Why You Will Not Find A Good Detailer: Your Expectations

How much thought have you put into buying a gallon of milk?  I imagine very little.  Most people do not realize providing a professional detailing service that you may appreciate is more complicated than this purchase.

“How much is a typical detail?  You know a detail, (whatever I out of a million people believe) just a standard detail.”  That question is usually a euphemism for whatever makes the customer happy based upon on their assumptions of a perfect to them car at a competitively low price.  This approach will ultimately lead to your unhappiness.  If you have expectations or value your car, this line of thinking conflicts with the work and variability of what comes with booking with a legitimate business.  Running a real business is expensive and exhaustive.  People who run a real business are more likely to be reputable in all areas that include your long-term care.  To make that worthwhile, keeping that detailer coming back, there needs to be a level of compensation and clear communication that business worth it!

You may be saying, ‘well we don’t know.’ Many of us are very aware of this reality.  You may also think you have an understanding about detailing that contradicts what the professional business owner is displaying on his or her website.

There is a better alternative to asking a search engine, that often pulls from irrelevant resources in an unregulated industry, ‘how much is’ or ‘what is a detail.’  Talk to an actual professional.  Have a conversation about what is a detail to YOU.  Ask a detailer you might book with his or her interpretation of detailing, from a general overview down to specific options.  I find taking 30 minutes out of my day to get a better understanding of a service option to be more practical than trying to justify my displeasure in a service that is consistently offered to thousands of people who have unique concepts of automotive detailing.

As a professional and mentor, I speak to detailers about setting expectations.  Yes, that is why you do not get an immediate and simple answer to, ‘how much is a detail.’  But this article is centered on you the consumer.  Your reluctance to facilitate or at least engage in a conversation, results in you being in the percentage of primarily high-volume shops that have disappointed or underwhelmed customers.  The get them in and out quickly with a low price mentality; the numbers game.

Instead of being authentic, I could tell you what you want to hear.  I could offer you services you say you want versus directing you towards what you need or what I know will make a difference in your level of satisfaction.  But as a business owner I do not take the easy way out of selling my services.  We are all part of the buying public.  There are consequences for being negligent in choosing the wrong package and or the wrong detailing business.  Most of the reputable businesses have a similar motto.