3 Detailing trends worth following.

Regret the trends of your youth? Jean jackets...tie-dye...ass-less chaps? As a detailer, you don't want to be "late" to a good trend. Three to pay attention to:

Online Reviews
I've written about this in previous articles, and I'll repeat it here because it's that important. I've seen more than half of the detailing businesses in my town of Portland, OR go out of business in the last 5 years. The common denominator? No online "buzz." None of them had more than 5 reviews online...if they had any at all. The stalwart shops--the ones that never go away--have at least 15 positive reviews on Google, Yelp, or Yahoo. I've never seen a shop with at least good good 15 reviews fail. What does that tell you about the power of reviews?

Headlight restoration.
There's been a big marketing push by 3m, Meguiars, and some new-comers to sell headlight restoration kits to pros and hobbyists. Although prices have come down on headlight restoration, there's one bright spot: the public knows what headlight restoration is...and they want it. It's easier to sell than ever. 5 years ago, it took a lot of effort to convince customers that you could truly restore headlight lenses, but this has changed. It's a good time to add headlight restoration, and the kit I recommend is the 3M 02516 Headlight Lens Restoration System .

Waterless washing.
Optimum is selling cubic tons of their famous "No Rinse" waterless car wash solution, and for good reason: it's a fantastic product. If you've held back on the idea of mobile car washing because of You didn't want to haul around a pressure washer and a water tank, now might be the time to give it a try. All you need is a wash mitt, bucket, grit guard, a gallon of water, and some microfiber towels. You could fit that on a moped. Just don't wear those chaps.

Original article:
[startacardetailingbusiness.com]

GTR :
The best way I've heard of to sell headlight restoration is to mount a "before" and an "after" headlight on a board . Do it neatly and have neatly-lettered descriptions on the display as well .

Doug

Doug why not do half the potential customer's headlight

Bud, if you do that, be sure and check the wallet of the person you are doing it for.
If they ain't got the money to pay, they won't pay to have it completed.
And, then you are out of some time, etc all for nothing.
I perfer Doug's "show and tell" to doing a process that is advertised as a DIY by all the big advertised car care companies.
Let em screw their lights up and then charge correctly for making it right.
Grumpy

Bud :
If you restored half a headlight in front of the customer, you'd run the risk of teaching him how to do it himself .

Also, he might consider it manipulative to put him in the position of either buying your service or driving around with a funny-looking car .

Thirdly, by doing half a headlight free, you imply to the customer that the job is easy and costs you nothing. That might make him value the work less .

I had an office manager at a previous job, who advised, " Be the doctor ". He meant to conduct oneself like a doctor :
"Take the position that you are the expert. Ask questions. Examine everything thoroughly. Diagnose the problems. Prescribe the treatment. Answer any concerns the customer has . Perform the operations. Present the bill. Schedule any necessary follow-up visit ."

Breaking out the gear to do a quick headlight demo wouldn't be something a doctor would do .

Doug

Hey, nothing ventured nothing gained.