Prepare Your Employees

If you are dedicated to providing your customers with only the best in quality care and service you will need to know that all of your employees are on board with your level of standard.

Points to Consider:

-Make sure your employees share your same standard and commitment to being a customer-driven, quality-production detail shop.

-Begin your employee relations with a sound understanding of clear communication. Tell them exactly what is expected of your crew.

-Don’t simply tell your employees of your level of standard – show them.

-Explain to your employees that they will be part of a quality-conscious organization and they will discover that quality does equal production, profits and customer satisfaction.
 
Growing Your Car Detailing Business

If you are looking to grow your business, take full advantage of new marketing and promotional ideas.

By making that extra effort to add-on sales and by making your detail business pop, your customers will notice.

Your Customer’s Tax Return Money

Car detailing shops can take full advantage of the tax refund season. While most returns were issued in March, some will arrive in February and some in January.

Large numbers of consumers would be only too interested in a car detailing service, if only they had the extra funds. Come tax time, the government is handing out a lot of money to those who have overpaid on their taxes.  You will find new customers in and amongst this group.

A clever detailer will appeal to those with extra funds to burn during tax season. Target this group in particular as many are just looking for a good place to spend.

For those who feel car detailing might be too extravagant — offer them a “buy now” discount and watch as they make their way into your shop!

Set That Appointment

Cater to the customer that just can’t quite come to buy now. Lock them into an appointment time and mark it in your books! Give them a reminder call the day before. You will have them dreaming about their car detailing job.

Another good approach during tax season is to offer specials that promote packages and make special offers.

Promote using your regular channels of advertising, including direct mail, print, radio, etc. Make the specials limited offers with a time-date attached.  This will bring them in quickest.

Tax refund months can be a bonanza time for the car detailing industry so be sure to get the word out early to your loyal customer base and prepare to bring in new customers during this high growth period.

Practice Preferred Customer Service

A successful detailer will take their customer care seriously.  Be on a first name basis as much as you can.  This promotes confidence and makes your customer’s purchasing experience more pleasurable and memorable. Once you have an established relationship with your customers, you will benefit immensely in customer loyalty and loads of valuable new referrals.

As you grow in your business, work hard on developing a unique presentation.  Offer something that will set you apart from the rest.  Do this and you will gain momentum in leaps and bounds!

Personalize Your Customer’s Experience

Take a digital picture of your customer standing next to their car! Let your customer leave your shop with more than just a great detailing job! Take a digital photo of your customer’s car and feature your shop’s logo along with it.  This is great advertising and your customer will be proud. You can take the digital photo to any copy place or publishing company.  If you really want to make a great impression, offer to have your photo made into a poster. When your customer comes back for their copy tell them about a new product or service you are offering.

At the same time you could do up a customer appreciation wall.  When you do up a photo or poster for a customer, do a second and feature their detail job on your shop wall.  This is a great promotional idea and your customers will love to see their pictures showcased on your shop wall, too!

A Memorable Experience

Give your customer a small gift. As you finish your detailing job, leave a small gift such as a piece of fine chocolate for the men and a single flower such as a rose for the ladies. This goes over like gangbusters!

Handle With Care

After any great detailing job, your customer will love to receive a hand-wash. This tells your customer that you care about their car and their business.

Gift of Appreciation

As your customer must wait for their detailing to be completed, offer them some refreshment.  A cold bottle of water or soda is a very nice touch. Such attention to your customers will speak volumes and will leave a good impression so that they will want to return and give referrals.

Immediate Transportation

For your customers who must leave their vehicles behind to be detailed, offer a mode of transportation for their convenience. You can go with a shuttle service or a personal pick-up service.  This will be impressive and show you are a professional shop and that you take your customer’s every need seriously.

Price Is Critical

Your advertising and marketing needs to be dynamic in order that you can best get the public’s attention and move them to act.

A sure-fire way to do this is to promote a popular service and offer it at an attractive price. This can be accomplished through regular advertising avenues and can also be done at your shop itself.

Go for vinyl letter signage nearest to your street. Draw up attractive and unique posters or banners and place them on the outside of your building. These must be clearly visible from the road in order to be most effective. Don’t forget to advertise those popular basics like a wash and wax. Don’t assume your customer will know what you do just by reading your shop sign.

Once you have brought your customer into your shop, you now have a golden opportunity to use your clever sales skills and techniques. Your job is to up-sell them on other services that their vehicle needs.

Leave Them With a Reason To Buy Again Soon

Promotion comes in many shapes and forms and you can be creative when wanting to send a message to your customers. The next time you do a detail job; send your customer home with a thank-you card. This lets your customer know that they are special and that you care about them. It also says, “Come back again soon to get special treatment!” Every customer wants to hear this. We all want to think that we are special.

Little thoughtful touches in the detailing business will leave a most favorable impression in your customer’s minds. This can also lead to new referrals coming your way. Word of mouth is one of the most dynamic ways of promoting.

Within your thank-you card, tuck away a discount coupon. Include an appropriate expiration date of no less than 30 days and no more than 45 days.  You want your customers back quickly.

You can expect to see many repeat customers using this method and you can also enjoy repeat purchases this way! You customer gets good, quality service, a discount and your cash register sings! This is a win-win situation to be sure.

Try offering a second car discount with the thank-you note! When your customer leaves entirely happy they will willingly pass on a discount opportunity to someone they know like a family member.

Promote Your Add-ons

Make no mistake about it, in the detail business; it’s the up-sells that promote best. This is where the regular sale becomes the bigger, better sale! Here is where your revenue grows.

Sell-ups attract a lot of buzz and can include: a hand wash and wax, carpet shampooing, paint sealants, fabric protectants, deodorizing of the air conditioner and interior, all work very well!

Consider drawing up a comprehensive list of add-ons you and your employees feel would work best in your shop. As loyal customers come and go ask them how they feel about your add-ons and would they appreciate them. Customers can provide valuable feedback about your services this way and you also learn what it is that people are looking for that you are not yet providing.

Over time, it can be those attractive up-sells that will make your register sing the best. Once you have an established base in services, begin to offer the up-sells to go right along with them. This will make your business more profitable.

Services such as paintless dent removal (pdr) and paint touch-up provide your customers with added convenience. They can receive multiple services in one stop. This is a real perk for both shop owner and customer.

Time to Reassess

Before you start to plan for serious upgrades to your services and/or equipment, there are several things a shop owner needs to take into account, such as:

• How well do you know your competition?
  
  
• All aspects of training
  
  
• Tools and supplies issues
  
  
• Staffing issues
  
  
• Pricing wholesale and/or retail issues
  
  
• Subcontracting issues.

Get very familiar with who your competition is, what they are charging, what the quality of their services and products are like, and how much business they command.

Ready to Make the Commitment?

As with any good and viable business idea, some will do very well and have complete success while commanding a good part of the market, while others just subsist, struggling day by day.

Even those who are considered leaders within the car detailing industry can, in fact, be nothing special.

What sets the winners apart from the losers?

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