Placing cards/notes on "needy" cars

R

RAG

New member
First, let me say that I'm "anti" on just about everything to do with avertising...I feel it's largely a waste of time and money. However, on rare occasion I just can't help myself from placing a card with a hand-written note on a "select" car - you know, the black car with buffer swirls all over it, or a brand new black car already toasted with washing scratches...I try to choose cars people that people seem to care about, say ones that have fancy rims, tintinted windows, custom body parts, etc. To my dismay, I have never (ever) received a response when I've done this...though I've only done this about 20 times over the past few years, it's been on the "perfect candidate".



Shoot, just yesterday I put a card (with a hand-written note on back) on a black Crossfire that still had dealer sticker in the window that was torched with buffer swirls, washing scratches, and wax slopped everywhere (including on the black cloth top)...when somebody leaves a note saying they can safely remove the swirls and scratches in their paint that that they are the area's leading expert in doing so...you'd like they'd at least call to inquire. But noooo, instead they are going to drive around like a jack-arse with buffer halograms all over their new ride. I'm not bitter :)
 
Hahaha, you too? You're not the only one that isn't bitter. But hey what can you do besides move on to find your next new customer.
 
I have read here in the past where nobody has landed a good amount of clients doing this, so I never have.



But I am always eyeing up paint finishes and think how nice I could make it look.
 
Now RAG...look at it at a customers point of view...everyone today including myself recieve "junk mail" that says they can better your life in some way just by calling this number. Now since the average person recieves 4 pieces of "junk mail" a day, when you put a car of flyer on a window, thats just another form of junk to them.



Tailor those cards/flyer to that particular person. Its a long shot, because you know absolutly nothing about the person, but make your cards for the "general" person. Remember for every 500 cards you put on a cars, you may get 1 or 2 call backs. Does it pay for itself...absolutly...is it worth it, yes...



Case in point...its the simple chain effect...i gave my card to someone that was needed their car done...they said they will consider, they called a week later and wanted my service. So it came out better than they expected...so they went and told ALL of their friends...from one detail..I made 25 points of contact.! That one person is doing all my marketing.



Thats the goal for every business, let people sell for you!
 
Two winters ago I made up some nice post cards and selectively handed out 40 on cars. I received 2 replies.



This past winter I made some flyers and hand delivered 50 of them to an upper class neighborhood and received 2 replies.



I have also stuck probably 40 business cards on cars that need some TLC that were of the higher end variety, don't remember one reply.



I think if you get 1 or 2 replies per 100 given out you are doing good.



It never hurts to get your name out there, even if you don't get any response.

Always have cards with you and drop one wherever you are. Public washroom or night club, drop a few, someone always reads them.
 
One business card on an Acura at my kid's school in 1995 led me to three long term customers. Also got me the only Acura NSX I've detailed.
 
Funny thing is I actually have more work than I know what to do with...but when I've eyed the perfect "project" car, I've dropped my card and made sure to hand write a note with it to let people know I wan't mass distrubuting...nevertheless, it doesn't work. But still, on the ones that had buffer swirls, I assumed most had made an attempt to improve their paint by way of detail, and I guess I just figured that by my telling them how I can fix it, and fix it right that they'd go for it. Not.
 
Here is the catcher, you were trying to tell them how you can fix it. You need to show them you can fix it and this is something a note on a card cannot accomplish. Try dropping your card, but instead of putting a note on it, point them to your website. On your site show them some really clear and detailed before and after shots. On your site explain to them (the educate/telling part) what buffer swirls and washing scratches are. Explain what a drive thru car wash, some car dealers, and other bad washing techniques can do to the cars finish. Now you've effectively tapped into their sense of sight and I bet they do a double take of their car...comparing it to the before shots on the website and think how much better you could make their car look. Some will come back to your website and contact you via the contact form asking a few questions. Now you have your foot in the door.
 
I have done it only to have people call and just ask how much, not what I can do...I lose them when I say "oh yeah, you had the black mercedes, the one with all the scratches and buffer trails and burned paint...its going to start at 200 for me to clean all that up" oh that much huh....LOL



I get a kick out of it everytime....
 
Thats why you direct them to your website. Your site should have your prices listed. The only calls you will receive will be those interested in your service. Those who cannot afford it or are looking for low ball pricing will not be wasting your time by calling.
 
