OPT Training

[Lowejackson]

Whilst I would love to attend the training events their is the minor issue of money but another issue is the apparent focus on professionals.  I know from the podcast their has been the odd session which has had a lot of amateurs but the majority of sessions are for professionals.  I have no interest in becoming a professional detailer and so spending a lot of money who not make a lot of sense for me.  I do wonder if there are others who feel the same way and so would there be an advantage in some consumer based training?

[Bigpikle]

It would certainly be interesting but I understand the focus of the training is certification for the pro products - coatings, PPF etc.

Given the lack of Opt presence in the UK I just dont see how it could be done for consumers in any cost effective way. Getting someone over here with the travel and accommodation costs, as well as getting product, a location etc would be hugely expensive and there's no way you'd ever cover costs with a few amateurs paying £35 each!  I know how much it costs to set up events like this, as its what my business does for our services, and its a lot more expensive than many realise, and of course you'd want a lot more than the sale of a few extra bottles of ONR to justify it.

Opt have a European distributor in Holland  and I guess it should really be part of their responsibility to drive demand in the European market, but given the current lack of product availability in our market and lack of any consumer support that I can see, they clearly dont seem interested in building a consumer customer base. There are still so many products not even stocked anywhere, huge issues with out of stock lines and I dont see any signs of that changing. Its very frustrating as a Opt fan that would love to use more of the products but simply cant access them and by the look of the way its going I can imagine that nothing but ONR and the odd bottle of Opti Seal will be available over here in 12 months time 

But being realistic, how big is the UK consumer detailing market? Its also ridiculously overcrowded with copycat products and re-labelled products being launched every week. Its also a very backward looking market which is still dominated by the view that old fashioned products are the only way to go and a general reluctance to embrace any innovative new ideas and approaches. In the global scheme of things I'm not sure how much I'd invest over here either if it was my business.....

[Ron@Optimum]

Patrick is the Master Distributor for Europe and the person to talk to about product availability and potential training:

Contact: Patrick Barkel or Edwin Bolscher - 0031683531545 or 0031612674264

Optimum Car Care Netherlands

[A&J]

Ive seen somewhere there are some OPT trainings in Romania but have no idea who is doing them.

[Lowejackson]

Sorry everyone I seemed to have created some confusion (again),  I was thinking about the training in Memphis rather than anywhere else although I do like the idea of more local training but fully accept it would probably not be a profitable session here in the UK.

 

[Ron@Optimum]

So far the Memphis training and regional clinics around the US have been Pro oriented - Coatings, polishes, film, etc.  With 2 Regional Managers and 1 Film expert, Optimum lacks the manpower to expand training now.  As the brand grows, and it is, Dr G will look at doing more extensive training.