ADN fall 2023 web

tings and to have it on your back porch
next to your pool you want to preserve
it because we all know, no matter
where you live, you start catching
that tarnish and that rust,
especially here in Florida… so,
that's something that's super
helpful. I've noticed as well is:
Storefronts. A lot of the detailers
are expanding into doing
retail in store fronts.That's another
trend as well. Selling detail
products. Detailers are able to
catch customers on the service side
and then, as they're leaving, you're
also able to help them with maintaining
and setting them up for success with all
the products right out of your store front,
whether it's a small corner in your shop or
a dedicated x amount of square footage
… it accommodates extra revenue. But
then you get customers who may walk in
through your door who aren't fit for your
service, but they need a product. So, no
matter what, you're still getting a dollar
in your pocket from that customer, so it's
definitely created additional revenue.
Debra Gorgos:
?
I just heard about a
detail shop in Florida
that opened up a
waiting room where
you can watch the vehicle being
detailed and it's a really fancy
area and there's comfortable
seats because people want
to see the process.
Justin Labato: Yeah, Matt Kelly actually
has something like that in his Auto
SPA, where he has the big glass wall
where you could see them working, and
a lot of people have done that, and I've
even seen some where they've made their
technicians wear lab coats.
Renny Doyle: It's funny because Jason
and I can tell you back in the day where
we kind of were taking that direction. I
still like aprons and we're seeing where
these young detailers are seeing value and
staying clean and having a tool pouch detailers
helper. It's all great, but we're seeing
more and more people with the lab
Justin Labato
coats, they're bringing on the professional
aprons… I'm really happy to see that.
Debra Gorgos:
?
With the pandemic
happening, and the
germ warfare has it
impacted detailers and
the detailing customers at all.
Have you noticed?
Renny Doyle: I'll tell you right now: Do
not market COVID or anything with it. I
think that just keeping a clean car helps
you. But we've seen the people who when
COVID first started happening were like:
Steam will kill germs! Everybody was a
scientist and 99% of them were wrong.
I just told people to just keep promoting
the benefits of a clean car, especially with
people who have kids and you tell people
that you’re kind of an organic interior
detail and use as few aggressive products
as possible. You use very little water. Educate
them. Why of those facts? COVID
changed the world, and I really think it
just catapulted detailing to new levels. It
didn't hurt us a bit. I mean, I know it hurt
some people, but the strong got stronger
and I just think we stayed away from the
germ warfare thing. …I'm just so sick and
tired of seeing it that I just don't want it to
be a part of it.
Justin Labato: I would say you know
for me I love this subject because, to Renny's
point, I wouldn't market it in a way
that makes it sound like we're giving you a
You're supposed to listen to people
who've been there, done that and,
offer up these gold nuggets of information.
clean, germ-free interior. But I do
have an edge in the market because
my wife's sister is a nurse
practitioner for a pediatrician
and she actually turned me on
to a hospital grade disinfectant
that we were able to integrate
with our all-purpose cleaner for
interiors, and she was giving me a
referral service to some new moms
that were coming from the hospital
who needed their vehicles clean because
they wanted to be overcautious, and it's
something that we've utilized in the in the
speech that we give in person. We don't
market this online or social media… we
give a cosmetic and a stereo cleaning by
being able to attack all your common
germs and bacteria, but it has to be handled
differently, and above the traditional
detail that takes all-purpose cleaner
and transfers. You know your steering
wheel, bacteria to your dash, to your seat
and so forth, and that in itself is helpful,
and I'll make sure that people know that
we've been doing that prior to COVID,
so they see that we've been on the forefront
of making sure that we're covering
our grounds with that extra incentive. But
I did see how the market got a little crazy
with steam and all these other accusations
that people were making, but they weren't
educated on the subject. They were just
shooting from the hip and trying to capitalize
on what was going on, which they're
not wrong for, but they're not right for it at
the same time because they were misleading
and hurting our industry a little bit.
Jason Rose: I would add a little bit of
a different perspective on that and not just,
you know, making the interiors germ free
by cleaning and stuff, but I would take a
page from the airlines, and what COVID
caused the airlines to do was and is treating
surfaces inside airplanes in a way that
they had never done before. They’re using
antimicrobial protection products that they
put on surfaces both hard and soft, meaning
fabrics and plastics. And are treating
these surfaces with products that won't
allow germs, microbes or anything to like
stay on that surface and grow. I see a great
opportunity to apply products like that to
interiors of cars, like steering wheels and
you know, gear shifter knobs and door handles,
things that get touched a lot – especially,
you know families with a lot of small
kids, they're just a cesspool of germs being
handed back and forth from one kid to another,
and I believe that the science does
support that you can treat an interior and
actually protect it from germs.
Renny Doyle: A great-great point, and
the airlines are even using Clorox. You
know Clorox has got a whole professional
division. I think there is a fine line there. I
mean, I think all of us make a good point.
You bring those three attitudes together
and you've got a powerful statement and
I think what both of them just said is, it
makes you stand out in the market and
that's always good.
Debra Gorgos: I know
?
you all go to SEMA and
Mobile Tech Expo, the
Southern Detailers
Conference, and you're
meeting people who want to get
into the industry. What is it they're
looking for and asking about? And
I want to ask: Are they mostly
mobile detailers?
Jason Rose: Well, I think mobile detailers
go to all of those events and so
do people with shops. I think it attracts
many different types of detailers, but the
two things that I think people go to those
events for number one is networking.
They want to rub shoulders with other
people in the industry and number two,
education. They want to learn stuff. To
me, those are the two reasons people go
unless it's Vegas, and then there's other
reasons that people go.
Renny Doyle: You know, so you know
we just finished up our five-day class
and it's really amazing …Everything's
related back to business and lifestyle.
26 | AUTO DETAILING NEWS | VOL. 8, NO. 3 • FALL 2023