Starting and running a successful detailing business has a lot of moving parts and it can become overwhelming without a plan.
In this article, we will take a look at one of the most important aspects of any detailing business that far too many newbies fail to implement at the very start: figuring out their pricing structure.
The Three Detailing Packages Every Detailer Should Offer
Every detailer, at minimum, should offer three detailing packages for their customers. This helps you to be profitable while at the same time satisfying the majority of your customers.
Offering 3 different packages to your prospective clients is a minimum, and of course, depending upon your style of detailing and business model, you may want to create more packages. For example, in this article, we’re focusing on EXTERIOR detailing packages.
If you plan to offer both interior and exterior detailing packages or offers, you can easily add this at the start or down the road. When first starting out, there’s a fairly steep learning curve dialing-in YOUR unique detailing business.
Most people starting out will need to spend some time running the business in order to find out what it is you like doing versus what it is you don’t like doing and then customizing or tailoring your detailing packages for your specific style and needs.
Recommendation: Separate Interior & Exterior Packages
I would say most detailers include interior detailing in any of their detailing packages. This is a natural way to think and as long as you’re charging enough, it works. The problem is most detailers don’t factor in the time it will require to do both outside and inside detailing.
For me, if I have a car with a fairly clean interior, at a minimum, it will require about 3 hours to go from start to finish. At $100.00 per hour, that’s $300.00 plus whatever your exterior package costs. And interiors in worse condition will require more time.
In the industry, I’m known as a paint polisher, not a carpet cleaner. This is just because I’m more passionate about polishing paint than I am cleaning spilled coffee out of seats, floor mats or carpet. I’ve always separated exterior and interior packages.
Most people don’t question this and if they do, I simply tell them that if I’m working on the outside, I can’t be working on the inside, and visa-versa. For this reason, I separate interior from exterior detailing packages.
The result from structuring my packages like this is most people only come to me for exterior detailing and I’m good with this and one of the reasons is because most of the cars I detail are SIVs or Special Interest Vehicles, and for this reason, it’s usually the outside that needs help, not the inside.
If they do want the interior cleaned and detailed, I’m good with this too, but it’s a separate charge and usually a separate day. Once you let the owner know there’s a separate charge for either interior or exterior detailing, all of a sudden, the interior is less important.
And this is what I mean when I say,
People will let you work for them for free forever.
If it’s not costing them anything, or if they’re paying a set price for everything, they won’t care how much time you invest in their car because they’re not paying for it. Make them pay, consider separating interior and exterior packages.
Different Packages for Different Needs
Here’s the number one reason why you want to have a minimum of three detailing packages.
People are different. They have different cars, lifestyles and thus different wants and needs when it comes to hiring a detail shop to detail their car or cars.
Some people look at their car as an expression of their personality while other people see their car merely as a means of transportation. Not everyone that brings you their car is going to what your ultimate, show car detailing package.
The majority of your customers are simply looking for a basic detailing package, something that will keep their car looking new without them having to do the work.
Most people only want:
1. Shiny Paint
2. Clear Glass
3. Black Tires
4. Fresh Clean Interior
But there’s also a market for people who want the best. Their car is an extension of their personality. They want a more exhaustive detailing package to restore the factory-new finish and/or to create a true show car appearance.
Therefore, you should be offering both levels of service as distinct packages, plus another in-between, if you really want to target every type of customer.
Don’t Work Too Much for Too Little
One of the most common problems I’ve witnessed firsthand after working in the detailing industry for over 3 decades is the person that owns the business does way too much work for way too little money. And one of the major reasons why this happens is because they never created different packages, at different price points.
Friends are Friends, but Business is Business: Avoid Discounts for Friends
Here’s a lesson I learned from my good friend Earl the Plumber. Earl is a true gentleman and one of the first people I met when I moved from Apply Valley, California to Stuart, Florida. Earl (may he rest in peace), owned Stuart Plumbing. I met him because he was a regular at all our car shows.
Earl was always sharing one of his incredible red muscle cars and what made them all unique to Earl’s preferences, is they all had MONSTER ENGINES that not only looked impressive with the hood open, but also literally shake the air around you when the engines are running. Earl was definitely a fan of the Big Block Chevy!
