Pricing starts with excellence in service

by Prentice St. Clair

The detailing industry has long had as one of its main challenges the correct pricing and selling of the service. These two concepts go hand-in-hand. First, one must possess the confidence to set prices that are fair to both the customer and the operator. Second, one must possess the confidence to sell the service at the set prices and to handle objections to prices that might seem higher than the immediate competition.

The confidence to set fair prices starts with having the capabilities to perform an excellent service that is deserving of the price. Service capability comes from having the knowledge, equipment, chemicals, and procedures in place to perform an efficient and effective job that handles the needs, desires, and expectations of the customer. Once service capability has been achieved, an operator can reconsider his or her prices.

Achieving Maximum Service Capability

As mentioned above, service capability is affected by several factors. First of all, the detail shop must be outfitted with professional equipment and chemicals that allow the most efficient and effective treatment of the vehicles. Second, the detailing technicians must have the appropriate knowledge to properly perform a professional detail. Such knowledge includes the proper use of the equipment and chemicals, an understanding of the various surfaces of the vehicle, and an established standard operating procedure to conduct the detail.

For consistency of results, a systematic process must be put in place, and then the technicians must be trained on that process. This is one of the main reasons why I have been such a proponent of professional training for detailing technicians over the years. High-quality training, professional supplies, and a great process will help to maximize service capability, which allows you to command a higher price for your services because they are of a higher quality.

Fair Pricing

A common mistake in the detailing industry is to start with low prices out of fear of the customer saying “no.” It is also often assumed, mistakenly, that low prices will bring in more volume in the beginning. Those who really want to succeed or have a profitable business will, at some point, have to take a hard look at their pricing and packaging structure and make some aggressive adjustments.

Pricing that is “fair” has to be fair to both parties—the customer and the service provider. It is unfair for the customer to expect that you will provide excellent service, use professional equipment and chemicals, work your tail off for several labor hours, and then charge only a price that ends up amounting to $6 per hour after costs and taxes. You might as well go get a job at the local quick-mart and save yourself the hassle.

The price has to be fair to you as well. You should be compensated for providing several things: professional equipment and chemicals, consistency and reliability, knowledge and experience, solutions and results, time and labor, and professional value. All of these items add up to your ability to provide a service that the customer does not have the time, equipment, or knowledge to do for him or herself.

As an example, plumbers charge hourly labor rates of about $100. For this price, a professional plumber will come in, fully equipped, and spend about an hour to fix a problem that would take the customer all day to fix. The professional value in this service is that the customer is free to continue to earn money or enjoy life while the problem is fixed quickly and effectively.

As detailers, our professional value comes in our ability to do something to the car much faster and better than most customers would be able to do themselves. I remember the days of providing regular washes—occasionally, I would pull up to a private residence and notice the guy across the street in the middle of washing his high-end car. I could set up, clean the car (better than he), take down, and be ready to go, and, glancing at the guy, notice that he was not even done yet. Yes, some people like to wash their own cars for “therapy” or fun, but most high-end customers don’t have the time or compunction to do so. That’s where we come in.

So, back to fair pricing. A strong advantage of fair pricing is that it gives you more freedom to perform a more thorough service for the customer. If you are performing a complete detail for $100, you will find ways to shortcut. If you are charging $275, you can do a fantastic job and also add a few extra items in to make the car look that much nicer. The benefit of this level of service is that the customer is absolutely “wowed” when you are done. And make sure to mention all the extra things you did at no additional charge. With this approach, you develop a reputation for providing excellent service, for which discerning customers will gladly pay.

Of course, if there is significant extra work to be done to the car to properly complete the job (like removing the seats to get to heavy spills, or heavy concentrations of surface contamination on the paint), try to detect this up front and get the customer to pay and extra charge for the service. Most customers will understand an extra charge if you explain that the necessary extra service adds an hour or more to your normal time allotment for the detail.

I believe that the going rate for detailing should be at least $60 per technician per hour. Thus, a typical complete detail on a four-door sedan in relatively good condition, taking five hours, should be priced at $300. Those five hours are spent combining the best equipment, chemicals, and knowledge into procedures that are highly efficient and effective. That is, the untrained detailer might need eight to 10 hours to provide the same service, with inferior results.

Once you have the service capability to provide excellent results, you will have the confidence to charge a fair price. When your pricing is fair both to you and your customer, you will begin to develop the confidence to “sell” that pricing to new customers.

