When you go for a walk, bike ride or run and you happen to see a bunch of high end cars that could use your services just sitting in a parking lot or on the street.....and you have no idea who owns them...... what do you do? I normally pull out a card and stick it on their drivers side window. It never results in any calls. Never. The owners must be seeing the cards. I don't even know why I still do it. I have tried flyers and that doesn't work either.
Cars in the parking lot
- Thread starter mini1
- Start date
i do the same, i live in a pretty nice area and i am surrounded with $100k+ cars, most of them swirl infested, and i always leave them my business but i never seem to get any calls. when i detail in my drive way the owners of the exotic cars always slow down almost to a complete stop to admire my work but they just never call.
WAS
Driven
I think in the high-end car market, you have to approach the owners face to face. Most owners probably have never heard of you, and you sticking your business card on their car isn't going to convince them. These are people who have tens, probably hundreds of thousands of dollars invested in their vehicle. Receiving your business card or flyer the same way as they would receive one from a chinese food restaurant isn't going to get them to call you. You're probably asking them to spend upwards of what, $700 to $1000 on a detail for their $250,000 sports car ? That isn't something that's sold via a flyer or business card hanging. It would be like me trying to sell you a house over the phone. I could probably sell you a vacation over the phone, but not a house.
Make sense ? Only my opinion of course, but I think you need to get out there and actually talk with these owners, have examples of your work (do what we do, use an iPad or something that is elegant and chic, not a plain old print photo album), and point out what you can do for them. I think you'll have a lot more luck than paper hanging.
Make sense ? Only my opinion of course, but I think you need to get out there and actually talk with these owners, have examples of your work (do what we do, use an iPad or something that is elegant and chic, not a plain old print photo album), and point out what you can do for them. I think you'll have a lot more luck than paper hanging.
Envious Eric
New member
I do it as a way to get them to my website so they can see what I do. Its easy to say you detail cars, but can you portray that you really know what you are doing through conversing with the potential client? paint correction, 95% of the people have no clue what it is, or think that if you use a machine you are screwing up the clear coat, or that anything other than wax is a waste of time because wax is what gets things shiny!!!
I just passed an S600 in black...well, its supposed to be black, but with all the damage to the paint, its hazy and swirled to hell. If he calls, I will be able to remember his car and talk about it a bit over the phone. I would then try to setup a estimate appointment to go see the car with lights, and then sell him...
I'd continue to do it, out of the 100 or so random cars in the parking lot I have done it to, maybe 3 phone calls, one email, and one booked job...that $500 was well worth the time to pull out my wallet and get a card out 100 times!
I just passed an S600 in black...well, its supposed to be black, but with all the damage to the paint, its hazy and swirled to hell. If he calls, I will be able to remember his car and talk about it a bit over the phone. I would then try to setup a estimate appointment to go see the car with lights, and then sell him...
I'd continue to do it, out of the 100 or so random cars in the parking lot I have done it to, maybe 3 phone calls, one email, and one booked job...that $500 was well worth the time to pull out my wallet and get a card out 100 times!
I don't know about anyone else, but if some schmuck put their card or flyer on my '56 MGA, I'd be seriously pissed, not even as a detailer, but just the fact that someone touched my car. I'd rather someone approach me and go from there. Personally, IMO, I thinks it's kinda tacky to tell someone their car looks less than flawless via a business card or flyer. Just my opinion.
-josh
-josh
detailman1
New member
I do the same and if 1 out of a thousand calls me it is worth the investment.I have found that my cheap little website bring them in like crazy
Barry Theal
New member
08xB said:
I agree, If someone put something on my daily driver I would be pissed. I think this is a very bad way of advertising. Your touching others property with out permission.
JohnKleven
New member
I agree with Barry on this one. The people with nicer cars will usually find you, not go to you because they got a flyer on their windshield.
I see what you are all saying. It would be impossible for me to approach each and every owner and talk with them. Often times I'm just walking by. I'm not going to wait 5 hours for the owner to come to his/her car and still only have a 5% chance of actually getting the job. I have tried approaching owners who just happen to be getting into/out of their car and it still normally does not get the job.
Alexshimshimhae
New member
I can't even say I read stuff people put on my car I throw it on the floor poised that they could be so disrespectful to my property.
Dan
Well-known member
Barry Theal said:
Agreed, it shows a level of disrespect for the owner of the car that screams hackmaster.
Accumulator
Well-known member
Barry Theal said:
Same here. Touching other people's [stuff] is a dead-serious :nono
Physically approaching strangers is something that needs to be done in just the right way too, lest it be interpreted as an "interview" of a completely different nature.
