The Cruel Test Spot - This or that? - Reverse Bait & Switch The Cruel Test Spot
One thing I've done a lot of in my detailing career that's a little
cruel, a little
risky but sometimes very
effective and that's to do a little
test spot on the hood of a potential customer's car to show them what you can do and what can be done for their car's paint.
This can be very effective if the paint is horribly swirled-out or oxidized and of course if they're not ready to hire you after the test spot,
then let them get back to you.
Cruel
This is kind of cruel because since most people don't know how to create a totally clear, swirl free finish on their car's paint, by you doing this you'll have created a single spot that will stand out like a Sore Thumb in which their eyes, and all their friends eyes, will be attracted to each time they walk by and look at the car. It can even get you future clients you've never met before.
Risky
It's also kind of risky because it's possible that the person could become annoyed by your artistic work if they decide they don't care if their car's paint looks good or not and want you to "even" out the finish which is another way of saying, "Free Detail". Now that's never happened to me personally but I can see where it's a potential risk. This is why it's very important to Evaluate the Customer before you Evaluate the Car.
Effective
Assuming you make that one little spot look awesome they can either - Hire you to finish the car
- Try to duplicate what you did on their own
- Try to hire someone that can do what you did
Be sure to point out using the sun or a Brinkman Swirl Finder Light that the results you created are clear, shiny AND swirl-free because any hack detailer can make paint shiny but they can't always make it clear and swirl-free. Using the "Cruel Test Spot Technique" is most effective if you can do on the hood of a car, usually towards the front driver's side, so every time the owner goes to their car they'll see a glimpse or teaser of how the entire car could look.
Important Note: Always have the owner's permission to touch their car
before touching their car.
This or that? Your choice!
My friend Joe Fernandez aka
Superior Shine has a twist on this that's a better marketing approach, what he'll do is two test spots, he'll show a prospective customer what a simple cleaner/wax will do and then he'll do a multiple-step process to a nearby section and then share a little about the difference in complexity, time, labor and materials and let the customer decide which option.
This is a surefire way to get the job because if they don't want the more expensive multi-step show car finish they'll usually want the high quality one-step approach as Joe is very good with any approach and a job is a job. Actually, in some ways, just doing a GREAT one-step is faster and you've already established and grounded their expectations so they're not out of this world.
Genius. Reverse Bait & Switch
I have yet another well-known detailer buddy that asked to remain anonymous, that has a twist on Joe's approach and that is to offer a very high dollar detail to a prospective customer with a high-end car but then also offer them their very good simple 2-step package that won't remove each and every scratch but will make the car absolutely glow and most of the time the prospective customer will go for the simple 2-step approach which is still in the $400.00 to $600.00 dollar range.
Genius. Think about it...
Maybe this will spark your imagination to modify one of these techniques or simply incorporate it into your marketing practices.
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Troy Armstrong
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