 2 people to pay you $50
The services you offer going to be basis services. You’re don’t need to spend thousands of dollars or wait days/weeks to get all your items:
Basic wash
Basic wash and interior wipe down
Follow these 3 steps to make your first $100:
Step #1: Make a list of 5 to 10 family members, friends, or co-workers
You can go through your phone contact list.
You can go through your social media accounts like Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram, etc…
You can go through your past 30 days of emails to see who you’ve interacted with.
Plenty of options to choose from!
Step #2: Contact them via text, phone call, email, social media or in person
Now that you have your list, you’re going to manually reach out to every single one of those people do 2 things:
Explain to them you just started your business
Ask for the sell (at a reduced price, if you want)
Step #3: Plug-n-play templates for you to use (tweak as you see fit)
Hi NAME! Congrats on winning this past weekend :). I just started my car detailing business. I’m wondering if I can give your car a thorough wash for $PRICE? I can come to you and get it taken care of. Let me know!
Yooo, NAME! I just started my own auto detailing business. Since I’m brand new, I’m trying to get my first initial wave of customers. Can I wash your car and do a basic cleaning on the inside? My regular prices will be $PRICE, but since I’m just starting off, I’m only charging $PRICE. I can come to you and everything. Let me know 🙂
You don’t need to overthink this part. Once you send this message, the other person will want more details, ask a few questions, and then you’re good to go.
You don’t need to change into this corporate salesman that speak in jargon tone just because you started your own business. Keep it casual and friendly, especially if you’re talking relatives or friends.
If you didn’t know, starting a business is hard work. Especially when you’re starting from scratch and with limited resources.
You probably go door-to-door, walk parking lots to leave business cards in cars, or do some online marketing to generate leads and sales.
In the beginning months, you fight for every detail you can get. It’s a lot of hard work. No doubt about it.
But that’s only a quarter of the battle (if that). There’s SO much you have to do in order to be successful.
Not only do you have to know how to detail, not only do you have to know how to market your services, but you also need to know how to talk to prospects and sell your services.
You work SO hard to get your phone to ring, you need to make sure you’re performing at your best when you’re on the phone to increase the chances of you closing the deal.
In this article, I’m going cover a few things:
How to handle incoming calls from potential customers
Why you shouldn’t wing every phone call
The importance of sales scripts (plus a template for you to download)
[bonus]BONUS: Want to skip the article and download the goodies? You can [link]download the two versions of the sales script here[/link]. Put it to use and land more customers![/bonus]
Answering the phone… How hard can it be?
Have you ever called a business and someone answered with the most unenergetic and lazy tone?
You’re curious about what they offer, you want more information, and you want to be helped by a friendly staff member. But the person on the phone clearly doesn’t care and is giving you half-ass answers.
DO NOT BE THAT PERSON.
Believe it or not, you can HEAR the attitude the person is in by the way they talk.
You will not believe how poorly some businesses answer the phone. Whether they know it or not, it is hindering their results.
Realize this…
Out of the dozens and dozens of business that the prospect can call from, they decided to call YOU.
It could have been because they saw your van, they passed by your shop, they searched for you online, they saw your ad, you were recommended by a friend, etc…
But you stood out amongst the crows and they decided to give you a chance to see what you have to offer.
Do not underestimate that.
Every phone call you get, you have to go into it with the best attitude. You have to imagine that person is in need of help and you are there to provide as much information as possible since you hold the solution to their need.
It doesn’t matter how they talk or what they’re inquiring about, you job is to give them as much information as needed and to book them in your calendar.
Do you wing it on every phone call (hint, you need a sales script)?
When a prospect calls you, you are not customer service. You are in sales. You are attempting to convince the other person on the phone why they should choose your business and your services instead of the competition.
What if you’re the fourth detailer they’ve called? What if they’re interested in trying someone else than their usual guy?
One of the biggest and most common mistakes I see in just about ALL industries (not just detailers), is trying to wing it on every call.
That’s a mistake.
Here are are two reasons why you shouldn’t do that on every phone call:
Reason #1: It’s easier to miss details when you’re winging it
Let me ask you, before you cut the lawn, drive to a restaurant, or make breakfast, do you go think about what you’re going to do before you actually do it?
Of course! It’s common sense.
You’re not going to just crank the lawnmower and get the mowing.
Maybe you’ll think about the pattern you’re going to cut it, the problematic areas, etc…
It’s the same concept when you get on a sales call.
If you simply pick up the phone with no structure, you’re going to go with the flow and get lost in the conversation. It’s very easy to forget small details.
Reason #2: It’s difficult to refine your methods
Have you ever heard the phrase, “you can’t manage what you can’t measure.”
This directly applies to your sales process.
How can you improve your sales if you have no type of baseline?
Do you need to ask different questions? Do you need to explain your services differently? What specific questions do you need to ask?