Earl always had a GREAT sense of humor, here he is in one of his work vans.
Friends are Friends, but Business is Business
Of course, I was also blessed to earn Earl’s trust and detail all of his incredibly cool cars and because he was a great customer, I gave him a multiple car discount. There came a time when we needed all new shower faucets installed in both our bathrooms at our house. I asked Earl if he could send one of his employees that he trusted to come to the house and do the work. To my surprise, Earl showed up and personally did all the work. When I received the bill, it listed,
- Time
- Labor
- Materials
There was no good-buddy discount. No problem, I was honored and thankful that Earl personally came to our house and did the job himself. And this is the lesson to learn,
Friends are friends, but business is business.
Exception to the Rule
Like all things in life, there are always exceptions to the rules and when it comes to detailing, I’m a big fan of multiple-car discounts. I would much rather detail two cars for the same owner, and give them a discount, versus only get one car. And keep in mind, your best advertising is word-of-mouth. The more cars you detail for a single client, the more likely they are to recommend you to their friends. And just as powerful, when they can show-n-tell your work via the cars you detail for them.
Rick Goldstein – RaggTopp Founder
And just because I know many of you know and miss Rick Goldstein, Rick was a great guy and he loved Earl the Plumber, his sense of humor and all his red muscle cars. (Rick Goldstein, may he rest in peace, is the founder of RaggTopp and Wolfstein products)
1956 Pontiac Star Chief Convertible
And just to note, we used a number of Earls cars for our TV show – What’s in Autogeek’s Garage! Like this beautiful 1956 Pontiac Star Chief, the only stock car in his collection. Pictured below from left to right are myself, Frank Hawley, and Earl the Plumber. Frank owns Frank Hawley’s Drag Racing School.
How Different Packages at Different Price Points Manage Expectations
The underlying problem is too many future customers are more than happy to let you do more work than they are paying for. It’s not intentional, it’s simply the byproduct of not having multiple packages and matching the best package to each customer and their particular needs.
By having multiple packages for your potential customer to choose from, you educate the customer, and this is how you pre-set their expectations. If you have an entry level, or budget package that the customer selects, you are only required to do the things that this particular package advertises.
If you do more, that’s on you and of course it’s always a good practice to under promise and then over deliver. Where new detailers get into trouble is by not having multiple packages and then matching a package to their customer.
OCD is Not Always a Good Thing When Detailing for Profit
I think it’s easy to agree that anyone attracted to the car detailing profession is also the type of personality that tends to have what is called an obsessive compulsive disorder. It makes sense, after all, detailing is all about being obsessive about cleanliness and compulsive when it comes to always striving for perfection.
The problem with always striving for perfection in the car detailing business is that it means you do way too much work for what the customer has agreed to and is happy to pay for.
What’s needed is balance. You need to temper your desire to ALWAYS do as much as you can while doing what needs to be done. I would say from all the people I’ve met and worked with in the detailing business, this is a lot harder to do than most people realize.
Find the Right Balance of Time & Labor for Your Packages
When it comes to creating different packages, you must factor in,
- Time
- Labor
- Materials
Where most detailers struggle is with the first two listed items, time, and labor. While I can’t heal you from being OCD, my hope is this article will, at a minimum, help you to create a minimum of 3 unique offerings for your customers where they win, and you win.
How to Build 3 Basic Detailing Packages for Your Business
In the car repair and restoration world, there’s a term used to describe various replacement options that goes like this,
- Good
- Better
- Best
As an avid car enthusiast, I’ve done a lot of mechanical work to the various cars and boats I’ve owned over the years. When replacing a starter motor on a 454 big block Chevy, I never go for GOOD and instead go for BETTER. I rarely would choose the BEST option as starter motors are simply not that complicated. A quality Chevy starter motor will or should last for YEARS.
You want to think about the various packages you’re going to offer in this context. In other words, you want to have something for everyone, you want to have Good, Better and Best. Not everyone wants a concours, show car detail for their daily driver. If you don’t have a package for this customer, you lose out.
