Auto Detailing News

TRICKS
OF THE TRADE
Presenting some of the best detailing discussions from The Car Wash Forum (formerly
known as autocareforum.com). Please Note: Some posts feature minor edits for
readability.) Please note, opinions and statements made here are by each forum user
and do not necessarily reflect the viewpoints of Auto Detailing News.
Advice for Beginners
Looking for advice on starting a detail
business. We have 2 express tunnel
washes and at each wash location room to
establish a detail business line - basically
already there. Previous owner did - but I
guess did not charge enough and found it
to be unsuccessful. Yet we call around to
detailers in the area and they are booked
3 weeks out. Please let me know your
thoughts and advice on the best steps to
take to set it up successfully.
IMO you should start by getting set up and
have guys trained and ready. I’ve just been
helping someone set up a hand wash bay at a
self-serve, and he had his plan of operation in
place first, prices second based on how long
the job would take. MEP001
Have you reached out to the IDA (international
detailers association) I’m sure they have some
folks in your area that could offer advice on
setting things up, training etc... pricing is
directly linked to the type of detail you are
offering and the time it will take. Where are you
located? I might know a few people.
Mrs.autowash
IMO a good detail manager is key. A sales
incentive helps keep productivity high. Managing
quality is another issue you need to address
continually. Develop an order of operations.
Buy high quality products. Machinery needed:
carpet extractor, steamer, air tools ( tornador,
typhoon guns, rotary shampooer brushes).
Good vacuums, plenty of towels, rags, separate
window towels. Blend station for diluting chems
consistently. It’s like Marcus Lemonis says; it’s
about people, products, and process.
For years I priced my detailing too low.
Not any more. My detail manager prices the
jobs, books the work and collects the money.
Someone told me that the owner should stay
away from the cash register and they are right. I
make far more on detailing than I ever did when I
did the pricing and work myself. Waxman
Simoniz has a detailing system you may want
to check into. Greg Pack
IMO the key is finding a great buffer man or
woman. With today’s automotive finishes if they
don’t know what they are doing they can do
more damage than good. If they can buff black
and not burn the clear coat off the vehicle they
are a keeper. 99Roadking
Bad review versus bad customer
Well I feel as though I’ve turned this older around. Get many positive comments from my customers. I’ve had
two people leave a review on google saying the place was a mess, overpriced, and poor quality. I know for a fact
that these are bogus. And since I’ve owned it less than a year and the previous owners were clueless about the
business there are a lot of older bad reviews. So my question is do any of you know how to reset the reviews and
remove the false ones? I do respond to them all but if you just glance at our rating it’s low.
If it’s on Google Business good luck
getting Google to remove fraudulent
reviews I damn near learned 3 new
foreign languages with all the people
I had to go through to get mine
removed. DiamondWash
I had a lady leave a 2 star review this
week before contacting us about
the $10 hold on her CC. After we
explained it would drop off she still
left the 2 star review. If people knew
how much hard work went into
making a car wash the best it can
be, they wouldn’t leave bad reviews.
My wife and I strive for the best for
our washes. APW
I’ve learned to just run the best
wash that I can, and not worry too
much about reviews. Very little can
be done about them anyway. Yelp is
just a complainer website. Axxlrod
I was lucky when I bought the
[business] I currently own. The
previous owner required me to
change the name (which I gladly
did) and that allowed me to start
over with Google and punt all of his
terrible reviews.
That said, it still took weeks for
Google to take down his old listing
and make my new one official for
that address. They are a royal pain
in the a$$ to work with, due mainly
because most of their “customer
care” phone bank operators
moonlight as goat herders in
Uzbekistan. KleanRide
I have signs ...asking for 5 star
reviews if they like our wash. The
sign also says that if they’re not
satisfied or something is wrong to
please email or text me and I include
my contact info. Like KleanRide,
I changed the name when I took
over a year ago. The rating was one
star. Fast forward a year and we’re
4.6 stars. Only one dude left a very
negative review which was clearly
bogus. Car Wash Newbie
Yelp keeps contacting us to try to
get us to advertise with them and
confirm our business listings with
them. I then told them to hold on
while I checked into something
(reviews of yelp itself)... Then I told
them that I refuse to do business
with anyone with reviews of only 1.5
stars! That made me happy. JGinther
I once got a bad review on a wash.I
sold 3 years earlier that had been
torn down a replaced with a retail
store. Took Google 6 months to get
rid of the review. Soapy
A friend (geek) who helped me set
up my website says that Google
reviews matter mostly for search
relevancy, and that sites with the
higher review averages pop up
closer to the top, and more often,
when someone searches “car
wash” in your area. Not sure if
that’s accurate but it seems logical.
KleanRide
Had one review claim female cashier
was rude, Told yelp it must have
been for some other business
since we don’t have any female
employees. They refused to remove
it. Magic words when they call me
to advertise “Remove me from your
call list”. Earl Weiss
All those reviews from Google and
Yelp are mainly people that are
drunk at 2:00 in the morning and
have nothing else to do. Think
of how many times a customer
comes up to you at your wash and
compliments you. To me that means
more than most of these idiots
leaving 1 to 3 star reviews that are
mostly bs. Damoni88
Only thing I can recommend to
minimize this is have a phone
number readily available on
the site. Sometimes they call,
sometimes they don’t. I’ve got a
google voice number now which
is free and allows options such as
call forwarding and a transcript of
voicemail sent to email.. Greg Pack
One thing I do is to go on my
Google Biz Page and respond to the
reviews. Some of the jerkier ones I
ignore, like you do with a bad dog.
Sometimes there is no sense in
arguing. Waxman
Whenever I get a lower review
on Google I then search out the
reviewer and see all their other
reviews of businesses. Almost
always their other reviews are low
as well. Had one lady give me a
one star review (no explanation or
comment). I looked her up and she
had given over 100 one-star reviews
on Google. That was the only rating
she gave anyone. Look up your poor
reviews and see what those same
people are reviewing everyone else.
Copperglobe
I myself do not worry about bad
ratings. I believe most people only
seek out reviews just to see how
their experience matches up to
others to reinforce their opinion.
MidAtlanticCarwasher
There is not much you can do for the
bad reviews. ... I know I have tons of
happy customers who keep coming
back. To those customers I say,
“I’m trying to boost my presence
online, and appreciate it if you do a
good google review. Also for your
trouble I’ll give you a free $10 Value
Card after you do your review”
stampedcarwash
28 | AUTO DETAILING NEWS | VOL. 5, NO. 1 • SPRING 2020