Rough Times With Detailing

So i have been meaning to post up on here since it's been while. As a business owner of a mobile detailing service i have come to you folks to try and get some ideas of what you guys are doing during these tough times. I am not in a metropolitan area which can be a good and bad thing.

The Good:

Not a ton of detailers to compete with

The Bad:

Not as flooded with business people who have nice vehicles


Don't get me wrong we have BMW's, Mercedes, Porsches and what not just not by the 10's of thousands.

Times have gotten really slow for me lately and i'm trying to think of ideas to possibly obtain a little more business . . . . .

Specials? Do more for less? What are you folks doing as far as advertising goes? I do have a website but now i need to focus on getting more traffic to my website. I hope everyone else is doing well with their business and isn't struggling to much. I'm open to all suggestions. Hopefully this thread will bring some information to help all that are slow.

Thanks in advance.

 

Pound the pavement ....

Get a nice little 5x7 door card with some basic information, maybe an introductory package deal for "New" clients..... walk a nice neighborhood and hand the cards, pass out 100, maybe get 4 or 5 takers, its worth it. Not familiar with your level of services, but cater to the needs of the base market, not the niche market.

Corrections and the latest and greatest is not what the majority of people want, and we all know this. So aim to the "protection detail" and "clean my car" crowd. If was doing this full time, I would take 50 Hondas with dog hair per month; over 1 correction detail every two weeks. Sounds like your market is similar to mine.....

Look at what you are doing as a sales job, not a detailer. And sales is a contact sport, the more people you contact the higher the visibility. Create a referral program too, get your friends and family to advocate for you, networking is key. Everyone likes a freshly detailed car but they don't want to pay for it, tell your friends if you refer me 5 cars (paying cars) you will hook them up at half price or free, or buy them beer, hookers, whatever....... LOL.

try to find out what people want, even do this........ a friend of mine who owns a pool construction company does this. Create a small survey, ask people to fill it out, ask very basic questions; how much would you pay for a detail, how often do you detail your car, very basic questions, walk office complexes, neighborhoods etc, when they are done with the survey give them a card for 15% or whatever off a basic package, maybe not even a detail, could be just a wash.... it creates interest, you are not selling them anything, you are asking their opinions......then rewarding them with something, if anything you have achieved some marketing information that can be used to target certain demographics.

 

Question and survey different areas of the city. This way you will be able to know what kind of detailing people will be interested in. You might get 20 wash and wax and one full corrections out of that survey initially. You might even look into fleet vehicle and offer the company a contract of some sort offering only wash once a month and a full clean up twice a year (summer and winter). This might potentially open up doors to the individual employees within that company to bring their personal vehicle in for a more in-depth detailing.

To me you must educate the clients to understand what detailing is and what it involves. Initially you might sound like a typical car dealership that's trying to up sale 'diamond coat' or 'coating that last a lifetime'. That's why with education you can let them know what's on the market and why what works and what doesn't. In the end you are being honest with them, educating them both verbally and visually and giving them the option to choice how to protect their vehicle's appearance.

 

These are great suggestions on improving business.

As far as improving traffic to your website, try using anchor texts on your site.

For example, say you sell "Super Slick Car Soap". And you want to advertise it on your site by doing a little review of it using a write-up with pictures.

If you start off with saying: "hello, my name is xxx and I'm going to show you how to use our new product Super Slick Car Soap..." when ever you use the word "car soap" make it a clickable link that brings up the page for your soap.

That way, whenever the average joe is shopping on line for car soap, you improve your chances of your product showing up on the first page of google. I'm sure you can make "mobile detailing" an anchor text or whatever words you need.

Maybe its considered cheap or cheating, but nonetheless it's effective

 

these are fantastic suggestions guys. Just to clear the air a little i live in Hawaii so the winter thing isn't as big of a issue is as those that experience a white winter season. We do however normally experience more frequent rain storms during our winter.

Population out here in Maui is about 100.000 roughly . . . .

Another thing to consider would be to target the hard to get people . . . . such as those in the gated communities. I tried to advertise in the phonebook one year and it was literally the worst investment i ever made. I spent about $2,400 for the year and got like 2 calls. It was just stupid.