By the same token, some people are looking for the minimum. They want to get their car cleaned and detailed, but they’re working with a limited or tight budget. This is where your entry level package comes into play.
Below is an example of an extremely basic package menu for a detailing business.
| Package | Level | Service |
|---|---|---|
| Package/Approach 1 | Budget | 1-Step AIO Paint Correction |
| Package/Approach 2 | Mid-Range | 1-Step Paint Correction + Ceramic Coating/Wax |
| Package/Approach 3 | Top-Level | Multi-Step Paint Correction + Ceramic Coating |
The key is to have your packages shared or displayed on your website, social media, and in your shop so your potential customers can see what’s included in each package and the price point.
How to Name Your Detailing Packages
There’s two ways to do this: be artistic, or KISS – Keep it Simple Simon. I’ve seen people come up with really creative names to describe their various detailing packages and it adds a level of fun and individualism to your offerings. I could never do this because I’m simply not that creative or artistically-inclined.
My preference? Always keep things as simple as possible.
Never make a potential customer work at trying to give you their business.
They should be able to read the name of your package and get a general idea of what results they will get.
For this reason, I like the standard naming protocols you find most common in this industry. Here are some examples:
- 3-Star/4-Star/5-Star
- Silver/Platinum/Gold
- Bronze/Silver/Gold
- Ruby/Emerald/Diamond
- Standard/Premium/Ultimate
- Show Car Package 1 – Show Car Package 2 – Show Car Package 3
What Services You Should Include?
After you choose the names for your package, then list what’s included in each package. Like I mentioned above, you want to tailor the level of service to the package. Budget packages get less services, while top-level packages get more.
Here’s some examples for each package.
3-Star Package (“Good”)
- Hand Wash
- Clean wheels and tires
- Machine polish using an AIO
- Clean all glass
- Finishing touches – wipe down jambs, dress tires
4-Star Package (“Better”)
- Hand wash
- Clay paint
- Machine polish paint – Dedicated paint correction process
- Seal paint – wax, sealant, or ceramic coating
- Clean all glass
- Finishing touches – wipe down jambs, dress tires, blow-out car and engine compartment.
5-Star Package (“Best”)
- Extreme hand prep wash
- Chemical decontamination
- Mechanical decontamination
- Machine scrub tires
- Full wheel wash – includes barrels and behind spokes.
- Machine polish all glass to remove water spots and traffic film.
- Machine compound paint
- Machine polish paint
- Seal paint – wax, sealant, or ceramic coating
- Finishing touches – wipe down jambs, dress tires, blow-out car and engine compartment.
How to Price Your Detailing Packages
This is one of the most difficult things most people struggle with and that’s establishing the price points for your various packages.
My general rule-of-thumb is to figure $100.00 per hour as your standard shop rate. This is a good, as well as profitable baseline for most jobs. To command this level of pay, it helps to have an established reputation in your geographical area.
Factors that Affect Hourly Rate
- Experience
- Skill
- Mastery of any given technique
- Demographic income levels
- Demographic cultural dynamics
- Supply and demand
What Should I Charge if I’m New to Detailing?
If you’re just starting out detailing and don’t have much of a name for yourself, it can be hard to get customers at a $100/hr rate. So what should you charge if you’re brand new in your business?
There’s so many variables that will affect what you can charge but however you manage this, keep in mind, it’s easier to lower your prices than it is to raise your prices. I see a lot of new detailers start in the $60.00 per hour range and if you hustle, you can be profitable at this rate. A good happy medium would be $75.00 to $80.00 per hour.
Once you’ve established yourself and have regular customers and good word-of-mouth advertising working for you, if you need or want to raise your prices, a good way to do this is at the start of the year. Announce to all your regular customers you’re implementing a 17% increase across all packages.
Tip: Charge a Flat Fee for Packages — Not By the Hour
While a $100/hr shop rate is standard in the industry, you shouldn’t charge customers for your packages by the hour. Instead, sell your packages at a set price-point by calculating the average time it takes to complete a service and the costs of the materials needed to complete the work.
Don’t make potential customers do math in their head. They don’t need to know your shop rate, (unless they ask), what you want to provide is the package cost. Make it simple, make it easy to understand what a potential customer will get with the package and what it will cost.
How to Calculate Average Service Time: Track Your Hours!
When starting out, you’ll tend to take more time as there’s always a learning curve to any vocation. That said, keep a notebook handy and write down how much time you spend on any given task. For example,
- How long it takes to wash a car from start to finish.
- How long it takes to compound a car from start to finish.
- How long it takes to polish a car from start to finish.
- How long to machine apply and AIO from start to finish.
- How long to machine polish exterior glass (topical glass polishing).
- How long will it take to wipe down all the jambs and blow-out the car.
- How long to install a ceramic coating.
- How long to apply a paint sealant.
Once you’ve compiled enough data, you can come up with some accurate estimates that you can use to price your detailing packages.
Example:
Most of my basic packages take me around 7-8 hours. Most of my 1-step paint corrections take me around 12 hours and most of my show car work takes me around 15 hours plus – depending upon the original condition of the vehicle. If you take those numbers and multiply them by my shop rate of $100, you get:
3-Star Package – $700.00
4-Star Package – $1,200.00
5-Star Package – $1,500.00+
Factor in Stand-Out Materials Costs Like Ceramic Coatings
It’s a normal cost of doing business to use basic supplies like tire cleaners, car wash soap, compounds, polishes, tire dressings, glass cleaners, etc. Stand-out costs include anything more expensive, and this is normally things like ceramic coatings. If you’re using costly ceramic coatings, be sure to factor in the price of the coating into the price of the package. You can even make the ceramic coating an upsell.
Include a wax or paint sealant in all packages, and for package 2 and 3, (the higher cost packages), offer to install a ceramic coating and then list the extra cost and let the customer decide. Of course you’ll want to educate the customer about the differences in performance of a ceramic coating as compared to a conventional car wax or synthetic paint sealant. Longer lasts, longer and better protections, glass look to the paint, easier, faster, and safer washing and drying.
More Tips for Getting Business for Your Shop
Beyond the basics of offering three tiers of detailing packages, there are a few other tips I want to share with you when it comes to getting new business into your shop.
Never Sell — Help People Buy!
No one likes to be sold something. But people appreciate someone that honestly, and sincerely, helps them to buy. You help your potential customer to buy by interviewing them to find out what’s important to them followed by inspecting their vehicle.
Then match the right package to your customer. Satisfied customers will return and tell their friends. Budget package customers can become high-end package customers depending upon their experience.
How to Interview a Potential New Client
One of the most important skills every business owner needs to master is the art of interviewing people. Generally speaking, most people will freely answer any questions you ask, and this will help you to get to know them, and what they’re looking for and expecting. The fact of the matter is that most people love talking about themselves and their prized possessions.
Know When to Shut Up and Listen
Years ago I read a book about how to shut up and listen called Listening Pays.
The point of the book was, anytime someone else is talking, don’t interrupt them until they’re completely done saying what they have to say. In other words, shut-up and listen. After reading this book, it completely changed how I interact when others are talking. I developed the discipline of allowing whoever is speaking to speak without interruption. Next time you’re in a group of people, pay attention to how many people DON’T shut-up when someone else is talking and instead, interrupt them or worse, talk over them. After reading this book, it’s pretty easy to see who has and who hasn’t read the book when in a group of people.
The lesson to apply is when interviewing a potential customer, let them talk, let them tell you what’s most important to them as this will tell you exactly how to make them happy customers and repeat customers.
Questions You Should Ask:
- Tell me about your car?
- What’s the most important thing you’re looking for? Protection? Correction? Inside? Outside?
- Are there any problem areas?
- What’s your budget like?
- Do you have other cars you would like detailed?
Know When to Say “No”
Not every customer is your customer. There are simply some people you never want to work for because no matter how hard you work, you’ll never make them happy. It’s your job to learn how to read people and when you come across what you think will be a difficult person to deal with, simply be polite and recommend another detailer whom you think would be a better match. Then be sure to have someone you can send them to.
