In this second episode of Talkin’ Paint, Gabe discusses why selling automotive detailing services on price alone can be a detrimental business strategy. He emphasizes the need for quality customer service and professionalism to stand out in a competitive market, and suggests focusing on adding value instead of cutting charges. Gabe also provides several recommendations to set yourself apart as a detailer and attract ideal clients who value the quality of work over pricing, including becoming an educator, acquiring proper business licenses and insurance, having a physical shop, carrying manufacturer training certifications, offering warranty, post-appointment care, and implementing a loyalty program. This episode underscores the need for digital content creation as a marketing tool. Gabe concludes with the notion that by focusing on providing better value, you can successfully charge what you need to perform exemplary work.
My name is Gabe Fletcher. I operate Ceramic Pro Pottstown aka Total Detailing in Pottstown, PA. I have been one of the fastest-growing Ceramic Pro installers across the US. I have a 20-year website development background. I built my first website when I was 11 and have been enamored by Website Development ever since.
Detailing Growth’s Detailing 3.0 is a program designed for detailers. I took my years of website, SEO, PPC and totally crushed our market. It was my proof of concept that I knew we could do it for other people.
Our company was started to help car detailing businesses scale by providing SEO services, web design, social media campaigns, training, and more! We offer many different packages that are tailored for each business’s requirements. There is no cookie-cutter solution.
00:12 Introduction to the Episode
00:25 The Pitfalls of Selling on Price
01:20 The Importance of Providing Value and Excellent Customer Service
02:20 Becoming an Educator in Your Market
03:58 Setting Yourself Apart from Other Detail and Film Shops
04:39 The Importance of Professionalism and Certifications
05:49 Offering Post-Appointment Care and Loyalty Programs
06:40 The Value of Offering Vehicle Pickup
07:00 Conclusion: The Importance of Value Over Price
07:22 Closing Remarks and Invitation for Feedback
(00:13) Hey everybody welcome back to our second episode of Talking Paint I wanted to get this up before SEMA I just ran out of time so here it is selling on price and why it’s stupid so I often speak to detailers and installers about losing jobs to businesses in your Market they’re usually trying to sell on price and they’re being told that they went with the that their client went with someone else or that their price is too high and they went elsewhere right in today’s world C customers are price sensitive to a point they have a
(01:03) lot of choices in this particular industry so if you’re selling on price alone you’re not going to stand out because there’s always somebody who can do it cheaper and there’s always somebody who can you know sell it different what customers really want is a great experience they want someone who’s professional knowledgeable and who can provide excellent customer service this is your ideal client you don’t want the clients that want the cheapest price because those are going to be the ones
(01:38) that are always a pain so next time you’re tempted to undercut a price think about what you could be providing in long-term value in that of a great experience the correct client you want will be ready to pay what you’re asking price is only an object to the uneducated consumer who doesn’t understand what they’re paying for when you sell on price you’re only appealing to The Price Shoppers who aren’t serious about protecting their vehicle and it’s these type of clients who will never be happy no matter how
(02:14) low you go and will always try and find some way to beat you up over the quality of your work the first recommendation that I have for you is become the educator in your Market become the educator provide excellent customer service you’ll create repeat clients and referrals which is a key to any successful business because referrals are free money you as a business owner should look for any morally sound way to collect free money because Price Shoppers nine out of 10 aren’t going to give you referrals and if somebody is shopping
(02:52) for price you should have your elevator speech or your elevator pitch on why they should choose you versus somebody else who’s cheaper becoming an educator surrounding your particular market and the services that you offer whether it be ceramic cating paint protection detailing window tint becoming an educator is going to be the number one way that you get to charge more because people now get a chance to see that you know what you’re doing get to show them the level of quality that you bring to the table and by becoming an educator
(03:30) you become trustworthy because the trustworthy service is the one that’s always going to capture the client that has the money to spend and trust is built over time low pricing is an easy way out that is not going to help your business long term building trust with your client and becoming the educator will be the best thing that you ever do for yourself and your business let’s shift gears about how you you can set yourself apart from other detail and film shops the number one thing is you should be creating educational web
(04:09) content via blogs and educational video content to be put on your website social media YouTube all those types of places and it doesn’t necessarily need to be super high-end video you can just use your cell phone you just need to get in front of the camera and talk about certain things and why it’s really important that you have it done professionally here’s some things that you can do to set yourself apart from other detail and film shops are you a professional business if you are what things do you
(04:44) require to become a professional business you require Insurance you require a business license if you don’t have insurance you’re playing with fire because what if something goes wrong during an install that costs so much money that you can’t fix fix it yourself not only do you put your business at risk but also the client’s investment do you have a shop having a shop lets clients know that you’re serious about your work and that you have the proper space and equipment to do a job properly
(05:15) if you can’t protect the customer’s vehicle from the elements how are you going to protect the coding that’s being installed on that vehicle do you have a warranty or guarantee this is important because it shows you stand behind your work and it gives the customer piece of mind knowing that if something does go wrong you got their back do you have a manufacturer training certification have you been to a reputable training program I get asked fairly frequently if my installers are trained our shop is a ceramic Pro Elite
(05:45) dealer they’ve all been to their training programs and my installers are certified what about post-appointment care do you offer a followup appointment within the first two to three weeks after service this is super important because it allows you to check with the client and it allows you to make sure that things are performing appropriately on the vehicle do you have a loyalty program this is a great way to show potential clients and customers that you value their business and you appreciate it and you want to reward them for it
(06:18) this is geared towards more for like detailers and mobile car wash operators but you get the idea here our shop offers are a bounty program if a client comes to us and mention they’ve been referred by somebody I’m going to make contact with that person who referred us and offer them our Bounty and we’re going to offer to pay them via gift card or or some other incentive do you offer a vehicle pickup this is by far the biggest value that I think you can offer a client it saves them time and I think if you ask a
(06:50) client what their time is worth they’re gonna have a hard time not seeing the Big Value in that I know that I close people with that all the time time in conclusion selling on Price is not the best choice for your business price is an important factor but I feel if you can provide better value for your service you can charge the money that you want and need to charge so that way you can do the job effectively I hope that this was helpful for you and if you found it useful please feel free to reach out leave us a
(07:30) comment if you’re listening on Spotify there’s a question down below if you’d like to share some comments we’d appreciate hearing them I know that I would very much so I hope that we’ll catch you listening to the next one and if you’ve got an idea for something that you’d like to be discussed please feel free to reach out I’d be more than happy to try and cover it thanks for listening catch you in the next one