Looking for Active advertising ideas

[joburnet]

I would really like to find some active advertising ideas vs. the passive ideas I'm using now. Right now I've been putting flyers on people's mailbox's and we've had pretty good results but the % of people that respond is very low <.5% so far.



When we actually go to do a detail several people come up and ask us for prices or show significant interest in some way, and all of these people have received our flyers. This leads me to believe that if I was able to talk to people rather then just put a flyer on their mailbox then the % of return on that would be much much higher.



My best idea right now is to detail a daily driver and enter it into a concours. I wouldn't be hoping to win but I would like to show people that their car can look really nice and hopefully not be embarassed. That would give me a chance to talk to a lot of people and pass out some flyers in person.



Does anyone else have ideas that work for them? Thanks.

 

[kompressornsc]

I'm not a detailer, but have been selling marketing (promotional products) for 10+ years, so here are my thoughts:



It sounds like if you're handing out flyers and people are interested, you're just not closing the sale! Try to get a commitment from them. Even just to look at their car and give an estimate. You have to sell someone on yourself and your service, and handing out flyers won't make that happen. People expect to be sold-don't be shy about asking! If you're not familiar with sales techniques, pick up an audio book by Zig Ziglar or other sales trainer-they have simple, no BS ideas that work wonders. Just turn yourself into 'active' advertising-it's totally free!



On a side note: From a marketing perspective, detailaling is a very 'personal' business. The client asks themselves "Do I trust this person with (what is probably) my 2nd most expensive purchase?" Clients don't care about other cars you've done, they care about what you are going to do for them! Getting a (potential) client's trust must happen first. Flyers, business cards, postcards and websites all add to the overall picture, but ultimately, it comes down to the person that they first meet at the company, and their impression of them. Personality will kill or enable more sales (especially in a personal service like detailing)than all other types of marketing combined.