 

I've got to commend you on this one. I guess we all get caught up in wanting things to be perfect. I really hate when i do a car and they opt out of having it polished. I feel like the ending result is just sub-par and wind up being very disappointed. You are very true when you mentioned that most people just want a clean car, period. I find that prior to the economy going down the tube when i first started out and didn't have a ton of experience i was very successful with basic details. No polishing of any sort . . . . just a clean clayed and waxed vehicle and good interior cleaning and shampoo and i was super busy but i felt like a car washer vs a actual auto detail person. I really need to step back and asses things and make a new plan to be successful again. It's either i change my mind set away from doing the corrective thing or i move to a metropolitan area where people expect that type of stuff.

Maybe it means me offering a little more for a little less . . . . . . my capabilities extend out to full blown corrections, wet sanding down to just basic washes, maintenance details and things like that. People now days seem to be a lot tighter with their money and want to make it stretch.

The Christmas time is here and i was really hoping to capitalize on that in hopes that people would think to buy details or wash and waxes for people or even a gift certificate towards one.

 

I have been detailing cars since I was 16......... started out washing my dads stuff, then moved on to the neighbors. Even when I was working full time in other industries and jobs, I have always had time to detail, I have never compared what I do to someone else's work and honestly there is no "standard" in this industry.

I can tell you is there are far more people that just want their car cleaner then yesterday and interior clean versus people wanting their cars "corrected" while I am a fan of doing such work and will do it if someone asks me, try to convince a mother of 3 their Denali needs to be corrected and they will laugh at you.....

Give the customers what they want, and plant the seed with the other "options" and eventually they will buy into what we are doing and preaching......it takes time really. And guess what, they don't give a crap what products you use as long as it looks good and you stand behind your work...... I geek out on the latest and greatest, and honestly I find myself reaching for the basics most of the time.

Sounds like you are like me, Im so OCD, its hard for me to detail someones car when they do not want it polished out, but hey...... its their money. I think people need to take it down a notch to get on the market base where the work consistency and the money is. I tell people 500.00 is 500.00 no matter how you get it.

Sadly, like most industries, detailing has become a commodity like shirts and milk, people are looking at price and quality secondary or they try to find a balance, but price will always win, why do you see so many people lining up at the 10.00 car wash, obviously price is king for them. Many people know they can make their cars perfect but they are reluctant to pay for it, since a $500.00 -$1500.00 correction job is absurd to them.....

Think like a customer, and your business will grow but keep mentioning, and suggesting...... use words like "upgrade" or "premium" and it peaks peoples interests.

 

Once again i commend you on this one. We are exactly alike . . . . always wanting to try the latest and greatest but by the time the product makes it to the customer they could really give a rip what you use as long as it is safe and gets the job done. In the end its what the customer wants as you stated. I have come across a few customers who actually have some stuff like griots and 3m products who know what wolfgang is and what not . . . . . most don't though. I feel that we are in the same boat and think very similar. So are you currently doing this full time or as a side job?

I find it really neat that people like bob & phil etc can stay busy doing these crazy extensive details and the work keeps coming. You don't really hear them doing much of the maintenance/small stuff but the big correction details they do. I praise them that they can be successful doing such high level of work. I hope this thread will become useful and help others who are in a similar situation and i hope that the ideas and suggestions keep coming. I need to invest in a van and do a vinyl wrap on it.

 

For me its about the basics..... keeping it simple and cost effective. I do splurge on stuff for myself and my cars, but I have found alot of it is hype...........

But there is stuff that even blows my mind, and I just have to have it. lol

Most peoples exposure to detail products is what they see in their faces at the Walmart, or autoparts store.... and even that is expensive to many.

 

very good info here.

I myself do this part time and I live in the north-east. I will not be doing any detailing this winter.

 

I hear you on the hype. Some products are really good as you mentioned but you really just need to find a few products that are to die for and press forward with business. Hopefully I can start restructuring things here to adapt to the new economy.

Sent from my ADR6300 using Tapatalk

 

Meguiars detailers line, I have never been disappointed........... other then the body solvent is a rather weird, but it is good stuff for the average car and very cost effective.

 

I have only been to the Wailea side of Maui and driven around the Island, and I didnt really see a whole heck of a lot of nice cars - only the rental Mustang convertibles, etc.. My Sweetheart and I were there for a week and we stayed at the Grand Wailea..