If you have a sales script, you’ll be able to look at your process objectively and improve as time goes by.
Keep this in mind, I don’t mean you need sales script and read it like a robot with no emotion. The sales script isn’t there to be read one-by-word.
It’s simply there to guide you through the conversation. It’s going to help you maintain discipline throughout the conversation to get and give the necessary information.
Just like anything else in life, the more you practice, the better you’re going to get at it.
More on this later…
[bonus]BONUS: Want to skip the article and download the goodies? You can [link]download the two versions of the sales script here[/link]. Put it to use and land more customers![/bonus]
Use this script as a framework
Incoming calls are referred to as inbound calls. These are prospects calling your business (pretty straightforward).
Remember, this is a guideline for you to follow. You can change any part of the script as you see fit.
<start the script>
Let’s start off with the FIRST SENTENCE to answer the phone. I hear this way too many times when someone answers the phone;
“This is Oscar”
…uhh.. okay?
A few ways to answer the phone:
This is YOUR-NAME with BUSINESS-NAME, how can I help you?
Thank you for calling BUSINESS-NAME, this is YOUR-NAME how may I help you?
Then the prospect replies with their problem/needs:
Yes, I’m looking for someone to detail my car. The interior needs a good shampoo. How much do you charge?
Note: A lot of times, the prospect will give you so much unnecessary information. They’ll give you the backstory to how the car got dirty, like they went out with their friend last night to a club for their cousin’s birthday and someone accidentally spilled liquor on the seats because they were kind of drunk.
It’s your job to agree, listen, and be interested.
It’s your turn to gather the important information:
Sure thing! And what’s your name? Thank you Alex. So what type of car is this and what year is it? Thanks. And as far as cleaning the interior, are you focused on a particular area or are you looking to get the entire interior cleaned to the best condition possible? What do you have in mind?
This is where you identify what the prospect is really looking for:
Well it’s been awhile since I’ve cleaned my interior. It’s not bad, but is has been awhile since I’ve cleaned it. I’m also driving out of town this weekend with the family and I don’t want to go in a dirty car.
I could do it myself, but I know I’ll miss a lot of spots so I’d rather have someone that knows what they’re doing work on the car. How much do you charge to clean the inside?
Note: Don’t take their word for the condition of the vehicle. You’ll hear things like, “it’s not that bad”, “I keep up with it myself”, “it just needs a simple cleaning”, etc… Don’t believe any of it. Their opinion and perspective on what a clean and dirty car is is going to be completely different than your opinion and perspective.
Explain your services and ask for the close (appointment):
Excellent. So it sounds like our Premium Interior Detail will fit what you’re looking for. This is where we clean your entire interior from top to bottom, front to rear, to the best condition possible.
Since I haven’t personally seen the vehicle and don’t know the true condition, I can only give you a price range. For the size of your vehicle, it should be between $LOW-RANGE to $HIGH-RANGE and it should take between LOW-HOURS to HIGH-HOURS to complete the detail.
Is that something you’re interested in? I have an opening this DAY at TIME, does that work for you?
Note: This is where you’ll go back and forth with the prospect. They’ll ask you more questions about your services and how it all works. Answers the questions thoroughly and with confidence to enforce that you’re the expert.
<end the script>
If you booked them, congrats!
If you didn’t book them, you need to follow up with them in a day, a few days, next week, or next month.
Just because they didn’t book with you on the first call doesn’t mean they’re not going to buy from you.
Maybe they’re still shopping around, they’ll need a detailer next month, maybe they’re saving up, etc…
If you don’t book the detail, ALWAYS ask when you can follow up with them. Tomorrow? In 2 days? Next week?
Even if they say they’ll call you back (which 90% of the time they won’t), send them a text or give them a call to touch basis with them.
How to use the sales script
As I’ve stated, use the script as a guideline. Create scripts around the one above. It’s not going to be perfect. You’re going to tweak it as you get more calls under your belt.
Two key things you need to do with the script:
Print the script
Laminate it
These two things are crucial. You can carry it around in your van or tape it to a wall in your shop. It’s going to be easily accessible and durable!
Now here’s a list of the 6 things to keep in mind when using the script:
#1: Don’t read off of it like a robot. Be natural with it
This script isn’t there to turn you into a robot. Do not turn into a corporate salesman that uses industry jargon words.
Write and use the script as if you were talking to a friend- in plain english.
Role play with others, read it in front of the mirror, record yourself, and read it OUT LOUD. There’s a huge difference when you read it in your head and when you speak it out loud.
#2: You’ll use the script a lot in the beginning. As time goes, you’ll use it less
When you get on your first dozen or so calls, you’ll be a bit nervous- especially if you’re not used to talking to prospects and selling.
