Detailing Certification

Just a random idea i had the other night and I want to see what everyone thinks.

What if we got something going where detailers on this forum can get Detailing Bliss certified. Just like going to a tech school and getting a certificate for mechanics or something. obviously it wouldnt be a real certificate but at least something were Carlos could have some written test made up, then again people can cheat when its online so i dunno, but at least have some writeups and proof to show your work is legit. This idea spawned from me seeing many scammers and fake detailers on other forums as well as the ones that post up ads on craiglist claiming to be professional when they charge $50 for a full detail and use all turtlewax and armor all lol.

Im wondering if being DB certified would make us more professional when it comes to presenting our work to potential customers. let me know what you guys think. maybe im just crazy :crasy:

 

It would be a cool thing but it would not show a customer anything I do not think. I do not think a customer will be impressed much by a forum certificate. What you could do instead is point them to the site and give them your user name and they can look at your work and reputation. Not saying it would not be cool to have this but just looking at it from the customers eyes if a bodyshop came to me and said i am AutoBody101 certified it would not mean much, but if he/she gave me there user name and I searched there posts and looked at there work that would impress me much more.

 

I think it's an interesting concept, but the majority of people have no idea what DB is so that name would hold no weight with them.

 

It's actually kind of a nifty idea. At the very least, a little cert liek Meguiar's issed after completion of the Detailing Class during Detail Fest this past year.

 

C'mon man, don't be raining on the mans parade like dat. :gidiup:

 

I think it's a cool idea - just needs to be tweaked a little. Online certification as a whole is a little shady IMO. Just my 2cents.

 

Get your Ph.D in 2 weeks for only $150! Just fill out this form, fill out an online survey once a day for 14 days and we'll mail you your "certified" Ph.D certificate!



Good idea, needs some tweaking.

 

lol thanks for responses guys and yeh i completely understand how it seems shady and maybe i should clarify the certification would be more symbolic in the detailing community. Im saying we can start by having sumthing under our name or in the sig on certain forums saying that we are certified at DB. i usually do link my customers to my writeups on here but i think this would be like a club were were acknowledged as pro detailers . I dunno just a random idea i got like i said havent really had time to think about it more. just wanted to see wut everyone thought or if it already exists on other forums.

 

Hahaha, that will be hilarious! I will show it to all of my customers.

OR we can get like degrees in detailing! Like a Ph.D Doctorate of Detailing.. Wow, that'd be awesome.

 

If you want to legitamize what you are doing compared to everyone else, do what I did. I took many hours and did up a power point outlining the products, steps I take adn the results. Everyone I've sent it to has had me do their car.

 

what we need is a board or committee to regulate mobile and fixed location detailers. it is a profession i have chosen and have invested a lot of time and money in. i do quality work and take pride in my work. i would be nice to see a national org over see different states and have a newsletter and training on new things as they come out.

it must not however be run by any company with a private agenda. companies such as megs, 3m, cg, mothers all have their own certs, but they do it to promte use of their products. i have been to some and honestly they suck, i learn more here at DB than in a class full of dyi weekend warriors getting scammed for $100 and getting product pushed in their faces. not saying any one who is a car nut is a hack, shit most of you dont do this as a profession and are 10 times better than some in the business.

it should be mandated that every detailer have insurance and city license. i know i pay up for my insurance and business license and it pisses me off that some hack can buy a pressure washer, tank and go to wal mart and call himself a detailer. shit just the other day i was doing a car at a regulars business, one of her co-workers says, yeah my cousin started doing detailing. he does concrete cleaning and figured he might as well, he has a pressure washer anyway. i was like wow, cleaning concrete and cleaning cars is way different. she says yeah, he still isnt very good.

thats the reason most people look at us as no better than the local scratch and swirl drive thru. i would be all for having a sanctioning body to over see our profession. maybe we could make some money and be held in a higher regard.

sorry for the rant. i was trying to get a new customer today and they asked what i did differently than the guy who was there last week and charged $8 for a wash!!

 

A sanctioning body would be great. I would love the idea of a nationalized panel to bring more recognition to our trade. We are tradesman, and offer good services. There should be standards and regulations to some extent without making it too hard to break ino the field.

So, :agree: with the above post.

 

Dont apologize for the rant man i completely understand, thats one of the main reasons i thought about this. Too many people are calling themselves professional detailers these days and all they really have is a hose dish detergent and some turtle wax. I keep hearing "oh i can get that done over there for $50" and i always explain well the products i use are professional as well as my methods and bla blah they dont care. With some type a certification, I could say to them "well im part of the Detailing Bliss Certified Org." or sumthing like that and point Pablo and Miguel out and ask the customer if he thinks they are certified in any way to be holding a polisher. (Meanwhile Pablo drops his drying towel onto the ground and picks it up and continues to dry the car :doh Ill repeat again this is just an idea i had which sounds possible to me at least but may not be in reality. so any more comments are welcome. Ill run the idea by Carlos if a good amount of you guys think it should be.

Thanks richy thats a great idea. never thought of putting a powerpoint together to show the type of work i do.

 

Yeah. I love how people say the guy down the street will do it for only $100 or they know someone. I say, OK, go to them, but don't get pissed off when I look at your car and I point out everything they missed or F'd up.

I would say go for it Anbuzero.

 

Nonetheless, even if it didn't do anything for customers I think it would be awesome to have a DB certification for no reason but to have one.

 

Would love to hang on the wall. My wife would think I'm :crasy: though.

 

see i try not to do things like that. i dont like customers to feel threatened or like they are not smart for going with the cheaper price. that lowers me to their standard and i am way above that. i just merely ask, that if they are unhappy with the quality of work they get for the price to call me. i'll gladly charge them extra to fix the mistakes. LOL

 

Maybe Carlos could have some made up and give them out to each Monthly Competetion Winner instead of $300 prizes....:shrug:

C'mon guys thats $3,600 a year, to Me that seems like it could become a Burden :gasp:

Carlos, please don't take this post the wrong way. I know you warned Me to think before I post :duh: Well I made this post, let it sit for 15 minutes and as far as I can tell it doesn't seem offensive, just and Idea thats all :shead:

I think having something you could have framed/make copies of would be an Excellent Referral for potential clients. I mean if they would just spend 5 minutes visiting this site, they would quickly learn that we are eat-up with this obsession for perfection :giggle:


If I get the Boot for this 1 Guys/Gals its been real fun....:chips:

 

Like Carlos said, him taking money out of his own pocket is a sort of thanks to the members of DB, an expression of his appreciation for us taking the time to post the writeups and what not. I think it'd be cool to recieve almost like a certificate of acknowledgement, something you could frame or something from from winning the monthly competition, but I think that's getting a bit off the main topic of the original post.

 

^^^^^^^^^^:gasp: I guess its just another one of my crazy hairbrained ideas > :sorry: