Most unusal ideas or ways of marketing that youhave done.

GothamAuto said:
Oh, yeah. Absolutely on the driver window. I would never put it under the windshield wiper. It's easier that way too, you don't have to actually touch the car, just slide it right in.
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Right -- or the other way I've seen people do it is to have Post-It style notes printed up so they can just peel and stick it to the drivers' door glass. It can be annoying, but it's effective.
 
One thing that I thought was a nice idea and allows a year's worth of advertising is to have a calendar printed on one side of your business card (with your logo prominently displayed). This way a person can have your calendar card in their purse/wallet for a year, and when Jan. rolls around (and most people in this industry have a lull in business) you may get a few return customers that have gotten used to having the calendar handy and so they "get off their butt" and make another appointment hoping for another card. It doesn't cost much more for the calendar to be printed on the card and it may keep the card (and your business) more accessible/on people's minds. (Works better on people that aren't really into tech gadgets, as the techies have organizers/smart phones etc.)

Of course, this isn't going to make someone pay for a full detail just for a card, but if you have customers that want to get a wash/wax done, but always seem to put off the call, this may get them calling.
 
Big Leegr said:
One thing that I thought was a nice idea and allows a year's worth of advertising is to have a calendar printed on one side of your business card (with your logo prominently displayed). This way a person can have your calendar card in their purse/wallet for a year, and when Jan. rolls around (and most people in this industry have a lull in business) you may get a few return customers that have gotten used to having the calendar handy and so they "get off their butt" and make another appointment hoping for another card. It doesn't cost much more for the calendar to be printed on the card and it may keep the card (and your business) more accessible/on people's minds. (Works better on people that aren't really into tech gadgets, as the techies have organizers/smart phones etc.)

Of course, this isn't going to make someone pay for a full detail just for a card, but if you have customers that want to get a wash/wax done, but always seem to put off the call, this may get them calling.
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I've been thinking about something along the lines of this. I always try to do a mini photo shoot after for clients.
It was mentioned making a small month to month calendar with general reminders and care tips.

I have permission to use the images and many have said it would be neat to see.
A couple clients alone would make about 5 different calendars.
The key would be having the software so printing would be the only cost.
I wonder????
 
Man, I can't say it enough, but craigslist is an easy and free way to generate customers... Someone already mentioned church, but another place that's good for advertising is your local barber shop/ hair salon. When I first started out, I practically lived at the barber shop. Man We would run through 20-30 cars a day. wash & wax only, but regardless, we were able to establish a relationship with several repeat customers. Remember this wAs in a LA neighborhood and our barber shop could be compared to country club in others.

Every parade, car show, or big event in you area, be there with your flyers, and make it happen!
 
Concours.John said:
I've been thinking about something along the lines of this. I always try to do a mini photo shoot after for clients.
It was mentioned making a small month to month calendar with general reminders and care tips.

I have permission to use the images and many have said it would be neat to see.
A couple clients alone would make about 5 different calendars.
The key would be having the software so printing would be the only cost.
I wonder????
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Have you given much thought to a "barter" or trade of services? Find a printing shop and offer $$$ in detail work in exchange for so many calenders. Might not cost too much after all, especially if you weren't in a rush for them and they could print them when they were a little slow.
 
Big Leegr said:
Have you given much thought to a "barter" or trade of services? Find a printing shop and offer $$$ in detail work in exchange for so many calenders. Might not cost too much after all, especially if you weren't in a rush for them and they could print them when they were a little slow.
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I have tried it in the past but as soon as they look through the album of cars they either say I can't afford you (before a quote) or want more work than it's worth to me. This could be my fault for not including some of the more mainstream cars I have worked on. This should be more of its own thread though.

Back on topic: I totally agree bartering can be a great way to leverage a marketing budget and should never be overlooked. It just needs to be fair on both ends either on return or initial trade.:bigups
 
Lately what I've been doing is if I see a nice car that is filthy I'll go ahead and put a card in their window. The main reason why detailing companies are in business is simply because PEOPLE ARE LAZY. And when I see a nice looking car that just needs a good washing for a good price, I mean, who can refuse an offer like that? They know their car is dirty, and it may piss them off for a few seconds to see that card on their window, but if they have the money and they are lazy I can almost guarentee you or some other detailer will get some kind of business out of them lol
 
GothamAuto said:
Something I recently started to do that is a little different. I had some cards printed up specifically for the vehicles I want to work on. The cards read:

"This card was placed on your car because it's obvious you take pride in it's appearance. Come in today for a free estimate and 10% off any service"

So it's not like I am taking the cards and putting them on cars that are all messed up. They go on the high end cars that are already clean. I have only handed out a few as I just got them in recently, but I think it compliments the car's owner rather then insulting them by saying that their car needs to be detailed.
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What do you mean by "cars that are all messed up"? What do you do to a car that is already clean? I mean if is clean I find it hard to beliece what else is there to do. Why go for high end cars and not do any car?

I think if you take a car that needs a real good detail and give it a good turn around people can see your work very well and what things you are capable of doing. I am just saying and trying to understand you here not trying to insult your method so please dont take it in a bad way.
 
ExoticAutoDetai said:
What do you mean by "cars that are all messed up"? What do you do to a car that is already clean? I mean if is clean I find it hard to beliece what else is there to do. Why go for high end cars and not do any car?
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Think about it from the viewpoint of a business owner. High end cars that are "clean" aren't necessarily "detailed" -- if someone with a high end car wants to keep it clean and doesn't know any better than using a tunnel car wash, he picks up a customer who he can educate as to the advantages of proper care by a detailer as opposed to a car washer. Or perhaps he sees a car and thinks "if someone else is already detailing this ride, maybe I can do an even better job and/or beat the competition on price."

Also, people with high end cars usually tend to have more disposable income. It just makes good sense to target the people who can afford your services instead of wasting your marketing resources trying to pull in customers who can't buy what you're trying to sell.

I think if you take a car that needs a real good detail and give it a good turn around people can see your work very well and what things you are capable of doing. I am just saying and trying to understand you here not trying to insult your method so please dont take it in a bad way.
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Usually a "good turn around" is going to be much more labor intensive and less profitable than having a vehicle that is already in decent shape and taking it to the next level. Why would you choose to take a client with a trashed minivan that you charge $300 to clean up when you could take on a moderately dirty BMW or Benz and charge $300 to do half as much work in half the time?

You have to think about these kind of things if you're trying to run a successful business and maximize your profits.
 
Daily Deal websites?

Groupon.com
LivingSocial.com
DailyDealster.com

there's a million of 'em. Ask me how I know. I see auto detailing deals on them all the time.

Think about it. You offer a full detail you normally charge $160 for, for like $65. The deal company (groupon, livingsocial, etc) takes a cut of that, like $15 or 20% or whatever. You get paid as soon as the deal is over. Then the customers have a few months to a year to redeem them, and you can upsell them on other stuff while they're there (headlight polishing, paint correction, dent repair, ozone treatments, etc). And there's always the chance they forget to redeem the things. I have a bunch sitting in my desk. Of the twelve groupons I've bought in the last year, 3 have expired, 3 are about to expire, 3 have a few months left, and only 3 have been redeemed thus far.

One deal in the Phoenix area for some random guy with a Game-Boy level website with stock photos of a red Corvette has sold 78 deals on LivingSocial today and the deal is only 14 hours in. I'll check on it in the morning and let you know the total when I update it.
 
Our local spray and wash rents 10ft x 3ft banner space above each bay.

If all the slots weren't rented I'd be all over it. On the waiting list. We are in a nice area with nice cars. The place is always busy.

Not one detailer above ours.

Something worth asking if yours aren't doing it. Could get a break for pointing out missed revenue for them.
 
Shiny Lil Detlr said:
John, do you have any pictures of what that looks like? Sounds like an interesting idea, for sure!
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I'll swing by in the daylight and post tomorrow here. Another thing I'm working on is there are independent shops that cater to older German and foreign cars.

Many of these people keep their cars long time. They do most of the washing and waxing. I have gotten corrections from just business cards.

Offered the owner a discount and he won't let anyone place but me. Working on renting one of his windows.
 
Thanks for the pics! That does look like a very doable idea to present to a DIY car wash. The only potential issue would be loss of clearance to get tall trucks or trailers in and out of the bays.
 
Shiny Lil Detlr said:
Thanks for the pics! That does look like a very doable idea to present to a DIY car wash. The only potential issue would be loss of clearance to get tall trucks or trailers in and out of the bays.
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It's funny I thought the same thing when I first saw them hanging them.
Went by later and the bottom is at about 12ft.
 
I'm running a Groupon add here on the 19th to fill my typically slow first quarter. I've seen pretty good success with this with two detailers using this method; one of which is a member: Miranda Detailing. He might chime in. Hopefully this method, for one I hope does not overwork me, but two, create some return clients.
 
I learned a little more about the process. By the way, that Phoenix detailing one sold 121 units. So let's break that down.

Regular Price $160
Groupon Price $65
Number Sold 121
Gross Margin $7865

But Groupon keeps half of that.

Net Margin $3932.50

So you've got 121 full details coming SOMETIME over the next year, and you won't get paid for any of them at those times. Groupon pays you in three installments. You get a third immediately. A third in 30 days. Another third in 60 days. So in 3 months you get the $3932. The higher the cost of your deal, the higher a percentage will get redeemed. A $65 deal will see a good rate, say, 90%. So if your overhead runs about $35 per detail, you break even, and the heart of the Groupon is generating repeat business and add-ons.

If your overhead is lower than that, you make money. If your overhead is too much more, you lost your tailfeathers on it. So advance planning helps. Watch other daily deals in your area in your industry. See how many sell and at what prices. Only take you about 30 days watching all the major sites to find all the car detailing deals and then crunch some numbers.

By the way, you can always sign up at Yipit.com and choose your city or cities and then get them all in your email box so you don't have to search for them.
 
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