Five great ideas to seperate yourself from the rest

[detail man]

Over the next few days I will be posting the top five things that I believe seperates our detail shop from the rest. Several years back the local University did a class and featured our detail shop as one of the best marketing business in the area. Thirty eight years and counting I believe we still are far ahead of the competition. If anyone wants to test out any of these ideas go for it because it will blow your customers away. # 1 when a customer comes to pickup their car it is covered with a car cover. This is amazing because as the anticipation builds the customer can't wait to see it. When we pull the cover back 9-10 times the customer will say WOW. On the back of our business shirt it say "experience the WOW" #2 We have a professional floor mat made out of kodak paper that we cover the floor with it has our business name and our saying MORE SMILES PER GALLON.

[Flannigan]

I'm very glad you have been so successful, but you couldn't pay me any amount of money to put a car cover on any car I just spent 15-45 hours correcting....

[fredcandetail]

im with you on that one BUUUUUTTTT i could see doing something like a silk cover such as the ones at SEMA for concept cars ... but not sure what that would cost

[Flash Gordon]

I mainly do pickup and delievery. The car cover is not going to work out. Same goes for the floor covering

Whats your 3rd idea?

[Perfections]

Im mobile so those wouldn't work for me all that well but I do think the concept is cool, looking forward to the other ideas :)

[cranny]

What about doing some before and after pictures to compare and show the difference and improvement? Some people will simply see a shiny clean car. Showing them before pictures of swirls and scratches that are now gone would make a good impression I would think.

[Flannigan]

What about doing some before and after pictures to compare and show the difference and improvement? Some people will simply see a shiny clean car. Showing them before pictures of swirls and scratches that are now gone would make a good impression I would think.

Ive been doing this for a while. I will send a copy of the write up I do to the customer via email. Most like it, and i think it makes it clear where all there money is going. Some people see a clean car, but don't know what all goes into it.

[Kristopher1129]

I also use the Kodak temp mats. They don't have my business info though. It's just my vendor.

The car cover...I don't know about that. I'd rather not slip a cover on and off someones vehicle after it's been detailed. But that's just me. I'd rather just keep it inside.

#3?...

[Kristopher1129]

I've found that separating yourself from the rest is pretty easy. Things as simple as being polite, honest, addressing the customer promptly, actually answering your phone, making sure you call people back, answer emails promptly, etc.

All those things are easy as pie...but most detail shops ignore the basics which allows the responsible business owner to step out of the crowd with ease.

On top of the basics... I do things like offer my gift certificates online, offer customer reward cards, automatic email appointment reminders, free key chains, keep my workers in business attire, among other things. These little things make a BIG difference.

[jaymz]

Detail in the nude!

Jim

[CEE DOG]

Detail in the nude!

Jim


FTW!!!!


Seriously though, I could NEVER put a cover over a car I just spent that much time removing every squirrel and marr from in the first place. What you need is a big box on pulleys..... With a bow on it! lol Im the MAN

[jamores23]

have girls in bathing suits using a rotary on a lambo, the customer dont even care if she strikes through the clear!

[Flannigan]

have girls in bathing suits using a rotary on a lambo, the customer dont even care if she strikes through the clear!
I know this was a joke for the most part. But I want to say be careful of using "sex to sell". You may alienate as many or more customers than you gain. You have to know your customer base. For example at an import car show that has mostly young male participants it makes sense to have a booth babe handing out flyers for you. They will most likely respond well to this. However of you are at a classic car show where it has more of a family atmosphere you run a big risk of turning people off to your business if you have scantily clad woman handing out business cards for you. I've seen it happen and it's not pretty.

[jamores23]

it was a joke lol, hence the face that theres women in bathing suits using a rotary on paint lol, not saying that women dont know how to use this, im speaking more of a dum girl such as the ones from playboy, they might look good but if there IQ was a .1 higher it would be equivalent to a rock :)

[Ted S.]

FTW!!!!


Seriously though, I could NEVER put a cover over a car I just spent that much time removing every squirrel and marr from in the first place. What you need is a big box on pulleys..... With a bow on it! lol Im the MAN
What are squirrels doing on your car in the first place Corey?!?:eek: