When it comes to operating your own mobile auto detailing business, one thing’s for certain: No matter how much experience you have, and no matter how much fancy equipment you own, your business is not going to promote itself.
Company collateral is a big part of marketing and promoting your business. Flyers, business cards, banners — even sandwich signs — should be employed in order to give your business the professional image that you need to convey.
As part of your job as a mobile detailer, you should hand out at least 10 business cards each day. When you are setting up for a detail at a customer’s home or place of business, take a few moments to introduce yourself to neighbors or adjacent businesses. Hand them a business card and let them know what you will be doing before you start detailing. Also invite them to come over and take a look at your work so that they can see the before and after results.
Potential customers abound. They’re everywhere! They’re at the gas station, in a parking lot, and they’re shopping. Don’t miss out on the opportunity to gain a new customer. If you see a car that you would like to detail and the car owner is there, go up and introduce yourself and hand them a business card. Also, you should ask for their business card in return. This way, you can follow-up with them in the future.
You can also take notes about their car and your conversation, on the back of their business card. If the car owner is not available to talk to, place your business card on cars that you want to detail just above the driver’s door handle between the weather stripping and the window. This is much more effective and professional than placing flyers underneath windshield wipers.
A sandwich sign is a great tool for mobile detailers to promote their business. Setting a sandwich sign up at the end of the driveway where you are working, or in a parking lot of a customer’s business draws attention to what you are doing. If you have a banner for your shop or a sandwich sign for your mobile business, your logo should be noticeable and your phone number and/or website should be big and bold. Keep the design simple with only important information and make sure people can read it. A canopy is another good way to attract attention — especially if you are detailing in a busy parking lot.
Networking groups are another great way to get exposure for your detail business. The big advantage a networking group is that you’ve got a captive audience! Members are usually business owners and upper-level managers and include accountants, lawyers, doctors, real estate agents, insurance agents, bankers, plumbers, carpenters, painters and landscapers. There are many service-related businesses that are members of networking groups. These business owners have personal fleets of vehicles, service vehicles and work vehicles — all of which require maintenance and detailing.
Your local Chamber of Commerce is a fantastic organization for new business leads! When you join, you get a membership roster that is a list of the current members with information about their type of business, background of the business and contact information. There are periodic mixers and also a monthly newsletter where you can insert a flyer to advertise to other members. Other benefits include helpfulness with health insurance, business consulting, and other various discounts and perks that members are eligible for. The Chamber of Commerce usually meets at least once a month.
Networking and joining civic organizations is much more beneficial than just rolling the dice rolling the dice with a newspaper ad, which statistically has a shelf life of two hours. You are guaranteed leads right out the gate because most all professionals have vehicles that need detailing. Membership fees are normally based on the number of employees that a company has as well as the size of the company, but the benefits far outweigh the costs associated with your membership.
Here at Detail King, we host monthly seminars that often devote an entire day to marketing, prospecting, advertising and growing your business. For details, call our marketing and Internet sales desk at 888-314-0847.
Jason Fung, Vice President – Sales
Detail King LP
