How effective are the yellow pages for mobile detailing

H

highclassmd

New member
How effective are the yellow pages for a mobile detailer.. Im fairly busy 3 or 4 days a week but i just need that one extra push. Everyone is telling me that the yellow pages will generate anywhere from 4-10 calls a week... That would pretty much fill my schedule and force me into a 3rd van. Let me know what you think. And compare/contrast the real yellow pages versus the online yellow pages.. Thanks alot..



Casey P

High Class Mobile Detailing

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It depends on a few factors. One is the amount of other detailers advertising and the size/effectiveness of their ads. It also depends on what book you choose. I have had better luck with the smaller community phone books as opposed to the larger books. Again, it could be based on the size of my ads in relation to the other guys. 4-10 calls a week sounds unrealistic unless you had a full page ad or something similar. For me the ad pays for itself and then some, which makes it worth it. Usually your online ad will compliment your ad in the book itself. Some like to go on the internet to find services, and others like to just open the book.
 
^^^ Agreed! In todays world, people shop ONLINE...no question! Not saying that yellowpages doesnt work...but speaking of, i just used yellowpages.com! Look into an ad online thru yellowpages or something along those lines! Might be cheaper too!
 
Thanks alot guys please keep the replies coming.. Im looking into online yellow pages..something small and fairly cheap but mabey with a small pic to attract attention. Only a few detailers in yellow pages around Tampa where i am.
 
Well, if there are only a couple detailers in the yellow pages in Tampa, that should tell you something. In my opinion, yellow pages, generally speaking are a waste of money. Your not targeting the audience you want to work for, amongst many other things.
 
'Well besides the yellow pages i have the whole graphics on the van, and enclosed trailers, constantly passing out business cards and small print flyers, i have local gated communities on flyer rounds, craigslist online ads etc...\r\n\r\nWe also set up at walmarts/ sams clubs with our car wash banners and do customers which gives other shoppers visual in the parking lot.\r\n\r\nAny other suggestions or critiques for picking up more customers.\r\n\r\nWe also do corparations and business park rounds and i recently began mailing thank you cards wit business cards and customer referral cards included. And thinking of doing the buy 5 get a 6th free or buy 3 full details get the 4th free punch card thing??\r\n\r\nAll input is greatly appreicited and thank you very much..'
 
highclassmd said:
'Well besides the yellow pages i have the whole graphics on the van, and enclosed trailers, constantly passing out business cards and small print flyers, i have local gated communities on flyer rounds, craigslist online ads etc...\r\n\r\nWe also set up at walmarts/ sams clubs with our car wash banners and do customers which gives other shoppers visual in the parking lot.\r\n\r\nAny other suggestions or critiques for picking up more customers.\r\n\r\nWe also do corparations and business park rounds and i recently began mailing thank you cards wit business cards and customer referral cards included. And thinking of doing the buy 5 get a 6th free or buy 3 full details get the 4th free punch card thing??\r\n\r\nAll input is greatly appreicited and thank you very much..'
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I'm not too sure about setting up at Walmart/Sam's Club with car wash banners, you're going to attract alot of clientele you do not want assuming that you want to attract the type of clientele most of us here have. You don't want people coming to you looking for bargains, and ironically, these will be the people coming out or going into Walmart. :rofl



Being mobile, and as long as you are in compliance with the EPA, have insurance, and are fully equipped, office parks are an absolute gold mine for mobile detailers. Besides my regulars, about half of my income comes from corporate office parks. One tip dealing with office parks, try to speak with the property manager of the office park to first get permission, and second, to see if they can spread the word around for you. I've gotten huge business with three business parks doing this, including one now where I'm doing a few details at next week.
 
Guess I'll be the only one to say anything good about the yellow pages. Hands down the best advertising dollar I've ever spent. My ad in the generic yellow pages came out last fall and I've gotter quite a few calls off it. And my AT&T ad came out no more than a week ago and I can easily say I've gotten at least 10 calls on it already. And it's in the dead of winter here in Michigan. When I say slow I mean Slllllllloooooooow. Like maybe 3 washes a month slow. much less any detailing. This ad dropped and I'm almost booked solid through the end of this week. I guess I just got lucky.... ehh
 
Office parks are a great idea, espcially if you can land a financial company. We had a mobile detailer come to my job and he would detail car after car after car... It was instant cash.
 
It is all about the market you want to go after. If you intend to go after the masses, including the price shoppers, then the yellow pages would probably serve you well. On the other hand, if you would rather concentrate on the higher end niche market, then your advertising dollars would in most cases be wasted on the yellow pages.
 
I agree with Frank. The last 3-4 years I was in the yellow pages, pretty much all I got were price shoppers. I get so much more business by having a website than I ever did with the yellow pages.
 
Scott I'm on the exact opposite of the spectrum there. My yellow page ads are paying the bills around this place. I have my website listed on everything I put out ...yet no one seems to ever know I have a website. I have very little traffic to the website. (although I like the site because of the potential) Maybe because my location is fairly new still. But I blast the website addy on all my business cards. It's on my voicemail my flyers my shop answering machine my pricelist etc etc etc... And no one ever goes to it. I've yet to have a single customer come in yet saying "Oh I saw your website and wanted to book a service" 99.99999999% (in fact the yellowpook agent is the only expception so far) of people that walk in and I mention it to them say "Oh you have a website too I never knew" Hopefully that will turn around here soon as I tell more and more people (considering I'm the only detailer in the entire 3 county area that even has a website) But for now the yellow pages has proven absoutly invaluable to me being able to keep the doors open here. It's does the job it's supposed to. It makes my phone ring.
 
I do a lot of networking on the internet so people know who I am and what I do. Google my username, you will see what I mean. ;)
 
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