You don’t want to mess up and let the prospect slip on by, so you’ll reference the script a lot. But as you get more calls (and as you practice on your own), you’ll see yourself using it less and less
#3: You don’t need to memorize the script word-by-word
The point of the script is to give you a strong structure to follow. Do you have to ask the questions in the exact same order as it’s written on the script? Do you need to ask every single last question?
No, not at all.
Each call will be a little different which will cause you to change up the script a little bit each time.
#4: Slow it down, do not rush your words
You will not realize it, but you will talk fast. So fast that the other person on the phone will not be able to understand or keep up with what you’re saying.
The best thing you can do is (as mentioned above), record yourself reading the script in front of the mirror. You can critique and improve yourself best if you can see and hear yourself talking.
#5: Do not cut the prospect off. Let them talk
Do not get into the zone of just wanting to ramble off. The prospect called you for more information, but you also need to listen to what they have to say. You have to show that you care.
Take small breathing pauses throughout the script to slow your pace down and give the prospect to say something if needed.
#6: You can hear your tone of voice
Are you in a bad mood? Something getting you worked up? Let me tell you, the other person on the phone can hear it!
It will be off-putting to the prospect and that can turn them away from you. All because of your tone and how you talked.
When you pick up the phone, you’ve got to be smiling and with energy. It will pass on over to the prospect.
Now that you’ve decided to start your detailing business, it’s time to develop the services you’re going to offer to your potential customers.
The type of services you offer will depend on the type of business you want to operate. If you want a high volume shop with basic services, then you’ll probably pick services you can get cars in and out with.
Or if you want to simply do this on the weekend and want to perform 2-step paint corrections, then you’ll take a lot less cars, be a bit more selective, and focus on buffing and polishing.
There’s no right or wrong answer on what you’re going to offer. If all you want to offer is something like paint correction or headlight restoration, that’s absolutely fine.
Just keep in mind how the customer will perceive that. If they need their headlights restored and also need a deep interior cleaning, but you only offer headlight restoration, they’ll have two visit two detailers.
The customer may not want to do that, so they’ll just go with the detailer that can offer both services. It’s simply easier for them to go to a detailer that can handle all their needs.
But with that in mind, of making sure you offer a diverse set of services to meet the customer’s needs, you can also go down a rabbit hole you don’t want to travel.
In this article, I’m going to cover some of the mistakes I see detailers make when they’re developing their service menu, as well as the 9 services I recommend you focus on.
[bonus]BONUS: If you just want to know the services, you can [link]click here to download the guide[/link] to the 9 services you can offer. You’re given the time it takes to complete, the difficulty level, the price you can charge, and what each service includes. [/bonus]
The more services you offer, the more products and tools you think you’ll need
As I mentioned above, you’re probably aiming to be a one-stop shop for every detailing need. It’s a smart move. You want to satisfy the customer and keep all the services in house.
You don’t want to have to outsource some services and lose out on revenue.
The tricky part is to not go overboard with your services and what you offer. Most of your customers will choose a few popular services, only a small percentage will actually pick other not-as-popular services.
I remember when I first started, I looked at what other detailers were offering and came up with my own detailing menu. It was pretty exhaustive:
Basic wash
2-bucket wash method
Wash and wax with sealant
Wash and wax with spray wax
Basic interior cleaning
Deep interior cleaning (leather only)
Deep interior cleaning with protection
Wheel polishing
Metal polishing
Wheel coating
Headlight restoration with sealant
Headlight restoration with coating
Trim restoring
Trim enhancement
And the list will go on…
It made me feel cool to offer so many services. Especially when I was creating my website. It made me think I was going to get a lot more business by stating I offer so many services.
A drawback to this thinking is it looks like you offer a lot of services, so you think you’ll actually need a lot more tools and products to fulfill these services.
Regardless if you’re mobile or shop-based, you’ll start to carry and hold a lot more products and tools just in case the customer wants something you weren’t expecting.
So you start to pack, taking on more room in your van or shop, and taking more time to setup and break down your equipment for the detail.
We can fix this problem in the next section. Keep reading…
You add a lot of confusion to yourself and your customer
The more services and packages you offer, the more information you have to remember. You have more pricing structures, more individuals details you have to remember between the services/packages, and you’ll have to clearly communicate that with the customer in the most effective way possible.
And what if the package you offer doesn’t fit the customer’s needs? Maybe you offer a headlight restoration with a wash, but the customer actually wants a headlight restoration and a basic interior cleaning.
Are you not going to service that customer because they don’t fit your package? Of course not, you’ll be happy to meet their needs.
When you offer a lot of packages/services, it’s a lot of back and forth communication with the prospect trying to figure out what exactly you can offer.
Instead, in my opinion, it’s better to just offer a few services and talk with the customer to identify their needs.
For instance, maybe you offer these five core services:
Wash
Wash and wax
Interior deep cleaning
Headlight restoration
Paint correction
You can branch off from these services based on what the prospect is needing. If they have overspray on their paint, then you can offer a variation of the wash and wax.
