I cannot speak on the level of genuine intent or motivation of all people who have influence in the auto detailing industry, obviously.\u00a0 Even when someone is sincere in their concern about someone charging at a rate that will allow for business growth and a higher quality of life, there is often push back.\u00a0 There is a ‘easy for you to say’ attitude, or assumption we never started at the bottom.\u00a0 Detailing is one of the main industries where there is significant push back within and outside (consumers) about charging a certain ($$$$) amount.\u00a0 For many of us, it is just about bringing an awareness of the importance of treating your operation like a business (return for the pain of being the boss).<\/p>\n
We often tell ourselves this irrational fairy tale that our low priced but high effort work will organically expand our business.\u00a0 The reality is there is a certain dollar amount that we often get to that a certain consumer group will never have a genuine interest in the business we aspire to grow.\u00a0 Honestly a higher concentration of that low buying demographic will be predatory in how they treat you.\u00a0 But an even greater percentage will be loyal only to that price over you\/business.\u00a0 When you have no choice but to raise your prices even marginally, you will lose those people.<\/p>\n
There is a cold realization that comes with changing prices at some point.\u00a0 Many of my old clients have provided value to my business, which I am grateful for.\u00a0 Many have said nice things on social media about me and left reviews.\u00a0 But many of those customers will likely never be able to afford or be willing to pay the prices for my services currently.\u00a0 This became a reality years prior, even before inflation really affected cost.\u00a0 This is something for you to think about.\u00a0 \u00a0New detailers frequently hold on to this cheap customer loyalty fairy tale, when they convince themselves to build a business on a low price and subsequent customer base.\u00a0 This is not even one of the contextual points many of the veteran detailing owners make when we suggest raising prices.<\/p>\n
$500 was the cut off for this client many years ago.\u00a0 Not mentioned was my attempt at cleaning up the engine bay.\u00a0 This car was totally neglected from a detailer’s perspective.\u00a0 This is a common story for consumers who likely are not and never will spend much on a detail.\u00a0 In fact, a detail will often be treated like a once in a lifetime experience.\u00a0 Many of these people genuinely are appreciative clients, who spoke very highly of mine and other detailers’ efforts.<\/p>\n
With respect to content creation, this car was also another step in legitimizing myself in my area and beyond.<\/p>\n