Most people don’t know the difference between a Swirl and a Squirrel…
For clarification, this is a Squirrel, and these are Swirls!
Inspect the Car With the Owner Present
Remember, most people only know how to start the car. They don’t know much if anything about the paint, the leather, the plastic, the glass, etc. This is your time to shine and explain what can be improved. For the exterior, inspect paint, piano plastic, window trim, glass, textured plastic, wheels, and tires.
Don’t Forget to Inspect Glossy Black Wheels!
Black wheels, with glossy black paint, have been popular for years now. If you ever have anyone bring you a car with glossy black wheels, or actually, any type of black wheel, be sure to INSPECT the condition of the paint on the wheels with the owner and with a strong swirl finder light.
Why?
These types of wheels scratch very easily and most car owners don’t even know they’re scratched. Like I said earlier, most drivers only know how to start and drive their cars — they’re not inspecting or keeping tabs on their wheel’s paint finish.
You want to inspect them with the owner so if they are in fact completely filled with swirls, scratches, stains, and water spots – you document the wheels look like this BEFORE you ever touch the car. Otherwise they won’t understand the work you put in.
Example: 1996 Corvette Grand Sport
Use a Vehicle Inspection Form or App to Document Pre-Existing Damage
Unfortunately, sometimes when a customer takes their car home and sees some pre-existing damage they never noticed before, they blame the detailer. So, when inspecting a vehicle, it’s a good habit to document any pre-existing damage so you aren’t getting blamed after the fact. So important!
Guide Your Customer to the Right Package and Close the Deal
After interviewing the potential customer, finding out what’s most important to them, then inspecting their vehicle in-person with them, next help them to select the package that fits their needs. Keep in mind, if a person only wants your basic, entry level package, this is your chance to prove you were the right choice. Do a stellar job and you never know, this might have been a test before they bring you their real toy!
Final Thoughts
Detailing cars is a lot of hard work. The last thing you want to do after a job and at the end of the day is to have any regrets. The worst regret is feeling like you didn’t charge enough for all the hard work you did. Besides the physical aspect, a detailer also has to intently focus on the job-at-hand. Factory clearcoats are thin, if you buff too hard or too long, you can buff through the clearcoat even if you are focusing on the task-at-hand. The physical and mental drain is only worth it if after it’s all said and done, you also feel like you were appropriately rewarded.
Besides all the other factors that determine your pricing, also consider what will it take in the way how much you charge to have no regrets when you lay your head on your pillow at night. Include this thought-train when determining your pricing structure. And if someone brings you a vehicle that is in extraordinarily, horrible condition, consider pointing this out to the owner and stating for this reason there will be an extra charge or consider turning the job down. I’d rather turn a job down than regret taking it after the fact.
And remember, the best time to raise your prices is at the beginning of the year. A lot of companies do this to adjust for inflation and other factors that affect a business model. Thus most of the population are already used to this type of pricing change at this time of year.
My Personal Offer to Help
I’ve been answering car detailing questions professionally since 2002 and moving forward, if after reading this article you have any questions about polishing and waxing, or how to use an AIO, my contact information is below, reach out to me, I’m always happy to help.
Would You Like to Learn How to Machine Polish Like a Pro?
- Would you like to take your detailing skills to a higher level?
- Do you find you learn better by doing versus sitting in a chair looking at a PowerPoint presentation about car detailing?
Here at Dr. Beasley’s O.R., (Operating Room), in sunny Stuart, Florida, we teach the most hands-on car and boat detailing classes on planet Earth. And we prove it too. You can find write-ups on the Dr. Beasley’s Blog that photo-documents just how hands-on our classes are plus you’ll see the kinds of cars and boats you’ll be training on.
Click the link below to find the dates, locations, topics, and prices for all upcoming detailing classes.
Upcoming Detailing Classes – Prices – Info – Topics – Locations
And if you ever have any questions, always feel free to reach out to me personally via text, phone call or email.
I hope to see you in a future detailing class!
Sincerely,
Mike Phillips
Chief Education Officer for Dr. Beasley’s
Mike@drbeasleys.com
760-515-0444
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