I would recommend putting two things on the note:



1. Compliment their vehicle

2. Point out that your card isn't on any other vehicles around
 
I just thought about this for the first time. Could it be that placing cards on cars that are obviously in need of work is a bad idea? I mean, if the car needs obvious work, the owner probably does not care about the appearance. It may make more sense to put cards on cars that are already in pristine condition. Obviously those people do care about their cars and are willing to pay for detailing services. Just a thought.
 
I don't think placing them on cars in obvious need of work is no more of a bad idea as placing them on pristine cars is a good idea. I hope I worded that correctly. Trying to drum up business by leaving a business card is purely a numbers game. You have to leave a really large amount of cards to generate a small percentage of responses. The small response should be worth it though. Look what Scottwax said about 1 card getting him 3 long term customers.
 
Eraser said:
I don't think placing them on cars in obvious need of work is no more of a bad idea as placing them on pristine cars is a good idea. I hope I worded that correctly. Trying to drum up business by leaving a business card is purely a numbers game. You have to leave a really large amount of cards to generate a small percentage of responses. The small response should be worth it though. Look what Scottwax said about 1 card getting him 3 long term customers.
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It is a numbers game, but you can increase the odds if you target the correct people. Most of my regular, and best customers, keep their cars in pristine condition. These types of people are most likely to pay for detailing services. The customers who only come to me once, or every few years, have cars that are filthy and with paint in horrible shape. They are less likely to purchase detailing services; on a regular basis anyways.
 
brwill2005 said:
I just thought about this for the first time. Could it be that placing cards on cars that are obviously in need of work is a bad idea? I mean, if the car needs obvious work, the owner probably does not care about the appearance. It may make more sense to put cards on cars that are already in pristine condition. Obviously those people do care about their cars and are willing to pay for detailing services. Just a thought.
Click to expand...





Good point, but that's why I mostly choose vehicles that have buffer swirls. Of course, that assumes they actually paid to have the buffer swirls installed, when maybe a dealership did it to them for free, cuase they are such good guys and all...
 
Eraser said:
Here is the catcher, you were trying to tell them how you can fix it. You need to show them you can fix it and this is something a note on a card cannot accomplish. Try dropping your card, but instead of putting a note on it, point them to your website. On your site show them some really clear and detailed before and after shots. On your site explain to them (the educate/telling part) what buffer swirls and washing scratches are. Explain what a drive thru car wash, some car dealers, and other bad washing techniques can do to the cars finish. Now you've effectively tapped into their sense of sight and I bet they do a double take of their car...comparing it to the before shots on the website and think how much better you could make their car look. Some will come back to your website and contact you via the contact form asking a few questions. Now you have your foot in the door.
Click to expand...





I'm in full agreement. But that's more effort (building a web site) than I wanted to take. Even though I have all the work I personally can handle, I guess at some point I should build a professional website and produce professional mailers, flyers, etc.
 
here's the thing, most people don't notice buffer swirls or understand what they are. they will look at the car and think "what an *******, there isn't a scratch on this beauty!"



and honestly, it seems a bit arrogant to go around dropping cards on cars. i think i would be pretty pissed if someone did that to me.
 
It's definitely a numbers game. 1 in 100 sounds pretty good. But in this case, the fact that you're hand selecting targets makes getting to 100 very painful.



It's just marketing statistics. Let's say I get a flyer from premium and well known retailers, like Tiffany's, Macy's, Target, etc. Half the time I would be annoyed at the thing on the windshield and would throw it away without glancing at it.



Ok, so you get past that initial response, and now the next factor to consider is your reputation. Most people wouldn't know who the best detailers are, so that's a hard sell.



Third example factor is that in order to justify your expertise, more often than not, they would have to research. This factor is time and effort, which is also a minus.



So if you add up all the negative factors:

1) Initial impression

2) Reputation

3) Time and effort

4) etc



it's not a very effective tool.



So in the end, flyers or cards on windshields don't really work in the limited numbers people have mentioned :hmph:



You need to make a compelling statement to even get a chance, because you are interrupting somene's daily life.



Hand selecting cars to place cards is a compelling factor, but the reason success is so low becauase there are so many other negative factors that more than cancel it.
 
I stuck a note on a new BMW that had swirl marks on it, commenting on how nice his car was and that if he wanted to get the obvious buffer swirl (think Black 7 series, looked pretty new) fixed, I would be happy to help. He called, I fixed it.



Was really just a random thing, but he called me.
 
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