Increase your per-vehicle revenue with minimal investment

by Prentice St. Clair

Those who have followed my writing over the years are certainly aware that I have a bugaboo about pricing. For many years, one of the most common problems in the detailing industry has been inappropriate pricing. That is, most detailers don’t charge enough for the service they are providing. This is still true today, and the problem is compounded by the fact that people are not spending as much money on their cars as they used to.

Many of us have resorted to offering specials and discounts to keep the volume of customers coming in. I have never been a big fan of discounting, but these days you have to sometimes choose between a customer saying “no” to your full retail price or “yes” to a percentage of that price.

We are all working on creative ways to bring in more customers and encourage repeat business from existing customers. Now is the time to also find ways to increase the per-vehicle revenue. A simple way to increase your bottom line is to find extra things that you can do to the vehicle while you are providing detailing services.

One option is to provide additional detailing services with many of the chemicals and equipment that you already have or can easily procure from your supplier. Examples include polymer paint sealant application, carpet and fabric liquid repellant application, and glass polishing. I believe that it is imperative that every professional detailer offer these services to virtually every customer that walks through the door. You can find out more about these types of detailing services from your supplier or from articles in previous issues of this magazine.

Another option is to offer more specialized reconditioning services that may or may not normally be associated with “traditional” detailing. Such services include paintless dent removal, minor paint repairs (touch-up and spot blending), interior surface repair, and windshield repair. These are great options that offer significant profit potential either as a stand-alone business or in conjunction with a detailing business. I recommend that every detail operation investigate one or more of these options.

For some detailers, however, the cost of the training and equipment required for such reconditioning services prevents taking them on immediately. Besides, there are other reconditioning options that require minimal investment of time and expense in order to be able to offer the service and significantly increase the per-vehicle revenue.

Within the automotive reconditioning industry, there are many specialized kits, equipment, and chemicals for treating the various surfaces on a vehicle. The examples I will talk about in this article include headlamp clarification, trim rejuvenation, and convertible top care.

This is stuff you can start doing right now with minimal investment. Each of these services requires an initial investment of less than $100, and, if marketed and sold correctly, can add hundreds of dollars to the end-of-the-month profit figures. You then have the capability to turn a standard $150 to $250 detail into a $300 to $450 reconditioning job.

Headlamp Clarification

Since the introduction of the plastic headlamp lens in the late 1980s, almost every model now has this type of headlight. The advantage of using plastic over glass is less weight and lower production costs. It’s easier for manufacturers to customize the look of the front end using plastic lenses. Previous to the plastic lens, almost every vehicle had a standard sized rectangular or circular glass lens.

The disadvantage of the plastic lens is that it can fade, yellow, and dull over time when exposed to direct sunlight and heat. Considering the cost of replacing a custom-formed headlamp lens cover, many vehicle owners simply opt to “put up with” the ugly old lens, which not only looks bad, but also presents a safety issue. A heavily dulled lens can decrease the output of the headlamps by as much as 40 percent.

We, as detailers can offer a relatively simple solution for these motorists through lens clarification. There are lens clarification kits available that are very effective. The cost of a lens clarification kit can be recouped in a matter of one to three jobs using the kit.

Even without the kit, you can make the lenses look a lot better by following these simple steps. To protect against accidental scratching from the sanding, tape off adjacent areas with two-inch automotive masking tape. Then, wet-sand the lens with 2000 grit sandpaper. This will remove the oxidized and yellowed plastic from the surface of the lens. If 2000 grit does not adequately break through the top layer of old plastic, try using 1000 grit and then follow with the 2000 grit.

You can remove the sanding scratches with rubbing compound by hand, or preferably, using a high-speed polisher with a five-inch or smaller foam cutting pad. Another option for power buffing is to use a mini-pad kit and a portable drill.

This may be enough to bring the lens back to great clarity and shine. However, it may be necessary to polish the lens one more time with a foam finishing pad and a finishing polish to thoroughly enhance the shine. Finally, apply a coat of wax or sealant on the freshly clarified lens to help protect it.

The lens will stay clear for several months. To increase the amount of time that the lens stays clear, you need the lens clarification kit, which comes with a special liquid that, when applied to the lens, acts as a solid coating sealing in the plastic for a long period of time.

The best part of lens clarification is that you can charge $50 to $100 per lens. Yet this price is usually quite a bit less than the cost of replacing the lenses with factory parts. So, you are saving your customer money and providing a service that enhances the appearance and safety of the customer’s vehicle.

