How to let customers know you exist

mini1 · 04-03-09, 01:54

I know there is a great untapped market of customers where I am. I have tried flyers (850+), handing out business cards (100's), direct mail marketing, local community newspaper advertising, craigslist (Nice HTML ad) and teaming up with every local body shop and still I've got very few calls. This isn't a full time operation (weekend/long weekend work) for me and I have little invested and little in the way of operating costs, so I'm not dying. I just want more business!

-Flyers attracted a grand total of 0 customers.
-Leaving business cards on higher end cars in parking lots attracted 0 customers
-Direct mail marketing to hand selected residential and commercial higher income properties resulted in 3 out of 100 possible customers (3% return, but all 3 are regular repeat customers).
-Body shops have sent the majority of customers.
-Customer referral is OK, but not great.
-Newspaper advertising netted 0 customers and was stopped after a combined total of advertising for 6 months in 9 different publications by 2 different major publication companies.
-Custom google local maps listing has resulted in 0 customers
-Craigslist has attracted 0 customers

I don't have the budget for radio, TV or general (main) newspaper advertising. Newspaper penetration is VERY low where I am. I don't have a location and I don't have a dedicated detail vehicle. I'm not putting signage on my every day driver.

Any ideas on how to attract new customers? Is there a way to cheaply market by mail in fairly small volume? The last time it took hours to gather the address data, verify each address, make a flyer, buy paper/ink/envelopes/postage and then manually put everything together and send it.

AeroCleanse · 04-03-09, 01:58

You could try craigslist

LI Auto Detail · 04-03-09, 02:08

This may seem like a reach for some. But im always thinking crazy.
Try a publicity stunt / "for a cause" type event.

team up with local businesses, fire dept, community chamber etc, and host a car show / quik detailing expo. Maybe even do it for a charity or organization. by you hosting it and getting people together, you will defiantly get your name out there.

Call up a local paper or tv channel and tell them about your new business and offer to detail their news crew vans. haha

or you can always try this...

Articles About Advertising and Promotion

brwill2005 · 04-03-09, 03:18

Right now, most forms of advertising are not working. People simply do not want to spend on luxury items and services. I have been concentrating my efforts on getting more from my current customer base. I am doing an email newsletter once a month to my customers with informational articles and coupons. As far as getting new customers, I am concentrating on Google adwords because it is targeted and fairly inexpensive. Other than that, keep trying the things you are doing. You could also get a nice mag sign or some vinyl lettering on your car. My mag signs got me several customers. I just recently upgraded to vinyl lettering, so we will see how that goes.

shagimardanov · 04-03-09, 05:33

try to deal with maid services(you need small companies),
i operate janitorial service, and also do details for most of my customers

good luck

Jakerooni · 04-03-09, 05:45

Show up at events that cater to the type of client you want and mingle with them. Your best bet is to get on some sort of personal level with them. If they remember talking to you they're more likely to call you.

Five_Star · 04-07-09, 11:43

Look into getting to the top of the search engines. I'm dominating my local area because I put a tremendous amount of work into making my website search engine friendly... If you have a website trade links with people and try listing services. They work!

mini1 · 04-09-09, 07:09

Let me ask you this.

Here in Florida we have 'rich' and 'poor' pre-planned neighborhoods. When you take a drive/walk/ride though the rich neighborhood and you see nicer/expensive cars sitting in driveways or inside open garage doors on the weekends.... how do you get those customers? I want to work on those cars. I've tried direct mail marketing and local newspaper advertising to those specific neighborhoods and little has worked. I don't think people are reading the mail I've sent them and most don't seem to read the newspaper. They don't really know what detailing is and won't actively seek a detailer if someone doesn't go after them.

Jakerooni · 04-09-09, 08:52

I bet alot of them already have a detailer or two on call. You need to find a way to get into their social clubs. Golf courses, buisness parks etc etc.

It's not easy to get into certian clientel but once your in the word usually spreads fast and you're hooked up.

StumpyDetailing · 04-13-09, 03:00

I have found that finding those upscale neighborhoods and just walking around them yourself, with about 200 well-written flyers, at least 200 business cards, and just walk up to every house, leave a flyer uniquely placed in their entranceway, be it inside their doorhandle, stuck in a brick crevasse, or whatever... Just try to keep it from looking like SPAM!

And hopefully you can run into a few of the owners and be able to discuss with them what you do and why you are out walking around, because you specialize in high-end detailing and you don't get any customers you want by general advertising.

Most wealthy people do not look at ads in newspapers, online, or anywhere for that matter. They go by one of two things. 1) What their neighbors or friends have done in the past and are happy with, and 2) The person they happened to meet and talked about detailing with.

Those are their 2 options.

You need to make sure you are the second option, because once you're the second option you become the first option to every one of his neighbors and friends.

Especially if you are detailing at his house, it is basically free advertising to all of his neighbors.

Boston Man · 04-13-09, 05:36

Just so you guys know, putting anything other than post office mail into their mail box/mail hole is illegal. Thats what my teacher told me in Service Managing class

gregk · 04-13-09, 07:30

If you have Kijiji in your area, I found that this year I have gotten quite a few calls from it. I have a write-up of what I do(no pricing as you will get low ballers that you don't want anyway) and they allow 4 pics of your work. Last year I got very few calls, but this year I have had lots.

Check if your newspaper has any "new businesses" articles that you could apply for. I was featured in an article as I was a "mobile detailer that comes to you". It was a 1/2 page article in the business section with a picture, I still am getting calls from it a year later! (Today one of my jobs was a lady that has kept the article on her fridge for the past year!) I will probably see $30,000+ of business from that article.

Check if local art galleries, theatres and local charities that would see higher end clients have any "Gala" events or silent auctions. Donate a "full int/ext detail (you can write off the donation) and have small display with business cards and a small poster showing some of your work and a description of what makes your business unique. People will take cards and the auction winner will want their other cars done after you do a good job on the "freebee". I am doing the 3rd car of 4 from such a person tomorrow in his 50' by 30' garage. He has already told many friends who have booked work.

Good luck!