WAS
Driven
yakky said:
Alexshimshimhae said:
Accumulator said:
I definitely respect these opinions, and I'd mostly agree with them. But, on the other hand, is it REALLY that disrespectful ? Realistically, the person who put it there is just someone trying to make some business. They're not trying to be malicious, they're not trying to be rude, and they're not trying to disrespect you or your property. It would be like someone putting a flyer on your doorstep, would you freak out at that person as well and claim they're disrespecting you (since obviously they touched your property, your doormat) ? I can understand being extremely irritated if someone caused damage to your vehicle while putting a flyer or business card on / near it, but then again, the same applies if someone broke your front door's doorknob trying to paper-hang it.
Again, I can definitely understand both sides of the fence here, I'm just saying that it's not done with ill-intentions in mind.
I also don't see why "it screams hackmaster". Just because someone chooses a specific method of advertising, doesn't mean they're a "hackmaster".
Dan
Well-known member
WAS said:
Well respected pros have waiting lists from word of mouth and professional advertising. Hackmasters hang around in parking lots touching peoples cars. To be honest, I have the exact same view of the slimes that put fliers on my door. I don't buy anything from anyone except kids that come door to door, how ****** is your product if you have to do a hard peddle to customers?
yakky said:
IMO, an owner who can afford endless strings of Ferraris and exotics throughout the years are normally not knowledgable about detailing, and they are not bothered by swirls or whatever. They have progressed to a much higher level where they have multi-million dollar projects to think about. That's why, I see lots of exotics that look like crap, from a detailers point of view, but from the owner's point of view, there's nothing much wrong with it.
But, if his millionaire friend (who also drive exotics and high-end cars) point out to him certain "flaws" in the paint, and talks enthusiastically about a detailer and his/her fantastic results.....hhhaaaaa!!! that carries a lot of weight, much more than mere advertisements and websites. And he'll search out for your details and try to contact you.
To me, each high-end car I do is an advertisement.
I try to get the owner and his friends to come over to collect the detailed car. His friends would see that freshly detailed marvel, and this could spark off impulsive decisions on the spot.
My customers who drive exotics have told me they are not bothered with searching for hours on the Net for anything. Most get the secretaries or kids to do it.
They're mostly at the golf clubs, on holidays or busy at work.
I get invited to their fav pub for drinks, and its there you meet their super wealthy "gang members"(!!!). When they for for their road trips, I prep their cars and go with them. Some of them will mention about "this crazy detailer" to their business associates from the neighbouring country, who'll drive all the way to my place for detailing.
I think if ya wanna do lots of high-end cars, you've gotta spend some time becoming their friends and socialising with them very selectively. Can't be spending loads of money like them!!!:drool:
Accumulator
Well-known member
WAS- I understand what you mean and I understand that there's no malicious/disrespectful intent (often I bet it's quite the opposite!), but IME such stuff boils down to how the vehicle's owner perceives it. If a person feels "disrespected" or "violated" or whatever, then that's what happened as far as he's concerned and he'll respond accordingly.
I myself am kinda touchy about such stuff but I generally stay polite as long as no harm was done. But I've known people who would simply go (instantly, physically, very violently) berserk if somebody touched anything of theirs. And yeah, they'd take the legal consequences/etc....ever see what happens when somebody touches a 1%er's Harley
And yeah, some very nice vehicles are owned by that kind of person.
I sure hope this doesn't come across as some kind of :argue I'm posting it as something people really oughta be aware of that can be life-or-death serious (I really meant it when I said "dead-serious"). You can't imagine how many people get hurt or even killed over slights that they never knew they gave; "he just killed the guy for no reason!" when there *was* a reason, just one that most people would never have thought of.
And yeah...any stranger coming on my propery is treated (politely, at least at first) as an intruder. MAJOR faux pas :nono Even with our family and best friends, nobody goes onto someone else's properly unexpected/uninvited unless it's an emergency. Old fashioned, I guess, but that's how I was raised and it's how we still do things.
I myself am kinda touchy about such stuff but I generally stay polite as long as no harm was done. But I've known people who would simply go (instantly, physically, very violently) berserk if somebody touched anything of theirs. And yeah, they'd take the legal consequences/etc....ever see what happens when somebody touches a 1%er's Harley
And yeah, some very nice vehicles are owned by that kind of person.I sure hope this doesn't come across as some kind of :argue I'm posting it as something people really oughta be aware of that can be life-or-death serious (I really meant it when I said "dead-serious"). You can't imagine how many people get hurt or even killed over slights that they never knew they gave; "he just killed the guy for no reason!" when there *was* a reason, just one that most people would never have thought of.
And yeah...any stranger coming on my propery is treated (politely, at least at first) as an intruder. MAJOR faux pas :nono Even with our family and best friends, nobody goes onto someone else's properly unexpected/uninvited unless it's an emergency. Old fashioned, I guess, but that's how I was raised and it's how we still do things.
JCastro1085
New member
Accumulator said:....ever see what happens when somebody touches a 1%er's Harley
Great analogy! That'll be an experience for sure