Driven By Details Podcast

Mattie & Killmer sit down to catch up on a new episode of Driven By Details. As we are halfway through the month of August both Jason Killmer and Mattie are feeling a little burnt out as we are both dealing with the "Small Business" struggle. Running and operating your own business is very rewarding, however it does come with a set of challenges that never seem to go away or get easy to manage.

Killmer was just back in Nebraska working on a few show cars, and Mattie had a few days away for service work as to focus on the rebuild of Gloss University web page. This new Gloss University web page has opened up a book of new ideas for the future and has also added a bit of anxiety to get this new web page completed.

In this episode Killmer and Mattie wanted to talk openly about what is going on in both of their small businesses, and some of the mental struggles that all of us deal with in someway or another. Thank You everyone for your support and we hope you enjoy this episode of Driven By Details.

Gloss University 2023 at the RingBrothers in Spring Green Wisconsin.

Killmer and Mattie sit down to talk about the busy calendar, and some of the projects that Jason has been working on leading up to this summers Gloss University advanced class.

This years class at the RingBrothers was really special, with a great group of students eager to learn. This two day advanced training offered great hands on learning on some really awesome cars. This was an advanced class based around wet sanding and paint correction, with a mixed group of students from across the country. During this two day class, students were introduced to wet sanding OEM and aftermarket paint, while getting to practice pulling out sanding scratches with a variety of tools, pads, and liquids. This two day weekend class allowed the students to work side by side instructors, David Patterson, Eron Knox, Jason Killmer, and Matthew Arendt.

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In this episode we are going back in time to learn about how the idea for Gloss University was born. I am joined by Eron Knox and David Patterson as we sit down to talk about Gloss University's up coming class at the RingBrothers in Spring Green Wisconsin on July 29th and 30th 2023.

For the last few years, Gloss University has held group training classes at the RingBrothers headquarters. Every class has been a experience to remember for everyone involved, and we are super excited for this years event.

If you are a looking to take your skills to the next level, a Gloss University experience will help break down advanced techniques and terminologies that will help you build confidence as a technician in wet sanding and paint correction.

The detail industry has changed so much in the last 10 years. In this episode, we talk about a few of the benchmark things that have changed the industry. Specifically, the long throw DA polisher and the microfiber pad is a main topic in this episode. Since the introduction of these two items we have watched the industry explode with many companies making DA polishers, along with all kinds of pad innovations. The DA polishers and the microfiber buffing pad has allowed many beginner detailers to enter the industry and achieve good results without any experience or training. Jason Killmer and Mattie discuss the timeline of this system entering them market. Additionally there are a few other things that have changed the industry like abrasives, ceramic coatings. What will be next? We will be curious to see what new innovations lye ahead.

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In this episode of Driven By Details, Jason & Mattie sit down and share some stories of when things go wrong. Mattie shares a recent story about a phone conversation with a detailer struggling in the field to complete a project.

As service providers, we are always striving for ways to make our jobs simpler and improve quality. However, sometimes things do not go as planed. Even with the best intentions, there are circumstances when things just don't go well, or accidents happen. We cannot control how or when these things might arise, but how we react is often more important. This is where experienced technicians have an advantage over the beginner. If you are a beginner detailer, and are working on building your portfolio it takes some trial and error and practice to hone in and perfect your skills. During this time of growth, mistakes are made, things go wrong, jobs take longer, results are inconsistent and this list goes on. At any level of service work, sometimes things just go wrong.

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What a great time to be a detailer. So many awesome products, tools, accessories, to make the technicians job easier along with improving the outcome. However, it seem like in the last 5 years we have more and more new products. Along with all the new products, comes the product reviews on YouTube. It seems as though the detailing industry has a completely different industry inside itself. So many YouTube influencers pushing out content for the sake of making content, reviewing a product for likes or affiliate commission. It seems as though YouTube has helped the detailing industry while hurting it all at once. So many different peoples opinions on one product can leave some of us feeling confused.