But if you do have office buildings, complexes, campus environments, then as mobile, you are perfect to go in there, find your way around, leave lots of advertisements, about your coming out every week and washing, waxing, vacuuming out cars, etc... As long as you can find water,hopefully electric off of a street light or something, or bring your own water and generator, a big canopy advertising you more, and you can make a few days of washing and cleaning lots of cars. Getting more expensive work from there will be up to you..
I bet if you and another guy are good and fast, you can make some money every time you go out and then book the more expensive correction details with this group of people.

Everyone wants their car washed and they dont have time after work, and if you do this while they are at work, they would love you forever !

Good luck,
Dan F

 

I educate my customers, hand out freebies (Couple of ounces of ONR and some diluted ONR ready to go in a sprayer, a towel or two, and some 303 as tire shine) when I'm done with their cars. Give them 10% off on maintenance washes when they refer friends/family, hit up local car teams and attend car shows. Post write ups on craploads of forums, use things that make people go OOOOOOOH and AHHHHHHHH over, lol.

 

That's actually rather surprising as Wailea is one of the Elite neighborhoods. All the millionaires live there but in gated communities or on their huge gated properties. Those are some of the hard to reach people as their neighborhoods are just so secluded. Maui has a decent amount of nice cars. Though i would love to be doing Lamborghini's, M5's, & Ferrari's all day everyday that's not realistic here. I will say i have done some Porsche's, Range Rovers, Tons of BMW's & Mercede's Benz etc . . . . . there are cars like Lamborghini's, Ferrari's , Dodge Vipers and what not floating around just not a ton and not all that often. I do find that some of the extremely rich folks expect deals, freebies and things like that which is rather uncalled for if you ask me.

I love Hawaii, it's a fantastic place, you can hit the ocean 365 days a year and the scenery here is great but i'm starting to think it just might be time to consider a move if i would like to further a business in the Detail Industry.

 

vtec92civic --

Well you just explained it to me - the silky-shorts people are all in secluded, gated, neighborhoods ! No wonder we didnt see them. We even took the Blue Angel Helicopter tour of the Island and didnt see them! But saw some absolutely beautiful houses at some place that looked totally inaccessible except by air. George Harrison has an exceptionally beautiful house there, along with a host of well known names in the movie industry, Hollywood, etc....

What about approaching all those beautiful hotels in Wailea along the ocean, and getting contracts to maintain all their Limo's etc... ? And all those rich people who work in those hotels also have nice cars, right ??

Well, there must be a way to get into that inner circle gated community - you just have to figure out how to crack the code.. Maybe if you can get just one of the inhabitants of these places, the referrals will come..

Yeah, I know, a lot of really rich people somehow think they now are "above" paying for anything at the "going rate" - it's crazy, huh??? They want to or are perhaps driven to becoming ba-zillionaires before they die and then find out - guess what - there are no rich people in the cemetery, all will stand before their Creator with none of their riches, just the playback of their life - what they did for the families and others, and what they didnt do but could have... The "true-up" will be eternally devastating for those that kept it all for themselves...

Good luck, hope you can find the place that will make it easier for you to go after your dream..

Dan F

 

Appreciate it man. I always say the rich get rich and stay rich by pinching pennies and at times being a little cheap. The problem i see with that is it does nothing for the economy. When people spend money it keeps places in business and may even allow them to potentially expand providing jobs for more people who are unemployed lowering the unemployment rate allowing the economy to slowly get better. It's a trickle effect but some fail to see it that way. As you mentioned though some big name people have places here. Heck Opra Winfrey has a huge property here as well as:

Helen Hunt, Carlos Santana, Randy Travis, Willy Nelson, Woody Harrelson, Roseanne Barr, and Kelsey Grammar just to name a few. Maybe i should switch up and be a paparazzi LoL.

What i would like to know is what kind of services are you folks offering or including in your packages and for what price? Products are less expensive in the mainland so that is one factor i need to consider.

 

Try hot chicks in bikinis..............................jus kiddin. Good luck and hope everything works out.

 

THIS!!!!!

If you have a local car forum, do on the spot detailing whenever there is a car show/meet. And leave your business card.
And make sure that YOUR car is always/near tiptop shape.

 

I feel you need to get into one of those gated communites somehow. If you run into someone who lives in there, chat it up and offer some free work. even just a wash / wax. Take your time with the job, set up a canopy, and be visible. with any luck you make nice with one of the neighbors and go from there. If nothing else you can leave the owner some business cards and he probably knows some other people with money

might be a bust. but it seems like thats where the money is and you are on the outside looking in...for now. Good luck.