- Joined
- Jan 21, 2005
- Messages
- 29,368
- Location
- Mittel England
- Car
- Smart ForFour AMG Black Series Night Edition Premium Plus 125 Powered by Brabus
Prepare for a looooong post!
Speaking from experience as a person who regularly uses a detailer it’s very difficult to find a credible mobile detailer who I trust to do a quality job, and who is happy to do maintenance washes and light detailing at the my home. I’m not alone and so don’t give up mobile work until you’re very sure it’s right.
Some detailers start out out happy to do mobile work and then after they’ve had a unit a while they stop mobile maintenance work because the more expensive heavier detailing work goes to them in their unit - bigger margins, less travel - I understand the logic but it’s a short/medium term view.
I used the same detailer for many years, and several of my cars went to his unit for a week at a time a few times each year, and it was worth traveling to him for that. However maintenance washes and light detailing are just as well done at home, and I was prepared to pay over the odds for a maintenance wash at home. Whilst he was at my house he’d end up washing other cars not on the maintenance contract, agree other work, etc.
When he withdrew his mobile business he lost several long-standing good customers including me, but I doubt he regrets it at the moment as his unit has been full with the bigger detail work. Also mobile detailing is often confused with mobile car washers - and the quality can vary - and so the perception of a mobile-only detailer might be different to a unit-only detailer.
The reason I say that it’s a short/medium term view is that he’s missing out on regular monthly income from maintenance contracts -or weekly in my case - but he also misses out on the next major detail, the next correction, the next major coating, the next alloy wheel refurb, etc. He was the default whilst I had maintenance washes performed by him.
Detailing is becoming more popular but the number of detailers are increasing too, and at some point that return business and weekly/fortnightly income will be missed as the market saturate, and it’s difficult to get that custom back once someone decided to stop. Like the rest of the automotive industry - such as car buying and car servicing - a little every month adds up to more than a lot once in a while - and leads to both more purchases, and more loyalty.
If I was in the detailing business I would ultimately have both a unit and a mobile service, even if the mobile service is later resourced by a less experienced detailer who knows how to do a very safe wash, and does it really well, but doesn’t do coatings and corrections. Cars need to be washed much more often than detailed.
Many people who are prepared to spend a-not-insignificant amount of money on a major correction and coating and probably prepared to spend the same again over the course of the year in order to maintain it properly. They’re also likely to have more than one car, and so make it easy for them to include their other cars on the same visit.
My suggestion would be to provide an incentive to have an informal maintenance contract. If someone commits to a maintenance wash every month then give it a coat of something in autumn and spring for the same price as PAYG. If someone commits to fortnightly/weekly then do every wash at the “small car rate”, and then when you start increasing prices as you become established, reward the weekly/fortnightly by not passing on cost increases until the following year.
All my own personal thoughts but a good mobile detailer is worth their weight in gold, and they will do well - there’s simply no competition. Whereas there’s lots of competition in unit-only detailing and cheap and cheeerful mobile washes.
Good luck with your venture, you deserve to do wel.
