Let’s face it – auto detailing has seen better days, and during a recession you have to find ways to increase revenue and stay in business. Easier said than done you see. What about adding plastic repair, would that make sense? It would be an “add-on service” to offer clients and nearly every car has plastic damage somewhere.
But how do you decide when repair something or when to offer the service and when it doesn’t make sense? Well there is a lot behind such decisions and you must make sure that you are logical about your decisions of when to go for it and when to hold back. Why you ask? Well because plastic repair is both an art and a science.
If the customer wants it you must remember that it may not always be appropriate, still it takes time to get a new part in, it costs money to buy the part, and it also takes time to repair it. All these are important considerations for your customer, but what about your shop itself; good question.
You see, doing plastic repair takes labor away from another job, and there’s a space consideration in your shop for the number of cars there. There is indeed a customer consideration for time too. Of course the plastic kits are relatively cheap, but they are not free, so you need to consider your costs on each repair job you take.
Sometimes you look at a part and say well that would be hard to fix; is my technician qualified, will it come out right, is it worth the risk to try, or should I just order another part and put this individual on another car.
One thing I found out in the plastic repair seminars is to never play the guessing game, instead follow the directions exactly. Never try to over promise or attempt something that the instructions say will not yield your desired results, namely a perfect repair where no one can tell you fixed anything. Please consider all this.