Prospect: “There’s construction around my job and I got a lot of speckles of paint all around my car. Can you remove that?” Detailer: “Yes, your paint would need to be thoroughly washed and clayed to remove the paint overspray. It’s almost like a wash and wax except without the wax. We can remove the overspray, would you also be interested in waxing your car?”
That’s an oversimplification, but you get the point.
It’s about talking to the prospect and figuring out exactly what they need and coming up with a service/package for them based on their needs.
You’re essentially still creating packages, except they’re not predetermined packages. If a prospect needs an engine cleaning, wash and wax, and deep interior cleaning, than that becomes the package.
You can simply combine the individual’s services they need into a package. You don’t need to discount your work or anything. Add up each individual service and give it to them as a package.
Apply the 80/20 rule to your offerings (9 services you can offer)
What is the 80/20 rule? Simply put, that, for many events, roughly 80% of the effects come from 20% of the causes.
As mentioned earlier in the post, you can probably come up with dozens of services to offer to make sure you can take care of most detailing needs. But in reality, 80% of your customers will only choose 20% of your services.
So having all that extra information you have to remember and what your prospects and customers potentially have to sort through, becomes somewhat unnecessary. You can simplify it from the very get going by hashing out most of your services/packages.
Here are the 9 core services you can offer in your business:
Car wash
Wash and wax
Paint correction
Headlight restoration
Paint coating
Basic interior cleaning
Deep interior cleaning
Paint chip repair
Debadging emblems
Remember, within each of those services, you can branch off to offer a variant of that service to meet the customer’s needs.
If a customer is looking for paint correction services, you don’t need to list that you offer an all-in-one correction, a 1-step correction with wax/sealant, and a 2-step correction with a sealant/coating.
You can just talk it out with the customer and guide them in the right direction to what’s going to best fit them.
[bonus]BONUS: If you just want to know the services, you can [link]click here to download the guide[/link] to the 9 services you can offer. You’re given the time it takes to complete, the difficulty level, the price you can charge, and what each service includes. [/bonus]
Don’t rely on your website to sale your services for you
Does your website contain all the information about the services you offer? If you do, that’s great- potential customers sometimes want all the information they can get before making a decision on whether or not they should call you.
However, a lot of times, potential customers don’t read your website’s information because it’s either way too much text to read, or they try to read it, but it’s too confusing.
You as the detailer and business owner want the prospect to read every last word on your website. If they want any information, your website has it all laid out.
And you leave it to the website to do most of the selling… That is wrong.
For instance, 55% of all pageviews get less than 15 seconds of attention (source). Or how about in 2008, a study concluded that visitors will only read about 20% of the text on the average page (source).
So if you get upset or mad when a prospect calls you wanting more information about your services, even when you have it all listed on your website, you’ve got to be able to sell your services.
Don’t get me wrong, there are customers who read all the text on a website and they’ll be well-informed with your services and how you do business. But more often than not, people are busy, they have other problems to deal with, reading your website is low on their priority list.
So they’d rather give you a call, talk to you for 10 minutes, see if you can solve their problem, and be on their way.
Focus on the benefits, not the features
On a side note, I think it’s very important to mention you need to focus on communicating the benefits of what you’re offering rather than the features.
This is very important.
If a prospect is in need of a headlight restoration, but is on the fence of pulling the trigger, over communicate the benefits.
Focusing on the features:
“Yes, we’ll wet-sand your headlight with various grit sanding paper to remove all the haze and ugliness. Usually we’ll use 1000 and 2000 grit. We’ll then follow that up with buffing and polishing to refine those scratches to bring back a like-new condition on your headlights. It will be a night and day difference”
Focusing on the benefits:
“Yes, we do restore your headlights to a like-new condition through a 5-step sanding, buffing and polishing process. The great thing is restoring your headlights to a like-new condition is at least 6x less costly than buying a new seat of headlights. On top of that, even if you were to buy a set of new headlights, it will only be time till they’re also back in the same condition as your current headlights.”
You want to focus on what the customer is going to receive from this type of detail. What they are going to be happy about. Don’t start talking in industry jargon that only detailers understand. You’ll confuse them.
They don’t care that you’re using a professional level steamer to clean the interior that cost $1,000. What they want to know is if their interior is going to look new again or if that nasty milk smell will go away after you’re done.
I’m a mobile detailer. That means I drive to the customer’s’ location to service their vehicles.
Once I actually get on-site, 9 out of 10 times, I’m working outside in the driveway.
There’s no office. There’s no work station. It’s just my car and there car in the driveway. A BIG problem I have is answering phone calls from potential customers when I’m driving or servicing a vehicle.
When I’m driving, there’s no way I can write down their details or take any type of information. So if possible, I’ll have to pull over quickly for 5 minutes to talk.
