Professional Detailing Forum | Car Detailing Techniques | Detailing Equipment Discussions | Detail Business Marketing and Management

Changing Gears

Ron — Thur, 29 Jul 2010 13:55:26 GMT

Well the time has come for us and the shop. We can no longer personally keep up with the all the things that need to be done. We have contracted with a web designer to create an entire new site for us. This will give us more free time mainly after hours.

The web has become fast changing and ever more complicated with twitter and facebook. We feel that we need to let someone who does this for a living handle these things for us. It should turn out to be our best investment this year.

Were so busy I really don't even have time to keep up with forums much.

Forum:
Detailing Business Management Forum

Auto Detailing Business Names

AutoDetailingNetwork — Wed, 28 Jul 2010 03:49:29 GMT

Hey Everyone,
Doing sort of an informal survey. Curious as to what the names of your detailing businesses are and why you chose the name you did for your business.

When replying, please include your business name, location and web address if applicable.

Thanks!

Dan

Forum:
Detailing Business Management Forum

How To Get Customers to Buy....

buda — Tue, 27 Jul 2010 17:56:04 GMT

Why are some detail businesses very successful and others struggling to survive? It is not be accident, I can tell you that.

Success in getting customers to call or come in the door is the result of knowing how your customers think, especially in a down economy.

So what kinds of services are customers buying today? We know that money is tight for many people and that getting business is more difficult than it has ever been.

But there are still many customers who are buying detail services or actually need to buy detail services. But they are looking for you to sell them, to show them why they need to purchase the detail service, that is where good sales comes in. If you are not a good sales person who are going to miss out on many sales you might otherwise have.

Far too many detail business owners, like too many salespersons, they are order takers. If a customer calls or comes in and asks for a price and you give them a price and they say OK, you got the sale. However, if the "order takers" have to do anything more, they are lost and so is the potential sale.

Selling today is a 2-Step Process.

#1. The first step is the same as it has always been, determine the needs of the vehicle and show the customer how you and your services will meet the needs of the vehicle.

#2. The second step is a new one that is what separates the successful detail business owner from the one who is struggling. What you must do is make your solution easy to buy for the customer. The customer does not want to waste money, even if they can afford it. So you have to insure them that spending the money to have you provide the detail services you are suggesting is economically in their best interests. That the detail services are not a "luxury" but a necessary service like buying a new set of tires when the existing ones are worn out.

There are a lot ways to do this and it is hard to create every sales scenario here. One of the things many companies use in their sales pitches are money-back guarantees; satisfaction guarantees, etc. Anything you can do to reduce the sense of risk the customer might have in spending the money.

Promote protection of investment, "pay now or pay later" idea. If they do not clean that carpet it might have to be replaced. If they do not protect that paint it could deteriorate to the point of needing a repaint or look so bad the value of the car is substantially reduced at trade in time.

Offer maintenance packages or one year guaranteed paint protection and fabric protection with FREE clean ups.

Ask yourself, as a consumer, "if I were the customer, what would motivate me to purchase a service that might cost several hundred dollars or at the least seem like a luxury service?"

Check out your competitors, especially the successful ones, what are they doing? Using mystery shoppers to call on the competition by phone and in person you might pick up some great ideas.

Creating pricing structures that seem to present a lower option without actually reducing your prices.

Remember that in times like these thriving and just surviving requires that you offer a great deal of value with little or no risk and the customer's part. And you have to do this at the very beginning of your sales presentation by phone or in person.

Just some well intentioned thoughts to help you survive in today's economy.

Regards,

Forum:
Detail Plus Auto Detailing Forum

Auto Detailing .mobi websites

AutoDetailingNetwork — Tue, 27 Jul 2010 14:11:20 GMT

Today the one thing people always make sure they have when leaving their home is their cell phone. They aren't just for making phone calls anymore!

People are buying products and services directly through their cell phones when and where it is convenient for them.

Auto Detailing businesses and other service businesses are missing out on an tremendous opportunity to generate leads and increase sales if they don't take the opportunity to get their business on mobile devices. While some smart phones are able to access traditional websites via the browser on their phone, it is often slow and difficult to navigate. A .mobi website is quick to load and easier to navigate meaning there is a better likely hood that the consumer will contact you.

Today's .mobi platform allows customers to request appointments, have one click call back (they click on the link and their phone automatically dials your number), instant maps with turn by turn directions and more...