Whether you are a DIY or Professional Detailer, YouTube has been a great resource to gather information and get a temperature check on a product or a process. Has YouTube help the detailing industry or has it hurt the industry? We don't have the answer in this podcast, but its something worth talking about.

Mattie & Killmer sit down for a birthday podcast celebrating Matties 41st birthday!

Back from a recent trip to the RingBrothers paint correcting and ceramic coating two new cars, one of them happed to be Mike Rings new SRT. With only two days to complete the job Davy P and Mattie worked long days to knock out both vehicles. The first one was a new Black Acura MDX with 4,000 miles, the second one was Mike Rings new SRT.

I am sure most detailers prefer to work on new cars when given the chance vs countless labor hours on high milage used vehicles. However, many new cars are coming right from the manufacture with paint issues these days. A common problem is factory die back or paint shrinkage and this new SRT was by far the the worst we have seen have ever seen. If you are new to detailing and are not familiar with this term, you can ready about it on the internet. I-CAR and BASF have some information on there web page describing some of the causes.

Many professional detailers are equipped with the tools, pads and liquids to tackle the common defects such as scratches, swirls, blemishes, fading and oxidation. When it comes to Dye back, its more of a chemical reaction from the paint drying and some of these "defects" or "inconsistencies" are stuck in the clear from cross linking. Sometimes its an easy fix just by cutting with a microfiber pad, and other times its time it becomes time consuming and can involve sanding the paint.

Its very likely that the car care industry will continue to see more and more of this in the future, we walked to get the conversation started about this topic. If any of our viewers that are listening to this episode or have read this text, please reach out to Mattie about your experience on dealing with this, your feedback would be appreciated.

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In this episode, Jason & Mattie sit down to talk about about some of the things that lead to becoming efficient as a detailer. In the modern detailing world it can be really challenging to consistently be efficient. Setting expectations, being confident and doing what is best for the client is not always easy to do. Since Ceramic Coatings have become more main stream combined with lager tickets sales, some professionals in the detail community have struggled to put out quality in a timely manner. We as professionals tend to over think and over do many things in the detailing process.

Jason & Mattie talk about some of the things that have helped them become efficient with their detailing processes. Topics like, wash prep, customer communication, service outcome, expectations, practicing are just some of the highlights of this episode. Efficiency comes with time and the more you work at understanding your processes and knowing what can or can not happen with the service offering, helps you do what needs to be done quickly, confidently and efficiently.

Jason was just recently on a podcast with Nick from Hawk Talk, you can view the episode in the link below.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IRRBMHkIeY8

The 2023 Detailing Season has begun and there is a lot going on. It is mid April and the cars and trucks are starting to stack up as the phone continues to ring. New customers continue to call to inquire about paint correction & ceramic coatings along with detailing work. Jason Killmer is busy making sanding blocks and is cranking out his Master Sets, he is also getting ready to head east to Spokane to work on a few show cars.

We have been looking forward to going to California to host the Gloss University Event at Sprengers Detailing Studio, however we have had very little traction or interest in this class. Because of this we are postponing the class until further notice. Stay tuned for more classed coming in 2023, we will make announcements on the podcast when we know about more events taking place later in the year.

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Jason and Mattie are back from spring break! The 2023 Detailing season has begun and there are many exciting things going on. 

In this episode, we discuss Mattie's recent project helping the new car dealership solve a problem with a unhappy client. A new vehicle was sold last month and when the customer took deliver of the new Hyundai Genesis it has excessive rail dust all over the finish. Additionally, the vehicle came from the manufacture with a "matte" finish in the color white, with a gold flake that resembled the look of iron fallout and iron deposits. After spending the day at the new car dealership, it is very clear that not much has changed over the years. Employees seem to lack accountability and communicate poorly. 

Jason and Mattie talk about how this impacts us as detailers and what we can do to help communicate honestly with our clients!

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