Or, when I’m actually on-site and I get a phone call, I’m right in the middle of working on a car, so I completely stop, get my pen and paper, and talk about their needs.
Using a legal pad or a notebook works, but often times, I’m writing all over the paper, and when I go to review my notes, I’m not entirely sure where or what I wrote down.
I wanted to fix that for myself, so I created a customer form I can use to quickly and effectively write down all the information I need in an efficient manner.
Form for mobile detailers who have no water/power source
[bonus]Download ALL [link]customer forms by clicking here[/link]. Download them. Use Them. Make more sales.[/bonus]
The Customer Form
I created 3 different types of forms since I know there are different types of detailers here. You’ll see a form for:
A mobile detailer that doesn’t carry water/power
A mobile detailer that carries water/power
A detailer that owns a shop
These forms were created in Keynote and converted into a PDF. I figured many of you probably don’t have Keynote (Mac application). I think if you have Adobe Acrobat you can make your own changes to it? Not entirely sure…
Anywho, I made the form semi-generic so you can manually write in what you need. More on that in a bit…
IMPORTANT: The key to using this form is to print it out, LAMINATE IT, and use a DRY-ERASE marker to write on it. That way you don’t need to print out 100 sheets.
If you laminate it and use a dry-erase marker, you’ll only need maybe 2 or 3 and you can use them over and over and over again. 🙂
Here is a breakdown of the form:
First name
Last name
Phone number
Gate code– if they live in an apartment or gated community
Address
City
Zipcode
Email
Location– I need to know what type of location the address is
Electricity– is there a power source available where the detail will be performed?
Water– is there a water source available where the detail will be performed?
Service– these are left blank for you to write in manually. I would go with INITIALS of your service, not the full name as it won’t fit
Vehicle information
Source- how the customer found you
Notes
I didn’t add a field for pricing because everyone’s is going to be different. What I do is simply scribble it in right over the name of the service. Nothing fancy. Just squeeze it in the best you can.
Bill: “I’ve been thinking about starting a detailing business. There’s not much competition. I’ve already checked around.”
Will: “I’ve been thinking about starting a business too but don’t know what to do. We should team up together.”
And thus, a detailing business was born with two partners.
I’m sure this relates to some readers.
It’s exciting when you’re sitting in a room or at a coffee shop thinking about the possibilities, opportunities, and freedom that will come with running your own operation.
You have your pen and paper out and start running some basic numbers on your potential earnings…
“If we do at least 25 cars a week, at $100, that’s going to be $2,500 per week. If we do that all year long, we can bring in $120,000 and split it 50/50. This is going to be amazing!”
Unfortunately, the next 3 to 6 months is the cold reality with only a handful of phone calls and even fewer details performed.
Everyone’s story is going to be different. Some may workout. Some may be fantastic. A big chunk of others will not be so well.
You can take the same story with Bill and Jill and apply it to a solo detailer. “If I can detail at least 15 cars a week, which is 2.5 cars a day, and charge at least $100 on each car, I can make $1,500 a week. That’s not bad!”
Planning a business, whether it be by yourself or with a partner, is ALWAYS exciting when you’re writing numbers down and thinking of what the future can hold.
In this article, I’m going to go in-depth on whether or not you should have a partner (or at least a helper) in your detailing business.
This is going to apply to those that currently have a business or those that are thinking of starting one!
[bonus]IMPORTANT: This article is heavily focused on setting goals in your business. You can [link]download the exact methods I use to set goals[/link] in life and business.[/bonus]
Why most people stay solo
Let’s start off with why, in my opinion, most people start off as a one man show…
I think the bigger picture is you can keep more money if you’re working by yourself. If you can charge a higher hourly rate AND get more cars to work on, it’s the win-win situation.
If you work 40 hours a week and make an hourly rate of $35/hour, that’s $1,400/week. If you can raise your rates to reach $45/hour and still work 40 hours/week, then you can now make $1,800/week.
And sometimes, the workload is going to be heavier on some days and weeks. Which to us, is great. The more customers, the more cars to detail, the more money to make.
Sure, you might be pulling 10 to 16 hour shifts throughout the week, but it’s well-worth it.
Win!
The other reason you may stay solo is you simply don’t have the demand to justify bringing on a helper. Perhaps you’re only doing this on the weekend or you’re simply not busy throughout the week.
That’s okay. There’s no need to bring someone on board to help or to be a partner with you if the work is simply not there.
If that’s the case, you should have more time to learn how to market and sell your services. Use that time available to improve your efficiency and set yourself up for success.
Lastly, it maybe that you’ve been burned in the past by hiring someone to help you.
It’s HARD finding the right person to help you or to become your partner. There’s no doubt about that.
Because this is your passion and your business. You pour your blood, sweat, and tears everyday to make sure every customer gets the best detail.
