Submitted By Tracy Harden
Graduate of Auto Detail
School
"Auto Detailing Marketing"
How to turn a slow business
day into a lucrative one.
With some careful planning
It's that time of year when the auto detailing business tends to slow down. Days are shorter and the sun is lower, but don't let this discourage you! Be positive! Sometimes necessity is the mother of invention, as well as adopting an idea from someone else maybe tweaking it to fit your business needs. I try to suggest ways for people to market their business in the auto reconditioning industry.
One Friday night, I heard some rustling at my front door and thought that someone was getting ready to knock. After a minute and no knock, I got up to see what it was. When I opened my door, some papers fell to the doorstep and there was a gentleman walking away. I glanced down at the papers to see the word "MOBILE" in bold letters. I called after him to inquire about his flier.
He told me that he was with a Mobile Screen company and that he was doing some pre-marketing. This peaked my interest. He explained that on every Friday evening, their company targeted a specific neighborhood, handing out these information fliers with a special call to action that absolutely intrigued me. The fliers stated that they would be out the following day and if they would like an estimate, to place the green square, which was a sticker, on the door or entry of the house. This sticker would indicate interest of the home and they would stop.
I was blown away! What a fantastic idea! I immediately thought of how this could benefit our auto detailing business. I asked what his success rate was. He told me that about 20% of the homes ask for an estimate and of that they close 15% of those homes that Saturday. I knew then that I must test this. I quickly put together a flier and attached a blue sticker. The flier stated that our detailing company would be in the neighborhood the following day, informing them of specials on hand washes, quick wax details and more. If they would like a free estimate or consultation about their vehicle's condition to place the sticker on the door.
I set out the following Friday night with my husband and we blanketed exactly 30 homes. I wanted to start small because if people wanted the work done on impulse, I wanted to make sure that Greg and his guys could handle the work that very day.
We set out at 9 a.m. on Saturday and started driving down the street I was a little disappointed, as we were not seeing any stickers. Driving a little further, I perked up. There were 5 in a row! We stopped and began our quest for work. The first guy wanted an estimate on an overspray removal job. The next was a wash, followed by waxes, interior detail and so on. By the days end, we ended up doing services for 12 of the 30 we had targeted. The flyers I made up using Microsoft Publisher and the stickers I purchased at our local Staples office supply store. The total investment was around $19. And to think, we potentially would have had no business and we gained a bunch of whole new clients.
When business slows down, it can be frustrating. Everyone likes the business to find you. Sometimes you have to find the business. Business levels can drop and can leave you scratching your head. A little creativity and thinking outside the box can sometimes provide you with business opportunity that you never knew you had.
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