Summer clients

M

Mpwrmodena

New member
Hey i am new to the forums but have been following the forums for about a month or so. I need some help!.....I plan on detailing full time for the summer and cant get any customers. I went to Office buildings and the train station to put flyers on expensive cars and have only had 2 customers in the past month. We have a local detail shop in the area but most people that i have talked to said its better for them to have a detailer like me that comes to there home or picks up there car for them. The area i Live in is very weathy so i cant understand why getting customers would be a problem. Any advise to get more customers or advertise more?
-Danny
 
Give incentives to friends and family...

Have them go out and sell for you... Arm them with business cards, brochures, postcards and in exchange give them free detailing service, or a small kickback on each job... My brother-in-law has been a magnet for several new leads... Remember to try to set a high standard of service, and be professional in your appearance and in your sincerity to make the customer happy. Inform each customer that any references would be greatly appreciated. Word of mouth spreads quick when you perform a service that separates you from the pack. Customers are everywhere, believe me check with some of your smaller local dealerships, but be prepared they WILL most likely try to lowball you on your price. I am sure that I have only scratched the surface on how to find customers...
 
My family has no clue about cars so thats out of the question. I did detail a blue vett and the guy just gigiled when he saw his car after a 8 hour detail. He has did tell his friends about me who have called but not commited yet. I just need to have 2 cars a day for the summer and i will be set.
-Danny
 
I have had excelent results with factories. Just walk in and ask the receptionist if you could put a brochure or a business card on the bullitin board or in the lunch room. I work weekends at a pharmaceutical plant and believe me there are alot of factory workers that like to have sharp looking cars and will pay to have it looking its best. I also talk to people when I meet them I seem to slip it into the convo that I do auto detailing and if I do so indulge on my passion I speak highly of the results I get with the products I use and get them interested in what there car might look like if they had me do it. At least thats how I think the psycology of it works;) Good luck this summer and welcome to DC!
 
Hey thank you guys, but another problem, ahhah i dont have an factories near me. The only industrial areas are the couple of Office buildings in town. Have any of you ever tryed going to the Boss of a Office Building and tryed this? Offer him details with 15% off and every 4th wash for free if He gets you customers and allows you to post your flyer on the bulliten board. If alot of people are happy with the results maybe become the building Detailer with the owner recieving 20% off now.
-Danny
 
They call then when i set up a date they do not show up or bail that morning........I hate loosing sunday sleep!!!!!!!
-Danny
 
Cheap Advertising

I am presuming you drive ??? If so, keep your car pristine at all times and place some vinyl lettering on the back window (not too large ...you don't want a ticket) :) I placed this lettering on my wife's SUV recently and hope it will generate some calls. I keep magnetic sign on my van and I have generated some work, while working on other customer's cars. Just this week a passerby in a very upscale neighborhood inquired about my service upon viewing my van along side a pristine 1988 Jaguar XJS V12 I was completing.
 
Dean Nice job would love to clean one like that.

In answer to the tpoic on the thread. I ran and taugh telephone sales for two public companies, before I went to detailing.

You have to ask for the business.
 
I get a lot of business from professionals that use their cars to transport other people or spend alot of time in their vehicles (real estate agents, insurance agents, high end sales people etc.) When you do get a job, perform the work in a highly visible area so others can see you performing the service and they will walk up and ask you about the service.

Go to companies and talk to the human resources department. For instance many companies offer employee incentive programs and the company may be willing to buy the employee of the month/quarter a detail. If not, you can still tell the human resources department that you will offer 10% discount to their employees. The company can then use this as an employee perk (discounted detailing for their employess).

While we have the extended daylight hours, go to malls/restaurants etc. in the evening and offer car washes and express wax jobs. You can often find 3 or 4 employees in the same store that will purchase a service from you.

If you live in wealthy area I'm sure there is A LOT of business to be captured. The business is there, but you have to go get it.

There are some good suggestions throughout this thread so hopefully next week you'll be starting a thread telling us how busy you are.

Good Luck!!!
Ringo
 
Obtaining customers

Besides keeping my detail van clean and magnetic signs visible, I "cruise" office building complexes around the time workers are arriving. I call this hunting. My wife just laughs at me. Then I go to the offices of these places and ask the office manager if I can offer him/ her a car wash. I do it right in the most publicly visible place I can find. I have snagged 2-3 new people doing that and all it cost me is a little time. But since the summer is here and the weather has been so great I do not have a choice, but to make these connections and wash these cars.

I was considering taking my wife's car to a complex and do the same thing, but let everyone see me cleaning her car. Hey, they do not need to know it's my car! Then see how much new business I can secure.

Another thing that works for me is finding those really dirty nice cars (MB, Jags, BMW so on) in parking lot and putting a car on them. I figure if they have a car like that and it looks that bad they must not have time to do it therefore my mobile services will be for them.

One more thing, I keep all business cards. I usually send a little letter to thank the client for using my services and let them know that another wash in a week or two will keep their vehicle looking great. If I do not have a card, I use email just the same.
 
Guess who is the local exotic car dealerships detailer now? They have a whole shop that they set up for this guy who decided to move onto somthing else so his loss is my gain. I start in a week in a half so i will post pics of the shop and i have seen a couple lambos gettign detailed there so i cant wait. The only problem is i will not be making as much as i did when i was working solo, but i get to meet alot of people and i will also mention i work solo. Thank for your help guys and al of thouse that took the time to email me with suggestion's. Now my next problem, how do i mention i work solo and not get fired for taking customers haha.
-Danny
 
Congrats and good luck. I hope everything works out at the dealership. If you want to continue doing solo work on the side, be honest and let your boss know. Don't risk losing a steady income and make sure you market your personal business away from the dealership.

You can also work to bring the dealership additional cars and more revenue which would increase your value to the dealer. Whatever you decide - good luck!!
 
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