You feel as if you are the one with the careful eye and no one else comes relatively close to your level of passion and skill.
And you know what, you are probably correct. No one will ever match up to your standards. And you’ll feed yourself this thought for a very long time.
You may want a helper, maybe the work is getting overbearing, but you simply can’t trust someone else to work on your behalf and you definitely don’t have the time to go through the hassle of finding someone.
We’ll cover this a bit more later down the article…
What is your end goal?
Before you begin to write down how much you’re going to make, before you think about starting a business or starting a business with your friend/partner, you first need to have a crystal clear vision on your end goal.
IMPORTANT: Whenever you’re setting any type of goal, whether it be for business or personal, you always have to start with the goal in mind and work backwards to figure out how to get there.
This can take a while. You should take some time and put serious consideration into this. Developing your crystal clear goal is what’s going to define the actions and decisions you make on a daily basis.
For instance, take these two end goals:
I want to start a part-time detailing business to make an extra $1,000/month working on the weekends to save up for my new-born baby
I want to leave my full-time job to have a high-volume detail shop that makes $12,000/month
Although both want to start a business, they will travel completely different paths to get to their end goal.
So what is it that you want to get out of a detailing business? Ask yourself various questions to get your mind thinking:
How much money do I want to make?
What do I have to do to get there?
What obstacles am I going to face?
How long will it take me to get to my goal?
Who will help me when times get stuff?
How much time do I have to get to my goal?
Is my goal realistic? Is it achievable in X time frame?
These are important questions and it has a lot to due on whether or not you’ll want to have a helper or have partner in your business.
Let’s look at example number one that I mentioned above;
I want to start a part-time detailing business to make an extra $1,000/month working on the weekends to save up for my new-born baby
If he only wants to work on the weekends, let’s say Saturday for 8 hours, then he has to make $1,000 within 32 hours (4 Saturdays/month). Which is about $32/hour, which is very achievable!
He can offer a variety of services to get an average ticket sale of $250. And since it’s such a low number of customers per month, he can keep his expenses very low while reaching his goal.
Now let’s move on to the next example:
I want to leave my full-time job to have a high-volume detail shop that makes $12,000/month
This end goal will require much more thought process into it since he’s thinking at a much larger scale.
He’ll need to figure out how to implement systems and processes, how to hire a manager, how to handle payroll, taxes, etc….
If you would apply the first example mentality to this scenario, it most likely won’t turn out well because it requires such a different level of thinking.
There is no right or wrong answer here. No one can tell you your goal is wrong or right.
It’s just about developing the proper game plan to get you there in a timely manner.
Your goal and actions can always change throughout the process. Don’t think just because you said you wanted to a part-time business with no employees doesn’t mean you have to stick to it.
It’s okay to adapt your goals and actions as you go along.
Okay, now that we have that out of the way…
Should you start with a partner or a helper?
This is what I mean by partner and helper:
Partner: Owns a percentage of the company and is “in it to win it” with you
Helper: Basically an employee or someone that helps you out when you need it
Keep in mind, I’m talking high level as everyone’s scenario is going to be much different than what I can write about. So read and adapt to your circumstances.
(also keep in mind everything I said about having a clear end goal)
If you’re starting a business with a partner
I always recommend if you’re going to start a detailing business, you need to gain traction quickly. You should:
Contact all your friends and family members and detail their cars
Charge a highly discounted rate
Make them leave you a review on Google and Yelp
Tell them to tell all their friends and family members about your business
Let’s say if you’re by yourself and detail 10 cars, at an average time of 4.5 hours, and charge $100, you’ll have:
45 hours of detailing
10 online reviews
$1,000 in revenue
A lot of before and after photos and videos
If you start off with a partner that can also bring in those same numbers on their end, then you’ll simply double all the numbers above but in less time:
90 hours of detailing (45 hours each)
20 online reviews
$2,000 in revenue
Even more before and after photos
Now that’s just for early traction. There’s also a lot of benefits as you continue on with your business with a partner:
You’ll be able to finish cars MUCH faster. On a wash and wax on a sedan, it can take a single person 4 hours to complete the detail and charge $140 ($35/hour).
You can charge the same price for the same service but finish it in half the time. So the hourly rate for that service is $70/hour ($35/hour split). Which also means you can service A LOOOTTT more cars in a day and week then someone that’s by themselves.
This is by far one of the beneficial factors to having a partner with you. You can complete a lot more cars than a single detailer can, which can ultimately mean you can grow a lot faster since you can handle more work.
If you’re getting backlogged with work, get a helper, at a minimum.
Now let’s change examples and say you’re drowning in work and you’re pulling 50 to 70 hours of detailing in a week. That’s a lot of hours!
At that point, it seems very justifiable to get an extra hand. This doesn’t mean you’re going to hire someone on full time or that they’re going to work 40 hours for the week.
