Car detailing
How to document a detailing job
The doubt starts at home, in different light. The panel you charged to correct, and that same panel when you finished, on one link, is what carries the price. A car detailing tool helps when it keeps those two frames together.
Packages, rebooking, and payment can stay at the counter. A suggestion to do more correction is a comment on the job, not an automatic offer.
Lane Detail
In progressPaint correction · Model 3
https://opeo.io/fszZ1NF/
Timeline
Arrival
Completed
Work
In progress
Ready
Hood swirls
Hood, after
Water bead
What the customer opens. Example, not a live job.
Your public link
Draft on your phone
SMS or WhatsApp opens with this filled in. The shop sends it. Opeo does not.
A timeline that stays familiar
Shops that stop retelling the job keep one timeline, usually named Detail. The customer sees the same kind of page every visit. The example above is Paint correction · Model 3 at Lane Detail.
1. Arrival
The paint as it arrived is the reason for the price. A wash can hide that. The panels belong in the note when the number depends on them, with a close-up of each defect you are pricing and one wider frame of that panel so the close-up has a place.
2. Work
A wash does not need a middle step or a photo in the middle. The step earns a place when the car stays for correction or for a coating to cure, and then one frame of that middle state is enough.
3. Ready
The same panels as arrival, from the same side and a similar distance, so they are comparing like with like. If you coated, one short clip of water on a panel says more than another still.
A text that still makes sense later
These are the two texts worth sending: one when the car stays, one when it is ready. Both name the shop and the same link. The message goes out from the shop’s phone. Opeo does not send it and does not keep the chat.
Before you start, if they are not standing there
Hi, this is Lane Detail. Photos of the paint as it sits now are on this page: https://opeo.io/fszZ1NF/
When you finish
Hi! This is Lane Detail. Your job is completed and ready for pickup. Check details: https://opeo.io/fszZ1NF/
Enough photos, not a gallery
The frames that matter are the ones you would want open on their phone during the argument. Matching the angle before and after beats another angle of the same panel.
| Stage | What to shoot | How many |
|---|---|---|
| Defect you are pricing | Close-up, then one wider frame of the same panel | 2 per area you will talk about |
| After | Those same panels, same side, similar distance | Match the before set |
| Coating, if you did it | Short video of water on one panel | 1 video, not a video of every panel |
Six befores and six afters is twelve photos, inside the 15 on a free job. Close-ups belong on the defects that carry the price, not on every panel for the portfolio. A fuller set fits Starter (30) and above. A coating clip uses one of those same slots. One clip is the one people replay.
Plan limits are per job, not per step. Pricing lists 15 on Free, 30 on Starter, 60 on Pro, and 150 on Scale. A short video uses one of those slots too.
Common questions
Can I use the photos in an Instagram post?
Only if the customer said yes. The job link is for them. A public post is a separate ask.
How do I show a maintenance visit later?
A later visit is its own job and its own link, from the same detail timeline. There is no maintenance plan or rebooking calendar in Opeo.
Where does the customer reply?
On the job page. You answer from the dashboard. That thread stays on the job. It is not an SMS inbox inside Opeo.
The same habit, on a real job
The short version for someone comparing tools is on the Car detailing overview. The first car can go on a free job link.
Open a job for the next car