Auto detailing in Alpine NJ 07620
Last week I saw in article in the local newspaper and also the New York Daily News that stated that a town about 4 miles from where I live is the wealthiest zip code to live in according to Forbes.com. The median price of a home in Alpine NJ is 4.1 million dollars. That’s the “median” price. There are home son the market and recently sold for about 10-15 million. I enjoy riding through this small town on my way home on my bike. Its proximity to NYC without actually being in NYC is what attracts athletes, movie stars and celebrities. You can get to the city from Alpine in about 10 minutes with no traffic and have the luxury of privacy, tons of property and outlandish houses. Of course many parts of NJ and Manhattan are on that list and probably some neighborhoods close to you as well in different areas of the country. There are wealthy neighborhoods everywhere and expensive cars in all of them.
But it’s funny what you see when you can go through wealthy neighborhoods, especially on a bicycle, so I know it very well. I regularly see Bentleys, Ferraris, Maseratis, Maybachs, and all sorts of expensive stuff. The cool thing is that many of these people use some of these cars as everyday drivers. But even though everyone is beyond wealthy in this town, it’s still not easy to get them to detail their vehicles. Many people will not bring these cars to a shop unless they absolutely trust the person working on the car. Many people will not allow somebody else to drive the vehicle either to bring it to their shop. The only way to market to these people in this town is through direct mail and until recently the town was so exclusive and private that there were no house numbers assigned to the homes. The mail carriers just knew the peoples names and what street they lived on, and that’s how mail got delivered, or many people just had PO boxes. So it was impossible to market to these homes and advertising was treated as junk mail and never got delivered. It’s not easy getting to these very wealthy people to tell them about your services. But I love the town (who wouldn’t) and I need to get back home, so I always ride through various streets to just check the neighborhood out, and check out the nice cars, and sometimes stop and chat to people.
Take for example a Maybach I see almost every day on my bike ride. It’s always parked outside. Sometimes there is a cover on it but most times it’s just out there on display in the front of the property. I always wondered why this car was always outside. It could be raining, snowing, etc but the car was always there. I never saw anybody outside when I passed by and I swore if I ever saw somebody I would ask about this car and of course who, if anybody, does the detailing. One day I was riding by and I saw a guy close enough to the edge of the property where I could ask him this question without him thinking I was stalking the place. I told him what a beautiful car it was but wondered why with a 4 car garage in the back that a $400,000 vehicle was sitting outside all the time. He told him the dealer, the local Mercedes dealer who I know very well, had applied a special “coating” that would last for 5 years. He didn’t remember what they charged him, but on a car this price what’s the difference. I told him who I was and what I did and told him that this “coating” really wasn’t a bulletproof shield and that this car really should be detailed. He said he takes it to be washed at a hand car wash in a neighboring town, but would never let them “detail” it because he didn’t think it needed it because of the special “coating” and because the guys and the place did not look top notch. So he asked me a few questions such as where I was located, how long I have been doing this, but didn’t really interrogate me. He asked if he could stop by one day to see my place before he committed to me doing his car. He stopped by a few days later and I happily showed him some stuff (but he didn’t understand most of what I was talking about). But he did know that I was professional and that he thought he could trust me. He only asked about how much it would cost at the very end of the conversation and did not blink and eye when told the price.
So I lucked out by actually seeing this guy one day and getting to talk to him. The car had typical light webbing and scratches consistent with every day use. And the car was used almost every day. It was a pretty easy detail and fun to work on. It was certainly profitable also and the customer clearly could see a huge difference when it was completed.
So, jobs like these are pretty rewarding and hopefully profitable but not to the point where you are just ripping somebody off because they have a very expensive car and live in a multi million dollar house. But not every detailer is going to get these cars. You have to work for them. They don’t land in your lap as wealthy people are very guarded in who they will deal with. Now my initial visit with this guy was on my road bike. I was in a bike outfit and certainly did not look like a car detailer. However as soon as I started speaking with him, I had him interested. I guess I was playing a salesman, but I really wasn’t looking and hoping to get this car. I was just curious as to why it was always outside and what his reason for that was. I also have a customer in this same town that has 2 Maseratis. He drives one and his wife drives one…..every single day, no matter what the weather. And yes, these cars are also kept outside most of the time. I just love it! He found me one day searching the web. Most of my high end customers however I had to direct market to. This costs more money, but it’s hard to get these people any other way, especially if they are really not into their cars. Many people simply bring these very high end cars back to the dealer for detailing when they get the car serviced because they trust the place and it’s kind of a one stop shopping experience. And many of these people simply will not let the car go to a place they do not trust or that looks kind of shady.
So many detailers, including me, and some top end guys in many other wealthy areas of the country, never get these cars. But the dealers do and many times the customers are not nearly satisfied with the level of work. Now when I receive a call from this town, I don’t name drop (that’s so tacky!) but I street drop!! I will tell a potential customer that yes, I have a client (always use the word client, it sounds more high end) on Rio Vista, and a client on Hoover, and we do many clients on Timberline and Margo, off of 9W. And some of these people are a pain to deal with and some are a pleasure. Some will let you drive a $300,000 car and some won’t. Some want the car done the same day and other tell you to keep it until it’s done perfectly. Some are very picky and some are not. Some will still bust balls on the price and some wont. You have to get to know them and what they want. But working with cars like this and people like this should be profitable. We all want to be high end. That’s always what people coming to my classes tell me. But it’s not as easy as it sounds.
So that’s my story of a very wealthy neighborhood and a very high end car. Unfortunately, every car will not be a Maybach or a Bentley, and every job won’t be highly profitable. I will also have a story of a piece of crap SUV I recently had to do because my buddy thought he was doing me a “favor”. I still made some money but I had ZERO fun and cursed my way through the entire job. So be aware of friends and relatives. Stay tuned.