Mobile detailers should attempt to talk with at least ten new prospects per day, regardless of how many detailing jobs you have booked for the day. You want to keep the "pipeline" full of potential customers. One way to do that is talk to as many potential customers you can each day. Give as many cards and flyers out to as many people you speak to. Most importantly when you talk with a potential new customer try to get them to their vehicle so you can review with them your services and how the services will make the appearance of their vehicle look new again.

I know of many mobile detailers who just pass out flyers and stick them under the windshield wipers of cars. Some sell a few jobs from that but the success rate is nil. Other more successful entrepreneurs actually will target certain businesses that have high-end cars parked in their lots. Typically you would go into the business, ask who owns that "black Mercedes" in the parking lot and ask to speak to them. You would of already taken a good look at the car and made some notes on how you can improve it's appearance. Once you introduce yourself to the owner of the Benz, get him outside to his car with you and show him what you can do to correct any cosmetic problems and add protection and value to his vehicle.

You may even want to bring out some polish and hand polish a small section of the car's hood to show your potential customer what you can make the entire car look like. You can do the same thing with the interior; clean a section of the carpet or seats and show the customer the difference that your professional services will make. If you can do this at least 5 times per day to new potential prospects you should "book" at least 3 new details. This takes longer to do than just passing out flyers, but your closing ratio is considerably higher. Take the extra time to cultivate new prospects that would be more inclined to purchase your services and show the prospect the features and benefits of your offering.

Profitable Car Dealership Opportunities
Many auto detailing operators are satisfied just to obtain business at the car dealership from the used car manager. Although there are many more opportunities at the dealership that most operators do not pursue. The opportunities await at the service department and the body shop. For instance, many new car dealerships have clean-up shops but they are not "true" auto detailing bays. Typically the dealership does not have the space, the equipment or the expertise to operate an effective auto detailing business. That is where you come in; offer your professional services to the service department.

A service customer brings in their $50,000, 12 month old Lexus for service, if offered an auto detailing at the car dealership where they purchased their Lexus there is a good chance they will pay $200-$250 for a complete detail. But, if the service advisor is not confident that they can offer a professional auto detailing service to that customer, they won't, and there is revenue lost that the dealership could have easily obtained if they offered the service. Also, the service department may want to offer auto detailing services but is not confident that the "wholesale" detailer that cleans the dealerships used cars will do a "retail detail" on their service customers car. The service advisor also does not want to have his "clean-up" or "get-ready" guys attempt the job, the detail probably will not be up to par. So they don't even offer it and the customer takes it down the road to someone else to spend his money- maybe you, maybe not.

If you offer your "high-end" auto detailing to these "high-end" auto dealerships you and the dealer both win. They generate additional revenues that they need badly and you get additional business. If they are selling the detail at $229, you may charge them $129, this beats the $85 used car dept. detail, and typically these high-end service department details are much easier to do. The dealer makes $100, and if they can do this 5-10 times per week (at least) there is an extra $25,000 - $50,000 that the service department has generated in new business that they do not have to touch.

In turn, you have just generated an additional $25,000 - $50,000 in new business. You need to formulate a plan and offer your services to the new car dealerships and show them the revenues that they can generate. Show them the long-term profits. You must make an agreement with them that you will not solicit your services to their customers after the first detail. The dealership will want repeat business with this new profit center. Some very savvy entrepreneurs actually set-up a shop at the dealership and obtain all of the clean-up and detailing jobs. This will take a real commitment from you though. It can be done. There are also opportunities from the dealerships auto body shop especially if you offer heated extractor services and odor removal.

Promoting Your Business On The Web
The Internet is here to stay, and is an excellent way to showcase your business. Many times customers will look for your web address to learn more about your business before they contact you. Because you are a local business you really need not worry about web site ranking initially. If customers decide to use a search in their area for a local detailing business your web address should come up if you used the correct title, description, key words and introduction paragraph.

Mainly these prospects will want to learn more about your services and the Word Wide Web is an inexpensive way to do it. You do not need an elaborate web site. All you really need is a home page, a service page or two, and possibly a photo album of cars you have done with their owner standing next to their newly detailed car. You should also have a form so your customer can book an appointment online - you will need to check your email a few times a day to confirm the appointments.

To promote your web site is easy. Just put your web address on everything! That's right everything; your van or truck, trailer, business card, service menu, flyers, yellow page ads, newspaper ads, virtually anything that has your business name on it. Be sure to set-up a counter on your web site so you can see the amount of visitors to the site.

If you are planning on having a yellow page ad many yellow page advertising companies will offer you a free web site with your display ad.

If you are on a tight budget you can call the local Art Institute or Technical Institute and have a student build your web site. These students usually know the latest technology and can build you a nice web site for a very attractive price. As your business grows you can build-up your web site more. It is important to have a web site when you open so you can have the leading edge over your competition especially if they do not have one.

In summary, talk to as many people you can every day about your business. Hand out flyers and business cards and attempt to review your services with the potential customer at their vehicle. Offer your services to auto dealership service departments and body shops, there are additional profits here.

Also, if you do not have a web site - get one! Being on the web is an important part of your marketing plan and will help grow your business quicker.

You also want to educate yourself as much as possible in this industry. Gaining more education in this industry can be obtained by attending educational seminars. You want to know as much as you can, this will assist you in obtaining more business and enable to grow your business faster.