It simply means you’ll have an extra set of hands helping you out so you can decrease the amount of work for the week and to make sure you’re completing the details in a timely manner.
You have two options here:
Find another local detailer to help you out
Get a friend/hire someone to do basic work for you
There are pros and cons to both scenarios.
An advantage to a local detailer is if you’ve seen their work and you have a sense of how they work, they’ll be able to come in and start cranking cars out with you pronto.
There will be a small learning curve as far as them adjusting to your workflow and what the end result is going to be, but you’re not going to teach them how and what to do every step of the way.
You’ll have a lot more trust in them since they also have their own business, share the same passion, and understand the importance of getting the detail right the firs time.
On that same note, because they have experience and they know what they’re doing, you’re probably going to have to pay them a decent rate to keep them with you for the duration of the time.
After all, they have their business, they have customers, and if you’re going to offer a pay grade way below what they make, it’s not going to make financial sense for them to help you out for too long.
The next option is getting a friend or hiring someone to help you out with basic tasks. It’s also a good idea to hire someone that wants to get into detailing, wants to start a detailing business, or has just recently started a detailing business.
Remember, they’re there to help you out with basic tasks.
If you as the detailer are doing steps A to Z to complete a detail, it’s a fact that a lot of those steps are pretty damn basic and are time consuming that don’t really need much skill.
Yes, you’ll need knowledge and an understanding of what needs to be done, but by no means would it take more than an hour so to get it going.
That’s what the helper is for. It’s too unload the basic and simple tasks throughout the detail process to them. This is why having checklists are so important.
In this instance, you can simply give the helper a one hour run down of what they’re going to be doing, give him a checklist of what he’s going to focus on, and let him at it.
On top of that, they’ll save you a lot of time on the time-consuming parts of the detail that you normally have to stop for. If you’re doing some paint correction, instead of you stopping to clean the pads or applying to wax or wiping off the wax, you can have them do it.
This will save you A LOT of time. Unlike having a detailer help you out, you can pay the helper a lot less because they are not as skilled and are only performing basic tasks.
This doesn’t mean you take advantage of them and pay them as cheap as you can get them for, it’s just going to be dramatically less than what the professional detailers pay grade will be.
Also, as mentioned above, if the helper wants to eventually start or recently started a business, then them working for you is a GREAT benefit to them.
[bonus]If you need help setting goals, you can [link]download the exact methods I use to set goals[/link] in life and business.[/bonus]
Why you shouldn’t have a partner or helper
As great as it is to have another set of hands helping you out, you also need to be self aware of who you are and what you can and cannot handle.
Since this is your business and you call the shots, can you manage someone else working with you without becoming a dictator? Are you going to micromanage and get frustrated for every little thing that isn’t up to your standards?
This is very important because if you’re not good at working with someone, it’s going to cause way more problems and headaches for you and the other person.
What you don’t want do is have someone come help you out (or bring on a partner) and dump all the work on them. That doesn’t make any sense.
If you’re backlogged on work, don’t call in someone to help you but then have them do all the work. In my opinion and experience, you need to both work on the same car to get it done faster.
That’s operational efficiency. Instead of one person working one car and the other person working on the second car, it’s better to team up and knock one car out after the other.
The customer will get their car faster and you’ll make a higher hourly rate.
This next reason should be obvious, but still needs to be stated:
If you’re staying busy, but not bringing in that much revenue, you don’t need to bring someone to help you. There’s a deeper problem you have to fix first.
There’s plenty of ways to make money and be successful. You can go for low prices and high volume. You can do high prices with much lower volume. Or you can fall somewhere in between the middle.
That’s fine if you are fully aware of your finances and have a plan on what you’re doing.
It’s not fine when you’re busy, not really making money, and then you call someone out to help you and offer them $X/hour only not to be able to pay them on time.
You need to take sometime, sit back, get a pen and paper out, and figure out what’s going on with your business and why is it that you aren’t making the money you should be making.
Is it that you’re charging low but doing waayyy too much work for the customer? Or are you charging a fair price but you’re simply moving way too slow to finish in a timely manner?
You’ve got to figure out the real problem first before you bring someone to help you. Because if you don’t, you’re simply covering the problem without actually fixing it.
This can add a lot of headaches later down the road with your business.
Balance the strengths and weaknesses with a partner
Now, if you DO want to bring on a partner, that is, someone that’s putting skin in the game with you, then you want to make sure you balance each other out.
For instance, I always talk about focusing on marketing and sales more than detailing because to run a business, you need customers.
If you have partner A that’s passionate and dedicated to detailing, and then you have partner B that’s also passionate and dedicated to detailing, then everyone in the boat is looking the same way.
There’s no diversity. Both of them have a tunnel vision on detailing. They’re both going to spend more time detailing with each other and trying to be better detailers more so than getting customers to hand them money.
