When does a detailer need his “A” game?…assuming he has one

In most of my training classes students generally seem to get the hang of making a vehicle look absolutely perfect. Since it’s a controlled environment with multiple people, we have plenty of manpower to make sure everything is learned correctly and everything comes out as perfect as possible, both inside and out.  But where it generally seems to click in is after learning about buffing, buffing pads, buffing products, etc. We wet sand some scratches out of scrap panels to learn what this process can do for deeper scratches and then of course we need to buff out the sand scratches to fully correct the paint surface. In buffing scrap hoods and then moving on to buffing a real vehicle, students can see how to fully remove all the imperfections and produce perfect looking paint. This is where they really see how great paint can start to look. I love this part of the class because now a student can see perfection and know that with enough time, effort, skill, etc. they can be a top notch detailer and have that “A” game for the pickiest customer. Once they see a paint surface come to life and the amount of effort it takes, this also sparks discussion and questions like, how perfect does it have to be? Can I still get these little tiny scratches out? How many buffing steps will all this take? How long will it take to make the vehicle absolutely perfect?

I love these questions because it brings up real life situations and what to do, or more important, what not to do. In my class, I teach perfection. I want them to know how to be perfect and get everything out so that a student will develop and “A” game and be a great detailer. But this is in a controlled situation and setting with multiple people working on the vehicle with basically no time limit. And I am the customer. I am demanding perfection so they know exactly what I want, and I am telling them that a particular area can be a little better or I point out things that cannot be done better and how to explain it to a customer. But when these students get out on their own they then have to realize that there is nobody helping them and if they decide to produce perfection, they need to ask themselves….How long is this going to take? How much am I being paid for this job? Does this customer really expect true perfection?

You don’t need perfection on every job

If a detailer is going to give a show car back to a customer on every job for an average price, 2 things will happen. He will be absolutely loved by everybody for such great work at what will amount to a very lowball price, and he will also soon be out of business believe it or not. You can’t spend 8-10 hours on a car trying to be perfect while you are only getting paid for maybe 4 or 5 hours worth of work. It just doesn’t add up. If you give a customer a show car he should be paying a show car price. If you are giving him a great job in a 4 or 5 hour time frame, the job should be excellent but maybe not show car perfect. Never should the 2 be intertwined if you still want to make money.

In most cases a detail customer will expect a very good job both inside and out, but not expect perfection. The detailer also should be ready to explain exactly what he is going to provide for the agreed upon price. If there is a disagreement in what the customer wants as opposed to what you were going to charge, then adjustments need to be made. Most of the time a professional detailer can provide an excellent detail in an average time frame and still be profitable. Here's the problem.

A detailer runs into a demanding customer that expects perfection. It shouldn’t be a problem if the parameters of the detail are discussed before a price is given and the detailer knows what the customer wants. If I know a guy is going to be a pain in the ass and I know the car has the potential to be perfect or close to it, I will inform a customer what it will take to get the vehicle to that point. This is where I may need my “A” game. As long as I have an “A” game to give and I know how long it will take, the customer has the option of paying for perfection or settling for just a very good detail but maybe not every single mark in the paint surface will come out. When a detailer does not recognize a customer that is demanding or expecting perfection, he will give that customer his “normal” detail but the customer may be dissatisfied because he was expecting perfection. Even if the detailer understands that the customer wants perfection, if he does not have an “A” game to give, he will be in trouble.

Don’t just give them your “A” game every time

Another problem that detailers bring on themselves is that they give away an “A” game detail on every job. Will the little old lady who is not paying a show car price and just wants a clean car notice that you took 2 or 3 extra buffing steps to make the paint perfect? Will she appreciate it? Can she see it? It’s great that many guys have a good eye for paint and want to make things perfect. It may be that compulsion to detail that got you into this business in the first place. But you always have to remember that this is a “business”. Most of the people you will deal with will not be able to see true perfection or truly appreciate it. However I see some guys that want to impress their buddies on the forums so they “brag” about how long it took to detail this car and what was involved and how many buffing steps there were…..then they mention how much they got paid for the job! Sure the customer loves you but you are giving away an “A” game detail and actually “losing” money!

I know exactly when to stop. I carefully “interview” the customer before I ever give them a price to see what they are really looking for. I have no problem keeping a price down if they just want a clean car and I know I can still be very profitable per hour. That’s still win-win. I also have no problem with a customer who is very demanding and is looking at the little imperfections from 2 inches away and complaining about how bad the car looks….from 2 inches away!! Now I know what I am in for and he is going to pay for what he expects and I have no problems giving him the appropriate price for that expected perfection. If he complains about the price, I very professionally inform him how long it will take and exactly what’s involved with creating perfection or a show car if that’s what he is implying. I also am happy to inform him that not too many detailers can even handle his high expectations. If he thinks the price is too high (and its usually sticker shock high) we settle on a happy medium but he is informed he must back down on his expectations and I tell him exactly what he will be getting.

So what I tell my students when they finally get the hang of making a car look perfect is that you don’t have to do this on every car. An “A” game will not be needed as often as you may think. But here’s the point. If you give them “A-“ or “B+” you will still produce great looking cars and still make money. If you have that “A” game, use it when you need it, and make sure you make money with it. If you don’t yet have an “A” game, it’s never too late to develop it. You never know when you may need it and that’s what’s separates the truly great detailers from the guys who are just “cleaning” cars.