 Salesmanship

“Salesmanship” can be defined as the techniques involved in creating interest, for the purpose of selling, a product or service. Marketing is the way that we bring customers to us, then salesmanship is the way we convert them into paying customers. (“Marketing” can take up several articles as a subject by itself, but we’ll keep it to just a definition for now.) For a sole proprietor, salesmanship begins with confidence in oneself, one’s service capability, and one’s prices. Then there are specific techniques that can be used to increase the conversion rate. “Conversion rate” is the number of potential customers that end up paying for service divided by the total number of customers that call you.

If you charge according to my recommendations within this article (i.e., $60 or more per hour per technician), you are likely to be among the higher priced operators in your area. Your salesmanship skills will need to be honed and adjusted to prepare for price objections from potential customers. Customers who are referred to you by those customers who you have already delighted are far less likely to have an objection to your pricing—they are simply interested in obtaining the same quality service that their friend received. This is one reason why I am such a fan of network marketing.

Unfortunately, for every customer that does not care about the price, there will be 10 who are shopping on price alone. Your salesmanship skills are critical to convert some of these from “shoppers” to loyal customers. They will hit you with a number of excuses and reasons why they can’t do business with you.

The excellent salesperson will have an arsenal of comebacks to help break down excuses. On the other hand, sometimes customers who are oversold and talked into an appointment end up canceling or “no showing.” Before you hang up the phone, confirm the appointment one more time with the customer—time, date, location, service to be provided, and cost. This gives the customer one more chance to change his or her mind. I’d rather the customer change his or her mind while on the phone than on the day of the appointment when I’ve already blocked out the time! Make sure to call the day before to confirm once more.

My experience has been that customers who are “shaky” through the entire conversation, hesitant to commit to an appointment, and then end up changing their mind at the last minute, were never happy with the price anyway and are just saying “yes” to get me off the phone. These types often cancel within a few hours or days of making the appointment, saying something like, “Something’s come up—I’ll have to call you later.” Usually, this type is not worth chasing.

Occasionally, you will have a conversation that goes something like this: The customer sounds excited, you do a great job of explaining everything, and then, when you ask when you can take care of the car, he or she says, “I’m going to have to get back to you.” Now, it is easy at this point to just say, “Okay” and hang up. The confident salesperson, however, doesn’t let the customer go that easily. Here are some great comebacks to help you move toward closing the deal:

• Simply ask, “Why is that?” This is a reasonable question, considering you have taken your time and the customer’s time to explain your service. Often the answer is a reasonable one as well, like, “Well, I have to come up with the money.” In this case, you may want to ask when the customer expects to be able to pay for the service, and to offer to call on that date to schedule the appointment. Make sure you get the customer’s phone number and full name. Reassure the customer that you are not planning on badgering, just to help with a friendly follow-up reminder. Don’t forget that this is a golden opportunity to mention the fact that you accept credit cards, which allows the customer to pay for the service over time.
• Another option is the friendly, “Did I say something wrong? You seemed excited about my service.” Again, a reasonable question assuming you have had a pleasant conversation with the customer. This gives them a chance to explain their situation—lack of money, a busy schedule, just shopping around, etc.
• If the objection is about price, a great comeback is “Well, I can certainly understand that. Everyone is looking for a good deal these days. Let me ask you something, though: are you looking for the best price in town, or the best value and service? You know, you can get your car detailed at many places for a range of prices. There are people that will gladly detail your car for fifty bucks, but that’s about as much of a detail as you will get. I, on the other hand, offer excellent value for my price. The car will look as good as it’s going to, considering its age and condition.”
• If the customer insists on ending the conversation, ask if you can give one more piece of advice. “I understand that you want to shop the market of detailers, and I commend you for your persistence in finding someone that suits your specific needs. If I may offer just one important piece of advice: as you shop around, make sure to ask if the detailer is licensed, certified and insured. And also, make sure that the business offers a ‘service excellence guarantee.’ And, should you have any further questions, please feel free to call me—I’m glad to help.” With this line, I’ve had several “You’re too expensive” customers call back and schedule an appointment after speaking with competitors!

Your conversations with customers should be just that—conversations. Try not to be pushy or confrontational. Simply talk as if you were helping a friend understand the importance of detailing. Speak with polite confidence. You know what you are talking about but don’t rub it in the customer’s face. Just give the customer the information he or she needs to make an informed decision. Your confident conversion of the customer will lead the customer to be confident with his or her decision to go with your service.

 Summary

Your success and profitability are tied to several things. Among the more important of these is your ability to offer the best service experience, the ability to attract and convert paying customers, and to charge a price that is fair to you and the customer. Help your potential customers understand that they are paying for quality, value-added service and learn to respond politely to those who object to your higher prices.

 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.