This is a no-no.
A better scenario would be to have partner A passionate and dedicated to detailing while partner B is more dedicated and focused on marketing and sales. That’s the best of both worlds.
Partner A can dive into the skill set of detailing. He can try different tools and products. He can spend his time learning how to detail faster and get better results.
Partner B can trust him to do his job right. To tell him what to do when it’s time to detail and he’ll followed partner As lead on a job site.
Partner A would be “lead tech” and partner B would be “tech” if you wanted to put some type of label to it.
On the other hand, partner A can trust partner B because since he’s mostly focused on marketing and sales. His primary job is to get people to call them up and hand over their money.
Does this mean partner A is going to spend all his time in the garage detailing and partner B is going to spend all his time on the computer? Well, it depends..
Is that what you guys agreed on? Is it congruent with the end goal that you’re going after?
There’s not going to be a right or wrong answer. It comes down to whether or not you two have discussed about it and developed a game plan to reach the set goals.
In my opinion, both partners should constantly teach the other partner everything they know. That way both are skilled at the jobs and whenever needed, can alternate or fill in as needed.
Is there trust between the partners?
I think it’s important to point out that if you’re going to start a business with a partner of some sort, you two need to be completely transparent, honest, and open minded with each other.
If there’s any type of resistance between the two, for any reason, it can really hinder your performance and spiral down to where the business doesn’t really get much traction.
You can’t go into it expecting the other person to agree to every single last word you say and run with the plan. There are two inputs that need to agree.
Sometimes there’s going to be disagreements and you’ll have to talk about it. Someone might not ultimately like the decision that was made, but that’s where the transparency and open-mindedness comes into play.
It’s not about saying, “Hey, this seems like it’s going to be fun, we can totally do this together. It’s going to be great” and simply coast for the duration of the time.
If you’re doing more work than your partner, and it’s obvious, it’s going to get under your skin. It will create problems, either short term or long term.
So you need to be able to talk things out at anytime.
Be aware that plans are not always going to go as said. Problems and obstacles will arise and it’s in the relationship that you have with each other that will determine how well (or bad) you two get through it.
And don’t think because it’s your wife, husband, boyfriend, girlfriend, friend, co-worker, etc.. it’s going to get any easier.
I know many of you work with a family member or a close friend and will say something like, “We work great together. Business is business and we’ll keep it at that. It won’t interrupt our personal lives.”
If that’s true, then that’s great. But in my experience, I’ve see it play out the wrong way more often than not.
Personally, I would stay away from working with family. It sounds like a great plan in the beginning, but once things get rolling, decisions have to be made, and actions need to take place, it’s a completely different story.
You don’t want to damage a relationship because of a business.
How do we pay each other
It’s fun and all to start a business and have a partner in it, but now who gets paid more? What is our hourly rates?
I’m going to give very vague advice here since there are so many variables to how much anyone is going to get paid, or what the percentage split of the company is, etc…
In the beginning, I wouldn’t even worry too much about it.
Why?
Because it’ll probably be a while into you bring in any type of real money. In the beginning, it’s going to be a couple hundred bucks here and there. If you worked on the car together and did about equal parts, just split it 50/50 and keep hustling.
But it all does start with knowing your end goal. Where is it that you want to be financially? What is an ideal image in your mind?
Because if you want to stay as a dual team and never hire on more staff, then it can be a pretty straightforward agreement. You’ll eventually want to hire an attorney to come up with some type of contract and get the legal work setup (probably a few hundred bucks), but nothing out of this world complex.
It would be different if you’re going to hire a bunch of staff, open a standalone facility, have huge expenses, etc… then you’ll need to run the numbers and see how everything is going to play out and probably get a lot more people involved.
Lastly, determine how you’re going to split up the company in terms of percentages. It can’t be an equal 50/50 split as the work or investment in the company is never exactly the same.
Is someone going to buy the equipment? Is someone opening a line of credit or getting a loan? Who’s going to do most of the labor work? Who’s responsible of sales and marketing?
You get the point..
Remember, in the beginning phases, you’re most likely not going to make much money. It’s going to take a while, so things can always change.
There are so many variables to this, you’re not going to get it right the first time you sit down and talk about it.
My final thoughts
If I had to start all over, I would still start off as a solo detailer. This was, I would be able to get everything started the way I want.
I would market my services, create systems, and run everything lean. Once I got to a point where I have too much work, I would hire a helper.
I would not bring on a partner.
It all really ties into your end goal. Let’s say I wanted a high-volume, high-end detail shop pushing out a lot of paint correction services.
Then perhaps I wouldn’t need a partner, but bring on someone who can be an operations manager and oversee a team of 2 or 3 people.
There are so many variables you have to consider. There is no right or wrong answer. I think the most important factors is painting a clear picture on what your end goal is, and being self aware of who you are and what you can (and cannot) do.
