Your detailing business may use the best equipment but if your front-line detailing staff is badly trained (or worse – there’s no detailer training), they can cripple your operations. When it comes to delivering services, your customers’ satisfaction stands at the heart of the equation.
The more impressed your customers are with the overall experience, the more loyal they are to your business. As such, your new detailers training has to be as much about procedures as it is about team building in terms of commitment and responsibilities.
At DetailXPerts, we have a top down approach that mirrors real life scenarios as much as possible with quality of service, customer experience and consistency at its core. Each phase of our training is documented in a procedure guide and is broken down as follows:
• Phase 1 Company background and philosophy
• Phase 2 The Customers
• Phase 3 Equipment and Product Knowledge
• Phase 4 Detailing – Interior
• Phase 5 Detailing – Exterior
• Phase 6 Detailing – Specialties
Let’s take a look into all the phases:
Detailer Training – Company Background & Philosophy
Customers will tend to have more belief in and an affiliation for the company when they have some connection to whom they are dealing with and to whom they are entrusting their vehicular asset to. That is why all the brand representatives – from owners to management to floor staff – must be made well aware the “who”, the “why” and the “what” of the company.
Detailer Training and the Customers
The types of customers, their vehicle types and orders, their level of expectation and temperament will differ and how they are handled is oftentimes not given enough attention. Whether the new detailers are experienced or otherwise, they should be trained to meet, greet, handle customers’ orders as well as complaints, according to your company policy and rules.
Equipment And Product Knowledge in the New Detailer Training
Trainees have to know that they are expected to handle and detail the vehicles with the utmost care and precision in order that they can be returned to their owners, in a much cleaner and pristine state. To achieve that, you have to ensure your new detailers know how to use, maintain and get the best results from the different types of equipment such as vacuum cleaners, steam cleaning or air pressure systems etc.; the various detergents; and the post-wash waxing and dressing treatments.
In addition, they need to be taught what some of the things to avoid are e.g. when using glass cleaners, do not spray the cleaner directly on the windows, spray it on the cleaning cloth instead to avoid dripping on the upholstery.
Detailer Training – Interior And Exterior Detailing
Basic to any cleaning process, interior or exterior, the first thing trainees have to know is how to prep the equipment to be used and the area to be cleaned.
For the interior, all removable items such as mats should be brought out so there is as much access as possible to the interior surface. The floors have to be vacuumed next to remove particles and dust before starting the actual interior detailing into the nooks and crevices of the vehicle.
For the exterior, prep by removing any dirt, loose contaminants and dust from its surface. The main aspect here is the paint on the body which has to be cleaned to breathe life back into its color. This is followed by the waxing and buffing processes that gives it a protective and lasting sheen. Then, move on to the other exterior parts to be detailed. At each step, talk them through, demonstrate how and then let your trainees try it out.
The Training in Specialties Detailing
The approach to the training of the specialties or extra services such as air sanitation, carpet shampoo, swirl removal, and tire dressing, are all different and very specific. The underlying approach should be to talk them through one at time, demonstrate how it is done and get them to ask questions and try it out. At the end of each session, you should test your trainees understanding of the subject area.
As your detailing business grows, you cannot do it alone and you will need to bring in new detailers.
To keep things running smoothly and customers satisfied, you have to be able to rely on the team to be in their element to represent your brand and serve with pride. The better trained and responsible your team, the more time and resources you will have to devote to the macro aspects of the business. And if this seems like too much work to do, you can benefit from our industry experience and business expertise as a franchisee.
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