What does it mean to detail? To you, your customer, general public, to California
Washing (Methods that work for your business—whats marketable, what’s best)
Being responsible to the environment and to the customer
Going beyond the basic wash and teaching this to your customer- the concepts to a swirl free finish
Touchup
Educating the customer about the repair (What can or cannot be touched up with good results)
Methods for getting the best results.
How to be profitable versus how to make it perfect
How the process differs for different colors of paint
Dealing with road rash versus chips versus long scratches
Touchup makes damage less noticeable or sometimes invisible.
LED lighting
What makes the best correction light versus inspection light
How to build/spec your own
How to optimize for application—correction versus coating
More power versus less power
Optimizing high spot viewing for coatings
Paint correction
Evaluating the condition, making historical assumptions, testing, refining
Basic tools (lighting, polish/compounds, machine tools, pads)
What can be fixed, what cannot, what can be improved and how to tell.
How does paint thickness vary, how do manufacturers vary, how do you determining difficulty
What to do when unsure about paint
What impacts your ability to finish paint—towels, polishes, sealants/coatings, ability to maintain, external factors
Tools, chemicals, paint types, oxidation, clear coat failure, deep scratches, surface scratches, soft paint, hard paint, black paint, Japanese versus European paint.
Headlight restore
Prep
Estimating
How to sell and market in a crowded marketplace of cheap repairs
Minor work- Polishing
Major work- sanding & coating. Different technologies- pros and cons.
Getting the most from Glasweld Coating- getting the most longevity using CS-II
Fixing damaged headlights from DIY
Technology
Computers, Phones, Cameras
Software for business, for marketing, for photo processing
Bulk process, watermarking
Coatings
Different technologies-choosing what’s best for you
Application methods
Selling/marketing
Maintaining integrity
Evaluations and Selling
Documenting, estimating, costing, testing.
Writing out estimates, item lines, quoting, keep records and notes
Follow up
Stereotyping by car for educated assumptions to show knowledge and wow customer
Setting attainable and measurable goals- don't promise the world
Using vast knowledge to differentiate yourself
Using tools to convince- i.e.magnifier, etg, inspection light, camera phone
Showing the customer what you see instead of telling them
Communicating at their level not yours
Assuring the customer that you have their best interest in mind (understanding their needs)
If you offer Perfection work, there are multiple levels of it—what do you offer, how, and why?
If you offer Enhancement (improvement not perfection)- how do you define it in ways the customer understands?
Meeting customer objections to price, services
Upsetting
Educating the customer about 3 major factors when pricing their car
Pricing is impacted by the current condition, their expectations, their ability to maintain that finish.
Why pricing is different for every situation
For shop based detailers- your customer base is different that being mobile
How to find customers, educating them, why having a fixed location is better for them
Ways you can improve convenience- after hour drop offs, loaner cars, Uber rides, trailers
Repairs
Evaluating what can or cannot be fixed- ETG/PTG
Checking depth and using fillers for diagnosis
Working with subs (becoming a partial expert)
Defining repairs
Documentation (Photography)
CYA as well as Marketing
Ethics.
Dealing with customers
Good and bad
Firing
Maintaining
Your image
Quoting/Pricing/Upselling
Would you be a customer of your own shop? (Identifying with the customer)
California laws and Federal Regulations affecting us
Car wash bond
Workers Comp
OSHA
EPA
Dealing with water run off/drains/storm drains
Social Media
Positivity on Social Media
Keeping personal opinions off
Examples of things not to do: Separating company from personal page
Linking company page
Customers
Setting customer expectations
-Before the job
-During
-After
Retaining customers throughout the process
Paint Correction Challenges
Nissan GTR Scratch Shield vs Hard Clear
Sticky Honda Paint
Super Soft Black Paint
How did you find out about us?
Maintaining Integrity at all times.