Trim Rejuvenation

Some cars are trimmed with uncoated black plastic, which can fade over years of sun exposure. Sometimes, all the trim needs is a good cleaning with multi-purpose cleaner and a scrub brush, followed by application of a high-quality trim dressing. If you find that this is not enough, or that the trim goes back to dull gray as soon as the dressing washes away, you can offer the customer a more extensive procedure.

Check with your supplier about the availability of black trim rejuvenation kits. These usually consist of a cleaner, a black dye, and a clear coating. The cleaner removes wax build-up and some of the oxidized, dried-out surface plastic.  he dye puts the color back into the trim piece. Some kits come with both dark black and dark gray dyes. After the trim piece is cleaned and re-dyed, you can coat it with the clear protective liquid that the kit manufacturers claim will keep the trim piece looking new for months longer than dressing.

This service is a perfect addition to an exterior or complete detail. It’s a pretty easy sell to the customer if you talk about it this way: “It would be a shame to make the exterior of a car look great and leave the ugly, dull, grayed-out trim. It may look okay with the dressing, but once the dressing evaporates or is washed off, it’s back to ugly.” If the customer is not convinced, you might even take a rag with multi-purpose cleaner and wipe off the dressing on a small portion of the trim for a quick demonstration.

It’s a fairly simple process that takes less than 30 minutes to complete on a single panel. You can charge between $25 to $75 for a single panel and up to $200 for all the trim on an entire car. You will likely earn the cost of the kit the first time you use it.

Convertible Top Care

It’s amazing how few people know how to properly care for a convertible top. There are parts of the country in which these vehicles represent a fair portion of the total market. Yet the owners are perplexed as to what to do with the convertible top. Moreover, most detailers don’t know either. Yet the leading manufacturer of convertible top material recommends a couple of products that are designed specifically for cleaning and protection of such material.

Convertible top material is either canvas or vinyl. Either one can be cleaned somewhat effectively with multi-purpose cleaner and a scrub brush. But once clean and dry, how do you protect the material? Well, the vinyl material can be coated with a high-quality vinyl/plastic dressing, but this will wash off in a matter of one or two car washes. Long-term protection requires a specialized product that also contains chemicals that help block harmful ultraviolet rays.

Except for the specialized product I mentioned before, there is no way to protect the canvas material. So check with your supplier on the availability of protectants for “rag tops.”

Selling proper convertible top care is simple. Start by explaining to the customer that a replacement convertible top costs between $1,500 and $5,000, and that eventually the material on their car will begin to deteriorate. The leading cause of the deterioration of the material is improper cleaning and exposure to ultraviolet rays from the sun. Once you have the appropriate specialty products for convertible top care, you can explain to the customer that you are qualified to appropriately clean and seal/protect the top.

This service should be provided every three to six months, depending on how much time the vehicle spends outside. Considering the value of helping to prevent premature failure of the convertible top material, it is not unreasonable to charge between $75 and $150 for this service.

Marketing

The easiest way to market your new services is to simply look at each vehicle that comes in and check for the need for your specialized services. You may also want to send an inexpensive mailing to your current customer base announcing the new service. With this, you will not only get response for the service actually announced, but you will also get people calling about regular detailing simply because your announcement reminded the customer of your existence.

One of the easiest ways to sell trim rejuvenation and lens clarification is through before-and-after pictures. It’s important to take pictures of every job that you do so that you can choose the best ones for portfolios or use on promotional printing pieces. A customer who doesn’t quite understand the difference your service can produce is likely to be quickly convinced with a good before-and-after shot.

Additionally, you may want to advertise your specific services. You will likely be the only detailer in town who knows how to handle faded trim, convertible tops, and yellowed lenses. Bring customers in with these special services and then sell them on the entire detail package. Your detail operation now becomes more of a “complete automotive reconditioning facility” instead of just another detail shop.

You will notice that I provide ranges for the suggested prices of these special services. Use the lower end of the ranges when adding the service onto a standard detailing package. Use the higher end of the range when the customer is purchasing the service a la carte.  Moreover, this service can be provided to new convertibles as a “preventative” treatment. Check with your local new car dealers to see about their interest in subcontracting your “convertible top sealant” service. You can charge the new car dealer a wholesale rate in return for volume, and the dealer can mark up the service up to 100 percent to the end user, who receives a valuable additional service on his or her new vehicle.

Summary

There are several relatively easy ways to increase the value of your service to your customers and at the same time increase the prices that you charge for that service. This is a win-win situation. You win with increased revenue and your customers win with service solutions that make their vehicles look better and stay looking good.

Prentice St. Clair is the president of San Diego-based Detail in Progress Inc. which offers consulting and training in the automotive detailing and reconditioning industries. He can be reached directly at 619.701.1100 or by e-mail at prentice@detailinprogress.com.