I visit a lot of panel shops around Australia, and as I come from a detailing background I am constantly amazed at the misuse (abuse even) of the term ‘detailing’. Most shops use this word to describe the step in the repair process that includes de-nibbing, polishing, washing and presenting the car for the customer. This isn’t detailing at all: it is the end of the painting process and basic vehicle presentation.
Detailing, on the other hand, is an art, which when learned properly can earn your shop thousands of retail dollars. There is no waiting to get paid by insurers here, and it can provide cash flow, fantastic word-of-mouth advertising and as you are already at least partly equipped, requires very little capital to step into.
In our business we offer high-end paint rejuvenating, long-term genuine protection of paint, interiors, alloy rims and trim. We do this for two reasons:
- Demand for the service.
- It pays well and better still, it pays now.
So what do you need to tap this lucrative market? Firstly, most panel shop owners, painters and detailers need to open their minds to different products and techniques than those they are used to. Heavy cutting compounds, wool pads and high speed machines all need to be left in the back of the shop. Finesse, a gentle touch and a keen eye are your main skills for permanently removing swirls, light scratches and holograms from paint.
Equipment
Equipment-wise, you will need the following:
- A range of foam pads capable of varying levels of polishing. These need to be in new or very good condition and clean.
- The best quality microfibre towels you can buy. Good towels will cost from $5 to $15 each and you will need at least 10 of them per car.
- Quality halogen or metal halide lighting so swirl marks, holograms and buffer trails show up easily.
- A range of modern abrasive polishes that do not fill, hide or otherwise cover up defects. One compound or polish will not suffice; two or three will deliver perfect results.
- A range of all-purpose cleaners and decontaminating products for interiors, door jambs, engines, wheels etc.
- Specialist interior cleaners for leather, shampoo to freshen carpets and mats and something non-static and non-greasy
for the dash. - A range of high-quality polymer paint sealants, carnauba waxes and long-term paint coatings.
- Quality variable speed rotary and random orbital buffing machines. Rotary polishers with an 8” pad attached are not required in detailing of this nature drop down to 6” for most panels and 3” for tight areas. Always finish with a random orbital machine.
- A paint thickness gauge. If you do not know how much paint is on the car, then how do you know how much you can remove?
Skills and training
Pay a specialist or expert supplier to train your staff to do the job right the first time. Training can also cover marketing and point of sales techniques. In terms of skills and processes, you will need to learn the following:
- How to estimate a car detail and protection package that justifies the $700 to $1500 price tag.
- The front of house must present well; if you want people to leave their pride and joy with you for two or three days and to part with a sizeable sum of cash, you need to look like you and your business is capable. You will need a sound technical knowledge to explain the process to the client.
- You will need to document and learn the process of foam washing, washing, decontamination, claying, paint correction, paint wipe-down to remove polishing oils, application of protective products. You will also need to know interior cleaning techniques involving leather, plastics, carpet etc.
Assuming you have read to this point, you may have figured out that we are not talking about the corner car wash that offers a wash, cut and polish and wax for $100 in 45 minutes while the owner sips a latte. We are talking about serious, highly technical, real detailing using the best products available to earn good money and now.
As is often said, you need to diversify or die. High-end detailing is one area you can easily diversify into.