putting cards under wipers?

M

mynavi

New member
I'm looking into building my cliental base and was wondering what people think of leaving my business card under a cars wipers? I have no problem with approaching a person and handing them my card, but what about the times when you see a parked car that you would like to detail (Ferrari I keep seeing)? What do you do?
 
What do you do with cards and flyers you find placed under your wipers?

I throw them on the ground and swear to never use that business.
 
As for myself, I really get upset when someone places anything either under my wiper, wedged in my door crack, etc. etc. I feel that "my personal space" has been violated. This plan just might backfire on you and your cards will be littered throughout the parking lot. That's just my 2 cents worth.

Now, as to what you might do, try direct mailing. Get a company to target it for you. But NEVER place anything into or on anyone's mailbox unless you mail it to them and place a stamp on it. Placing something into someone's mailbox without mailing it is a violation of federal law. You could always go house to house and introduce yourself.
 
LOL, I think that depends on the person . You could leave him a card and a note saying how much you would like to detail his car.
The best is still word of mouth so if your work speaks for itself you are set.
You may have to do a few freebies or very cheap deals to get your foot in the important doors but make sure other doors will open before giving a freebie.
Stirring up business is all about the effort you make to sell yourself.
 
The first car I tried that on was a Ferarri. I got a call from him the next day to set up an appointment. It does work sometimes, but the return on that kind of thing is really really small if you are just hitting every car in a parking lot. You would do best to target cars that likely get detailed once in awhile.

Look at the other positive aspect... If your card is something that would attract attention if it was found on the ground, then who cares if they pull it off their car and throw it down? Someone else might pick it up. ;) There are worse things in this world than a parking lot full of your business cards. ;)
 
Personally, I think it's sort of tacky. I got one under my wiper (along with every other car in the lot at work) this week, and the first thing I did was toss it in the garbage. There are better ways to go about handing out your business literature in my opinion.
 
IMO it depends on the image you are portraying as well as the quality of the message you are sending. A few weeks ago in the local Wal-Mart shopping center parking lot someone put a glossy, slick flyer advertising their detailing services on my windsheild. My initial reaction was to toss it, but there was a handwritten note something to the effect of "you've done a nice job maintaiing the finish of your car - I'd love to apply for the job of being your detailer. Please call me at your convenience".

I immediately looked around to see if everyone got this 'line of bull', and as far as I could see there were only a couple other cars with flyers on their windsheilds. It was at that point that I felt flattered no longer resentful or angry.

Point being, I think, is if you want to market in this manner do something that will set you apart from the others that leave trash on windsheilds. Compliment the car owner and gently ask for his/her business.
 
I get pissed when I find stuff under my wiper. Not only could it potentially damage/bend/distort the blade, but I've seen in the past where the person wore a coat with a zipper or something and scratched my paint. Granted we detailers would be a bit more careful about that, but I still don't like people touching my ride.
 
I think youll get a 50/50 response I see people throw them out, i know personaly I read it then put it in my car and forget about it and throw it out latter, I would watch were you do it as some malls you need permision and i know if i think i have a ticket i wont read it.. ARg i hate tickets lol. but i think its worth a shot I would go for it. the other thing is you could go to a nicer neighborhood(sp) and put then in mailboxes.
 
CalgaryDetail said:
I think youll get a 50/50 response I see people throw them out, i know personaly I read it then put it in my car and forget about it and throw it out latter, I would watch were you do it as some malls you need permision and i know if i think i have a ticket i wont read it.. ARg i hate tickets lol. but i think its worth a shot I would go for it. the other thing is you could go to a nicer neighborhood(sp) and put then in mailboxes.
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I don't know about in Canada where you are, but in the US it's illegal to put fliers (or technically anything) in mailboxes unless you are a mail carrier...:)
 
I HATE it when anyone leaves anything on my vehicle. I would rather be contacted in person or while I'm at home during appropriate hours.
 
I leave cards on vehicles, though a select amount. I do not put them under wiper blades, as most of the time, the person does not see it UNTIL they are already in the car. I place mine right above there door handle. Slide it between the window and door rubber. If the car is aweful looking, filled to the max with junk, I pass....
I place them on nicer cars and/or cars in the handicap parking spaces. I probably put out 30 cards and recieved 10 calls. Not a bad return. As a matter of fact, I finished an F-250 the other day, which I placed a card. And in about an hour, I'm off do do his wifes BMW Convert.

Sometimes I sit in my truck and watch what people do with the cards. Some keep them, some throw them out. It's business. I would rather get a card on my vehicle than a letter in the mail or phone call. IMHO
 
Like Texas I also will leave an occasional card on a vehicle an I put them in the same place over the handle between the window and the glass. Sometimes I watch to see what the people do with the card and very few throw them on the ground. I have found that I get a pretty good return on these cards, the only problem is most of the time I am putting them on dirty cars and these people want the vehicle done tomorrow they really dont want to make an appt for next week and being a mobile service sometimes I have to double up on cars the next day in order to close the deal.
 
You never know when or where you might find a new client. Sure, most of you don't like to get solicitations on your cars, but then again, most of you are all avid car enthusiasts. Therefore, you take great pride in the way your vehicle looks, it's your pride and joy...."you're personal space", as someone pointed out. Yet, for every enthusiast out there, there are probably 10 people that absolutely hate to work on their cars. Just because people drive around in expensive cars, doesn't mean they like to or even want to put in the time and effort that many of you put into your own vehicles. Point being, these very busy people just might welcome the card of an auto detailer. It's just one more thing they don't have to hassle with. I've gained more than a few clients by placing a card above the door handle. In fact, one of my best clients, came to me after finding my card on his drivers door while parked for the Memorial Golf Tourney. I live near Dublin, OH and my ideal target market attends the golf event every year. I don't believe it sends a negative reputation of your company, but I'm also very selective when choosing which cars to hit. It's no different than any other form of marketing in that some will call you and some will not.

Just my two cents.
 
As much as people get pissed off when they see "junk" on ther window, they still read it so that right there makes it worth it. You never know, that pissed off person could need their car washed for a hot date saturday night. Don't waste your time with the 1986 pos, Eye up the high dollar suv's, bmw's, sports cars. Not to sound rude, but those are typicaly the people with enough money to have someone else clean their car.
 
You guys have to look at this another way though.... You know how to clean your car and you take pride in it. Of course you get bent when someone hits your car with flyers or business cards. The people who are interested in what we do don't have those same feelings. Their cars are in need of love, which is why one would hit them with a business card. I wouldn't suggest to an immaculate car in the parking lot that it needs to be detailed. I'd be targeting late model cars that are in obvious need of some love. If my car got hit with a detailer's card, then I'd probably take that as a sign that my car needs to be detailed.
 
Jngrbrdman said:
If my car got hit with a detailer's card, then I'd probably take that as a sign that my car needs to be detailed.
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True... actually I'd be shocked and offended since my car 99% of the time is spotless, and it has "Meguiar's" decals on the side windows on both sides. A detailer would have to be pretty ignorant to miss that.:lmfao

And really I hadn't thought about it from the standpoint of other people who don't understand nor care about their vehicles being hit with fliers.
 
That is probably why you should only expect to see a 1% return on this type of thing unless you specifically target cars who won't likely have an issue with it.
 
I'd be pleased to see 1% return, myself.

Thanx for all the comments everyone. Good ideas on the selective hitting, card placement areas, etc.

I would like it, personally, if I thought someone WASN'T wearing a zipper/button shirt and scratching my finish, which I'm sure they were. Since I've become a little guy in business, I've made it my goal to support little guys and gals, so I tend to use whatever is on my window/mailbox.
 
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