Ok, so my shop has been open for one week as of tommorow and I successfully detailed 21 cars this week but all were from the other automotive shops on my property and I gave them discounted rates to show customers what I can do. this is one form of advertising I have been trying. next I went around to customers hanging out waiting to get their cars fixed and told them to come over and have me steam clean one of their wheels/rims for them to show the power of steam. they love it and take videos with their smart phones and put the pics/videos on facebook but dont come back. my sign that ordered was suppose to be in my hands (4 ft A frame for road infront of shop) yesterday but the sign company slacked and now I have to wait till monday for it and am fearing that i will not get any business this weekend because nobody really knows I am there. what can I do to speed up the process? my parter had a death in the family so he is out of town until next weekend so I am on my own. godoman
When I first opened, I had a flier made up ( 2 up on an 8.5x11 sheet ) and hand delivered about 600 of them to every real estate office near me every Sunday for 3 months.
How are you doing your E-advertising, have a successfully made website (it can take less then 8 hours and as simple as posting on DB), business e-mail. I know alot of people in our market are always online researching and looking shops that have great service. Google will give you $100 free advertising credit to new business, and you place tags like *Your Location*, steam cleaning, opening special, free demo etc. Then you choose how wide of a area you want to find your advertising, they do this by using the person searching IP address so you can choose you street, neighbour hood, sub city, whole city, great city limits all the way up to the world. Get this, google will set it up for you for free(100%), professionally. You'll have your own advertising concierge and if you spend $500 after that then they will match it! But this is for the first time only.
Do a client's luxury or exotic car for free in the morning in exchange to keep it in front of your shop all day as eye candy.
[video=youtube;5fsm-QbN9r8]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5fsm-QbN9r8[/video] I know you probably already physked about you business but I want you to watch this video. I watch this video before every test, before I pull my all nighters just to stay a bit above the class median. It really helps me want it, what *it* is, it helps me fixate on the goal.
Study ahead to avoid all nighters, and be above the class median : Yeah, I just pulled a few long nights as well for school. Motivational video to say the least. To the OP, just keep at it. You seem to be off to a slow start as of now but it will take off soon enough. I like the flyer idea that Ken put out though.
First of all, congratulations on your first week. I'll throw a couple things out there for you to think about. First, I'd avoid cutting deals as much as possible. My experience with that was nightmareish. Resulted in people telling other people that I'd cut them the same deals and that sort of thing. I quickly figured out that wasn't the way to go. In the future, If you find yourself having to cut a lot of deals to stay busy, it may mean you need to rework your pricing structure a little bit. Secondly, be active in your sales approach. In a way, you have to be just as much of a salesman as you are a detailer. So do some studying on it. Some quick tips: When you speak to people, ask them open ended questions to keep the conversation moving, not just yes or no questions. For example, Instead of just asking them if they'd like some work done, ask them how they're currently caring for their car. Find out what they value in a detail service (it'll surprise you how most people value things like clean windows or cup holders over perfectly polished paint or completely shampooed carpets). Then take a moment to explain to them (clearly and simply) how your services addresses those needs, and many more - thus explaining the benefit they'll gain from employing your services. When you speak to people or show them demos, don't just hand them your business card and hope you hear back from them. Ask for their phone number or email and ask if it would be alright for you to contact them within the next couple days to further discuss services they may be interested in or to set something up. I've found that most people you talk to (as far as everyday type work goes) want the work done, it just isn't an urgent priority for them. You have to remind them that you're there and that they can greatly benefit from your service. If you do it right, you wont come off as pushy or annoying, but as someone who actually cares about your customers and their specific needs. I can tell you firsthand that people respond very well to this approach. Third: Definitely invest some time into doing the website thing. You'll find that some of the best customers you'll get come from hits off your website or detailing forums. Those are the people who have already assessed the value of your services and know what to expect quality and price wise when setting things up. Things will pick up for you I'm sure. You just have to figure out what methods of putting yourself out there are going to work best for you. Then do those things as much and as often as possible. Best of luck.
word of mouth is a great way, but its one of the slowest methods of marketing IMO, you gotta get out there, walk medical office complexes, retails places, places where people have jobs and have some level of discretionary income. Fire houses and police stations, those guys love thier cars and make decent money, hit them up. I hate craigslist, it brings out all the vultures like groupon does, creates no loyalty......building a name and a brand takes time, treat your business as a brand and market it as such. get a shirt made and wear it out, get some stickers made and put them on your car, that is what I do, it creates a buzz and people ask me all the time what it is.
Thanks kilo. Did a kids red oldschool BMW today and dressed it looking new then spent the daypeinting flyers and hitting the community postings at all the local super markets. Tried the real estate peeps but they were closed., everyone likes the video I show them on my phone so there is a real interest. Those that do show up r floored with the results, just need time for it to kick in I want the logo shirts and stickers but that'll have to wait. Love the fire department idea though. The hospital idea I have known about but have not gotten in there yet. Will start scoping out the seen on that starting Monday Business is slow because I really have not done much advertising so there is a local military newspaper I will place an add in next Sunday and that plus my A frame sign should help get me some action The most rewarding part of this so far vs having a job is when u work for someone and do a good job and want some credit they just say "well, it is ur job......" With my shop and limited action I get a ton of praise and compliments and it keeps megoing because I like what I do
90% of my client base are doctors and other staff that work with my wife....... lol. Only down side is for me is they think that im going to give them a "deal" because they work with or for my wife......... takes some educating but they usually understand when im done.
yeah, I hate that. people work with you or know someone that you know and assume it is a way it to get a discount to the point that they feel "entitled" to get a discount. if you tell them know then they take it so personally. man I hope that when I get my A frame on monday it makes an impact on my business. I really want to do 5 cars a day, that would really take the edge off from worrying and waiting for stuff to pick up.
If you are still slow after a year, then I would be worried. It takes 2-3 years to build up a decent client base. Those are the clients that know what you offer, know the cost and just book in every year.
You just gave me an idea for next season Kilo, I live in a court and at the end of my street there's a school board, psyhotheraphy office and medical clinic with some high end cars. I'm sure I could attract some customers there! I also have a GM dealership and GO station right across the street too! Thanks alot for the advice Kilo!
its my Marketing Degree coming out LOL. take it a step further, make up a 5x7 flyer with "special pricing" for "business partners" and call them partners, it sounds more sophisticated...... walk the complex and talk to anyone and everyone.....pass them out, for every 50 you pass out you should get atleast a few responses.
