I sometimes wonder when watching this section and reading new people come in and go as they usually do. How many of us consider ourselves pro detailers? When I say pro detailers I am meaning people who have clients and charge real monies for work. Myself I have been around detailing for around 10 years and still consider myself a student and far from a pro detailer that can charge for corrections and such to have customers that come back frequently.
So here is the question of the day...What makes one a pro detailer or someone good enough to charge rates for detailing?
What baffles me is I see people that post up about doing detailing jobs for money but then are asking the most remedial questions...To me this is what gives detailers a very bad name as so many people are out of work now that they have sought avenues of income that they can do quickly and easily (or so they think)...Which has flooded the detailing market with these "pro detailers" that are more or less scratchers (thats what we refer to them in the tattoo industry - pingers in the IT field)...
This isnt directed at anyone person but I see it on here, AG, DB, L2D and a few other sites where people feel if they pick up a HF rotary or DA then they are ready to correct the space shuttle...It just urks me and I wondered if anyone else feels this way as well...To me someone that is saying "hey I have 7 customers to detail this week; what products would you use? I have turtle wax black box, turtle wax ice, and some really soft microfibers I bought from walmart in a bag of 30"...
How does one feel they are a pro but still dont understand proper techniques or product use?
I feel what you mean Chris.
I feel the same way. I have been doing this for a number of years and such. other then doing my neighbors car cause he is a buddy of mine once a year I dont do any others and dont feel like I feel I would ever label my self as a pro..I would call myself an advanced hobbiest. I still feel like i have plenty to learn if i ever wanted to become a TRUE Pro. Just like my photography. I have been doing that for longer then detailing and sure I got thousands and thousands of dollars in camera gear I still dont feel like I could ever try to market myself as a pro for paid clients. I think these days alot of people read a bunch of stuff on the internet and buy some things to do the job and think they can go out and start charging for the service. With all the forums out there for each hobby/carrier it seems people dont feel you need true experiance to start offering the service as a paid job for whatever it is. they read all kind of stuff and then feel like they can d the same thing. Its far from being that easy unless your your job is something like swapping wheels on peoples cars.
I believe one of the most honorable characteristics a person can have is knowing what they have to learn beyond what they already know, even if they know ALOT already.
A big reason why i have mad respect for this guy.^
Just throwing this out there.....
I see "pros" at the detail shop all day, getting paid minimum wage, and using cheapshit no name products. That is their profession, yet I believe I can do a better job. Just because you are paid to do polish does not mean that you are the best. I would rather have ModdedMach do a paint correction, rather than the "pros" down the street.
Thanks for the shout out man. haha, makes me feel special haha.
AND I AGREE, Heres a little story:
Im at work, Im outside and a guy pulls up in a
beautiful late model Dark Grey Metallic Porsche 911 Carrera. So naturally, i complimented him on it. It was very nice, the big wheels, big brakes, loaded machine this was. I told him i liked the color because it was dark (you guys know im a dark color guy) and the Guy replies,
Guy: "You know what the secret to dark colors is?"
Me: "Whats that?"
Guy: "Wax wax wax"
Me: "What kind of wax do you use?
Guy "I have a detailer that does my car every 90 days, i think he uses Meguiar's Gold Class?"
:facepalm::facepalm::facepalm::facepalm::facepalm:
Wanted to cry, dont get me wrong, GoldClass
will work but the guy
pays someone to apply an $11 wax to a $100k dollar car...
It was in the shade on a cloudy day, wish it had been sunny so i could have peeked at the paint and see what the defect level was like. Stories like this make me feel like a pro because there are so many "detailers" out there that charge people money to use a kitchen sponge and bath towel to scratch up customers' cars, lol.
By your definitition, yes I'd consider myself a Pro Detailer. For a while I was doing 2-5ish correction details a month, charging in the $40 an hour range, have a website, clients, the whole thing. Kinda burned me out, even though the money was good. Now I'm still doing it, but not being very aggressive in my marketing, so I just get the odd customer here and there that finds my info somewhere, or is a referral.
I think that I was doing very good work for the money I was charging. I'm by no means comparable to some of the guys over at DB, who have very established businesses and reputations of excellence, but I think I do pretty well and offer a very high end detailing service.
I feel similarly... I dont call
myself or claim to be a "professional" detailer. But I do occasional jobs for good money and i do believe that my
methods and results could be called professional. While i do have a decent base of "professional" detailing knowledge, I recognize that I have a
TON to learn.There is
so much to know and learn about everything thats involved and it takes years to do so. The biggest reason I do cars on the side is to help pay for this hobby. And love detailing, its my passion. My goal is to get to the point to where i have some high end clients, but again, its alot about the cars, not just the money.
I agree with sikedsyko, some of the Guys on DB have some REALLY established businesses and have some PREMIUM clientele that makes me feel like a serious novice lol. But i do plan on trying to market my services a bit more to increase the frequency of paying jobs.
Im doing a paying job on tuesday, Wash, Clay, LSP, Windows and wheels sealed, tires dressed and headlights corrected. When tell people about my side gig, i say that I
do pro detailing on the side, but i dont refer to
myself as a professional. I think i require more experience and more of a history of paid jobs before i can refer to myself as a professional.
Like vader said, im an advanced hobbyist who does advanced level detailing on the side for money, lol