Read the entire headline

Forum:

Detailing Headlines

Auto Detailing Network is going mobile

AutoDetailingNetwork — Mon, 26 Jul 2010 19:51:24 GMT

All the great resources you've enjoyed on autodetailingnetwork.com coming soon to your mobile phone!

List your detailing business .mobi site for FREE!

Click here for more information and how to set up your website for mobile phones!

Forum:
Detailing Business Management Forum

Text Message Marketing

AutoDetailingNetwork — Fri, 23 Jul 2010 16:18:10 GMT

With the popularity of smart phones, unlimited texting plans etc., there are more and more "text marketing services" popping up everywhere. In fact, one of our sponsors on Auto Detailing Network is a text marketing company (Detail Deals)

One thing everyone leaves their homes with each morning is their cell phone so it would seem to be a viable addition to a business marketing plan..

Would love to heat some feedback and thoughts on this sort of marketing option.

Who has used this marketing platform and what have the results been?

Forum:
Detailing Business Management Forum

FIRING PEOPLE

buda — Fri, 23 Jul 2010 00:00:45 GMT

As a business owners who have employees we are often faced with the unpleasant task of having to fire them.

A long time ago I was told that having to fire someone was a failure on my part as a manager. Either hiring wrong in the first place , and/or not providing proper training and motivation.

But if we have hired right and trained right and have a person who has a great attitude, works very hard, but is too slow in performing the detail work what do we do?

Personally, I had just that situation.

Hoping his performance would improve I put off firing the person. However that fateful day came and I had to make the decision to let the person go.

He came into my office at the end of the work day smiling and full of energy as he always was, and I knew I could not fire him, he just had too good an attitude and was too good a person.

What we did instead was discuss the problems he was encountering getting the work done in a timely manner, but we did not come up with any immediate answers.

Then I began to think about where he was having problems and it was in the interiors. What I discovered was the way his brain worked, and I am not a psychologist, he had difficulty moving from headliner to dash, to carpets, to seats, etc. Each area required different tools and different chemicals and what slowed him down was his inability to move quickly from one task to the next, for whatever reason.

With this in mind I assigned this person to prepping cars in the wash bay and removing wax.

What a change, he become a whiz at engine cleaning and prepping, getting the cars out faster than anyone else.

And, removing wax he could do by himself in less than 5 minutes.

Playing away from his weaknesses and to his strengths allowed me to save an otherwise good employee that I might have fired if I had not taken responsibility for his failings and taken the time to consider the situation more carefully.

Often this is case when employers are quick to fire an employee who does not meet the expectations.

Hope this is of value to you.

Regards
Bud Abraham

Forum:
Detail Plus Auto Detailing Forum

IDA to Introduce 2010 Programs

IDA — Thur, 22 Jul 2010 12:57:23 GMT

The new IDA Board of Directors under the leadership of president Rick Goldstein and new Executive Director, Sheryle Hazard has been working very hard on several programs to be introduced in 2010.

The first order of business is the Membership Program to drive more operators, manufacturers and distributors to the IDA.

As well, the IDA will introduce the long awaited programs including:

Operator Certification
Release of Detail Business Survey
Detail Education Schedule

There is more on tap, but the final plans for the programs have not yet been completed.

Regards

Forum:
International Detailing Association

Do You Have Detailing Freedom?

RennyDoyle — Thur, 22 Jul 2010 00:37:13 GMT

I hear so many detailers talk about being business owners but in many cases...they are owned by their business. Do you have detailing freedom?

Forum:
Attention To Details Detailing Forum

Website Domain Names

AutoDetailingNetwork — Sat, 17 Jul 2010 00:16:40 GMT

Hey Everyone,
July 20th they will be making available a new domain extension. The new .co is rumored to be quite big.

Many fortune 500 companies and others have already pre-registered their respective company names.

Don't miss out on the chance to finally get your domain name of choice! You can pre-register at GoDaddy

Just click on the .co from the right hand side of page

Forum:
Detailing Business Management Forum

BMW - Tells M3 Owners "Never Wax Your Car!"

buda — Wed, 14 Jul 2010 03:46:26 GMT

Have any of you heard of the BMW 3M Frozen Gray Coupe that BMW will not sell you unless you sign a very specific maintenance agreement.

Part of the agreement is to NEVER wax the car and NEVER take it through an automatic carwash, among a number of other things.

What impact is this going to have on the detailing and car wash businesses?

Is it something we are going to see more of in the future?

Google "BMW Frozen Gray Coupe" to find out more about this new vehicle and paint finish.

Regards
Bud Abraham

Forum:
Detail Plus Auto Detailing Forum

DON'T BE AFRAID TO FAIL....

buda — Tue, 13 Jul 2010 18:21:59 GMT

One of the biggest fears in our society is the "fear of failure."

Nothing is worse than to fail in sports, fail in love and God-forbid, to fail in a business.

But, if you understand failure you will see it as a pathway to success.

Do you know someone who is supremely successful? Ask that person how many failures they had before achieving success.

You can be assurd that most successful people learned what it was to fail before achieving success.

If you follow the NBA you here it said that a team has to loose in the conference finals or the NBA finals before winning the coveted championship. Look at the current Lakers team. They were embarassed by the Celtics two years ago and turned that failure into two championships these past two years.

That is what learning is all about. You sometimes have to do something wrong to ultimately get it right.

I certainly have not succeed at everything I tried, I failed many times.

It is like experiencing fear in order to learn courage.

Do you know the story of Abraham Lincoln? We know he was known as the "rail-splitter," and Honest Abe, etc. We know him to be one of the greatest presidents in the history of the country.

But do you know of his failures?

He chopped wood for his father until he was 21, but wanted more out of life.

It was his reading of all types of books that inspired and motivated him to become a risk-taker in order to succeed. He was willing to fail in order to succeed. And he did have a history of failure:

At 23 - ran for the Illinois legislature and lost
At 30 - went bankrupt
At 32 - the love of his life, dumped him
At 33 - married and had 4 sons, 3 of whom died before they were adults
At 35 - ran for the Illinois legislature and lost again
At 47 - was selected as a VP candidate and lost, but again
At 49 - ran for the US Senate and lost again
At 51 - he was elected president of the USA.

What he learned through all his failures was a resolve that allowed him to handle the challenges of his presidency and the failures of the Union Army during the Civil War.

Lincoln never saw failure as an excuse to stop attempting to be successful. What would have happened to this country if he had?

What do you know of Col. Harlen Sanders, of Kentucky Fried Chicken fame? As a youth I thought he was a successful resturantuer in Kentucky with a wonderful fried chicken receipe. Far from it. He was an entrepenuer who tried and failed in numerous business ventures and finally hit it big with KFC.

What you have to understand is that failure is not the end of the road. It is a lesson in how to learn and to grow. Bottomline, you have to fail in order to succeed.

So what have you learned this past 1 1/2 years that will help you to grow and prosper in the coming years in the detail business?

Regards
Bud Abraham

Forum:
Detail Plus Auto Detailing Forum

The Paradoxical Commandments

buda — Sun, 11 Jul 2010 16:17:33 GMT

Thought you all might enjoy something I came across recently. Not about detailing but about life:

1. People are illogical, unreasonable, and self-centersed.
    Love them anyway

2. If you do good, people will accuse you of selfish ulterior motives.
     Do good anyway.

3. If you are successful, you will win false friends and true enemies.
    Succeed anyway

4. The good you do today will be forgotten tomorrow.
     Do good anyway

5. Honesty and frankness make you vulnerable.
     Be honest and frank anyway

6. The biggest men and women with the biggest ideas can be shot down by
     the smallest men and women with the smallest minds.
     Think big anyway

7.  People favor underdogs but follow only top dogs.
    Fight for a few underdogs anyway

8. What you spend years building may be destroyed overnight
    Build anyway

9. People really need help but may attack you if you do help them.
    Help people anyway

10. Give the world the best you have and you'll get kicked in the teeth.
     Give the world the best you have anyway.

Enjoy

Regards
Bud Abraham

Forum:
Detail Plus Auto Detailing Forum

FREE Voicemail with Google Voice

AutoDetailingNetwork — Fri, 09 Jul 2010 17:08:19 GMT

If you have been looking for an alternative to traditional voice mail services, Google Voice may be your "answer" (no pun intended).

With Google voice, your messages can be accessed in any number of ways. Via phone, text message or email. When accessing via email, it gives you both the audio message and a complete text version of the message.

Many other cool features...too numerous to mention!!

Used to have to receive an "invite" to join...well now anyone can sign up for FREE!

Check it out at Google Voice

Forum:
Detailing Business Management Forum

Dieing Businesses...Ten More That May Be Gone?

RennyDoyle — Fri, 09 Jul 2010 15:55:03 GMT

Be Happy In Your Work - Link

Some big names are going bye...bye...

Forum:
Attention To Details Detailing Forum