Steve Okun is arguably not one of the famous names in the world of automotive detailing.  Nonetheless, considering his accomplishments over the 40 years of his experience in the automotive appearance-care business, his name should be hoisted among the greats.  Steve was never one to be splashy or boastful.  Instead, he just quietly went about his personal commitment to improve automotive appearance operations through innovation, design, developing, benchmarking, and implementing ideas that provided significant contributions.  His contributions usually started with seeing a need for a better way to do something and connecting a technology or process that fulfilled that need.

Steve started out as a car detailer in his teenage years, buffing on cars in the early 60s using the only technology available then – grinding machines with screw-on wool pads designed for polishing marble and stone.  He later became involved in automatic car washing, an industry to which he made many contributions that, today, we take for granted, including:

• Menu-based pricing and sales (instead of “one-price-fits-all”)
  
• Offering multiple extra services (e.g., automated spray applications during the wash and manually-applied applications after the wash)
  
• Service advisors for upselling menu items
  
• Concept of “per-vehicle revenue” (and how to maximize it)
  
• Adding multiple options for post-wash detailing services
  

Steve Okun’s unrivaled success in his own car washing operations in the 1970s caught the attention of others in the industry, prompting him to form a professional consultancy (SM Okun and Associates), providing advice to a wide range of clients internationally.  As such, Steve incurred an interesting reputation as “the executive who knows how to buff”, and he was able to parlay his reputation as a trusted car wash consultant to assist in the making of numerous and significant innovations in the automotive detailing industry, including:

• Early development and introduction foam buffing pads
  
• Introduction of hook-and-loop backing to speed pad changing
  
• Introduction of patented self-centering pad technology
  
• Introducing the concept of dual action polishing to combat the common issues with simple rotary buffing
  

Steve was talking with Flex in the 70s about their dual-action technology, a full 40 years before this company became a household name in the professional detailing industry.

Steve saw the need to link the related businesses of car washing and detailing, and, among his efforts to promote this linkage, was instrumental in having Professional Carwashing magazine change its name to include “And Detailing”.  In an effort to increase the professionalism of the detailing community, Steve published innumerable articles in the industry trade magazines and provided educational seminars at dozens of car wash trade shows in the 1980s, 1990s, and 2000s.  He became a trusted advisor and hired consultant for such companies as DuPont, Porter-Cable, Black & Decker, Flex, Cyclo, Chamberlain, Milwaukee, Auto Wax, Meguiar's, 3M, Manheim Auto Auctions, Mercedes-Benz, Chrysler, Hanna Enterprises, Turtle Wax, and The International Carwash Association, along with numerous chemical manufacturers.

Long before the IDA’s Certified Detailer Program, Steve developed and benchmarked the International Carwash Association’s Express Detailing Certification program, which was the industry’s first independent certification for detailing technicians, and was rolled out in the early 2000s.

Perhaps one of his greatest accomplishments was as a key member of the early 90s development group for the Lexus Certified Pre-Owned Program and later Toyota Certified Pre-Owned Program, leading the reconditioning portion of those efforts, which became the benchmark for used car reconditioning at the dealership level.

Just a few more of Steve’s many accomplishments include:

• Co-drafting I-CAR Detail Training Curriculum
  
• Developing and benchmarking the Appearance Reconditioning Process for the predecessor of the national used vehicle superstore now known as AutoNation
  
• Developing and implementing Dupont “Assurance of Quality” education program for Appearance-Care Profit Centers
  

Steve is retired and resides in Florida.