IDA Certification

[shane@detailedreflections]

It was brought up in another thread if we’ve gone through the IDA certification process or not and if it was worth it. We have not. I’ve decided to copy my reply here in hopes of gaining some possible insight on it’s value if anyone has done it. 

 

Here’s my post:

 

I am not yet. I’ve toyed with the idea of doing it. It’s not that expensive. I think about $350-400 if my memory is right. It’s pretty much tests more than a guided course to certification. Then after that you can do a skills verification for more money. I’ve been on the fence about it for a few reasons. Maybe someone will chime in...

 

- Should I do it for just myself?  Do I pay for the guy I do work with?  If so, that doubles my cost. I almost feel we should both do it. But I suppose as long as one of us has it, we can claim it?

 

- Is there really a return on it?  Only one vendor has asked me about it. Nobody else has. And certainly no client has ever brought it up. Does that mean it wouldn’t be a good talking point to premium pricing?  Or why you’re more expensive?  

 

- It’s a renewable cost, and while I’ve seen more detailers buying in, I’m not clear on exactly what they offer that couldn’t be answered by looking through a portfolio?

 

I am curious on this discussion...I may actually post it to it’s own thread with a copy of this post.  Actually, I am going to do that now. 

 

Edit: I just directly contacted Scott at Autodermatology to get his thoughts. Maybe he will chime in here. 

Edited March 5, 2018 by shane@detailedreflections

[FrozenWS6]

Shane. I posted on the other thread but I’ll put it here also.

 

For me being in Alaska the certificates won’t make a difference for me. Other then being able to learn something new personally.

My customers won’t pay any extra because of it. Many I would suspect haven’t even heard of it so it won’t matter to them. Just something hanging on the wall to talk about. So it would be a very high expense for no gain here. But I’m always up for learning. Just wouldn’t be able to make it happen for a while yet. Have an expensive and needed here store front limits the extra expenses for now.

 

My work and pictures of what I’ve done for others speaks for it’s self and I’ve already earned my customers trust and respect. I also have a few cars that I’ve done stored here all winter so it’s easy for me to show them the real deal not just a picture.

Edited March 6, 2018 by FrozenWS6

[mc2hill]

17 hours ago, shane@detailedreflections said:

It was brought up in another thread if we’ve gone through the IDA certification process or not and if it was worth it. We have not. I’ve decided to copy my reply here in hopes of gaining some possible insight on it’s value if anyone has done it. 

 

Here’s my post:

 

I am not yet. I’ve toyed with the idea of doing it. It’s not that expensive. I think about $350-400 if my memory is right. It’s pretty much tests more than a guided course to certification. Then after that you can do a skills verification for more money. I’ve been on the fence about it for a few reasons. Maybe someone will chime in...

 

- Should I do it for just myself?  Do I pay for the guy I do work with?  If so, that doubles my cost. I almost feel we should both do it. But I suppose as long as one of us has it, we can claim it?

 

- Is there really a return on it?  Only one vendor has asked me about it. Nobody else has. And certainly no client has ever brought it up. Does that mean it wouldn’t be a good talking point to premium pricing?  Or why you’re more expensive?  

 

- It’s a renewable cost, and while I’ve seen more detailers buying in, I’m not clear on exactly what they offer that couldn’t be answered by looking through a portfolio?

 

I am curious on this discussion...I may actually post it to it’s own thread with a copy of this post.  Actually, I am going to do that now. 

 

Edit: I just directly contacted Scott at Autodermatology to get his thoughts. Maybe he will chime in here. 

 

13 hours ago, FrozenWS6 said:

Shane. I posted on the other thread but I’ll put it here also.

 

For me being in Alaska the certificates won’t make a difference for me. Other then being able to learn something new personally.

My customers won’t pay any extra because of it. Many I would suspect haven’t even heard of it so it won’t matter to them. Just something hanging on the wall to talk about. So it would be a very high expense for no gain here. But I’m always up for learning. Just wouldn’t be able to make it happen for a while yet. Have an expensive and needed here store front limits the extra expenses for now.

 

My work and pictures of what I’ve done for others speaks for it’s self and I’ve already earned my customers trust and respect. I also have a few cars that I’ve done stored here all winter so it’s easy for me to show them the real deal not just a picture.

 

The annual membership is $110 for a operator/business, then there are the skills certifications for additional costs.  Their goal is to have the skills validation be along the lines of SAE certifications for mechanics.  If they can get the organization well recognized by the general population it would set you apart from the $5 wash guys. 

They also offer low-cost (no-cost for members) webinars with different aspects of the business. 

 

 

[FrozenWS6]

I think it’s a good idea.

But from my experience for my region it won’t make a difference. Because I will never beable to get what I should be getting for a wash. That’s why products like Wash and wax are so good for what the customer wants and is paying for. 

 

If I charge $100-150 to wash and LPS a crew cab long bed truck ( which at that price is a hard sell), that’s an easy 4-5 hour job that is $25-37.50/hr which means I’m paying myself about $5.00 after I pay lights, insurance, rent, heat. I’m worth more then 5-10/hr. In all reality I’m probably even losing money or not paying myself at all with that job. So I’m glad it is very rare I have done one. Since many people have no clue what all is involved in that process and even explain it to them doesn’t help much. They just know in their mind they want a show car with out paying very much. I spend a lot of time explaining, educating, and showing pictures and how long it took to get results to sell it. But most won’t commit to it. They will usually fall back to just a wash and wax wash.

 

The market here is competing against the $20 lazer wash. So for me this would only give me more knowledge ( which is cool with me) but has zero gain in sales or income. Unfortunately.

 

Alaska is it’s own beast. What works in the states will not work well here. I’ve watched it many times in my 15 years managing a corporate owned auto glass shop. That’s why I went out on my own.

Edited March 6, 2018 by FrozenWS6

[shane@detailedreflections]

I took the plunge and paid for membership and the ten tests...I haven’t taken any of them yet. I will in the coming week. I’ll let you guys know how they are.

 

I don’t think I’ll spend the money to get skills validated. I think our portfolio speaks for itself, and I’m not sure what doors the skills verified status would open for us. 

[Nathan]

19 minutes ago, shane@detailedreflections said:

I took the plunge and paid for membership and the ten tests...I haven’t taken any of them yet. I will in the coming week. I’ll let you guys know how they are.

 

I don’t think I’ll spend the money to get skills validated. I think our portfolio speaks for itself, and I’m not sure what doors the skills verified status would open for us. 

How much did it cost for the 10 exams?

[shane@detailedreflections]

All told it was a $310 investment. Annual dues are $110 and prepaying all the tests at once was $200. 

[Traizer]

I was looking in to this just a few weeks ago. Looking forward to hearing your review of the tests and the knowledge they may offer

[shane@detailedreflections]

So who just spent the last couple of hours taking the IDA certification exams?  This guy did!  I wouldn’t say they’re difficult.  Some questions are thought provoking, even requiring some research.  Some of them I was able to whip right through.  I don’t think there was anything in there that stood out to me as a moment of enlightenment even.  At the very least it was a comprehensive review of our detailing and it’s processes.  Will it change anything for us with our clients?  I doubt it.  It is a talking point about “why someone should come to us” though and it shows we’ve made an investment in our industry.  

 

So I guess I now get to add “CD” to my signature and IDA member...for whatever two cents that’ll get us.