Getting Known

[DeepReflections]

Been in business for 4 years, developed a stellar reputation with the people that know us, BUT, I have been told by many people that we cold call they had no idea we existed.

My site comes up as #1 for the town we are in, and in the top 10 for surrounding cities.
Tried adwords and at $500/month we got zero response, so I killed it. One of the problems living in an area that has a high cost per click competition.

We are working the car show/car club circuit, with some very minor success.
But getting the name out in front of people has been frustrating at best.

I also realize time in business is a big factor, and our business has been increasing but out here in CA where the days are 70 degrees and sunny, business has been spotty. We are competitively priced with our competition

How did you go about getting your shop/mobile unit known?
Thanks

[thebamboo23]

Sub'd

[mfrickman]

Sub'd also. This was my first year in business and I'm worried about what will happen if the "word of mouth" clientele dries up. I've also heard terrible reviews of adwords so hopefully someone can chime in.

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[Pureshine]

I've been full time for over 2 years now and I will say that most my business is word of mouth. Most my customers tell I'm the only detailer in my area that has no negative reviews. I simply do the best job possible and make sure everything is done right the first time. In the 6 years I've been detailing I have never had an unhappy customer and Plan on keeping that way.

[Bill1234]

I dont exactly own a large business like you do, however I did some cars and then others wanted their own done. While it was not alot of people, I think you need to detail a car and then show it some how. People then see the work you do. Does your area have a place that people frequent such as restaurants, bars, beach, etc. Maybe offer a special with a California setting in mind.

[VP Mark]

Great thread topic!

1. Why are you priced comparatively to your competition? That just tells people that price shop that you do similar work. My prices are disgusting low compared to a lot of people on this board, but believe it or not I'm a lot higher than ANYONE else in my market. Don't sit in the muddy middle, be either the top and worth the price of the top, or the bottom with quality to show for it.

2. What do you offer beyond interior/exterior that makes you different? Uniqueness = attention+money. People will see that you offer things different than anyone else does such as coatings, odor removal, paint correction(very small clientele here), ect. and it really does set you apart. Not to mention it is the key to the UPSELL. A key profit margin increasing tool for any business.

3. No offense, but the problem is not usually Google Adwords, it is the person running it. They are obviously going to your site if you are getting clicks, but they are clicking away because of price/how your website looks/what you offer. When someone clicks your site within 30 seconds they need to be able to find your contact number, rough price for their type of vehicle, and pictures of your work. Your web site needs to say you are the one, and the only one to go to.

4. Do you have an active facebook page? I don't update mine much in dec/jan, but the rest of the year I try and post every other day, minimum. It is just an extension of your website.

[ycdriveclean]

Great thread topic!

1. Why are you priced comparatively to your competition? That just tells people that price shop that you do similar work. My prices are disgusting low compared to a lot of people on this board, but believe it or not I'm a lot higher than ANYONE else in my market. Don't sit in the muddy middle, be either the top and worth the price of the top, or the bottom with quality to show for it.

2. What do you offer beyond interior/exterior that makes you different? Uniqueness = attention+money. People will see that you offer things different than anyone else does such as coatings, odor removal, paint correction(very small clientele here), ect. and it really does set you apart. Not to mention it is the key to the UPSELL. A key profit margin increasing tool for any business.

3. No offense, but the problem is not usually Google Adwords, it is the person running it. They are obviously going to your site if you are getting clicks, but they are clicking away because of price/how your website looks/what you offer. When someone clicks your site within 30 seconds they need to be able to find your contact number, rough price for their type of vehicle, and pictures of your work. Your web site needs to say you are the one, and the only one to go to.

4. Do you have an active facebook page? I don't update mine much in dec/jan, but the rest of the year I try and post every other day, minimum. It is just an extension of your website.

excellent advise mark! your brand is one of the few i follow and i'll be contacting you for advice on my own brand, once i get it closer to where it needs to be

[VP Mark]

excellent advise mark! your brand is one of the few i follow and i'll be contacting you for advice on my own brand, once i get it closer to where it needs to be

Thanks! I'm nowhere near where I want to be yet, but things are going well. Becoming a "household name" even in a local small market is tough stuff.

[AutowerxDetailing]

Mark it's spot on, especially regarding AdWords success. I have an article floating around somewhere with pointers on how to setup and run a successful and profitable AdWords campaign.

The key, as Mark suggested, is you have to offer a shopper no reason to look anywhere else. You need some sort of a captivating "limited time offer" that gives a prospective customer the feeling that they will lose out by not doing business with you.

A good example would be to offer your most popular package with a free add on our for a discount. But the offer should expire soon. Like "book before such and such date for 15% off." This will make sure you aren't wasting money on clicks only to have people click to your competitor to possibly save 5 bucks or whatever.

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[Pampered Paint]

just a suggestion/question did you have a grand opening /open house
did you invite any of your business neighbors,chamber members and residents from your area to your shop to do a demonstration of what you do and let them know you are there. for example have an open house with a demonstration just after normal work hours so people can come after work and see what you do inexpensive appetizers, beverages maybe a drawing for some kind of service I agree update facebook often

[Pureshine]

I have tried adwords with no success. I have tried what you post before Nicholas and I've had no success with it. Reputation is a huge in our business when there are lots a hacks out there. Like Mark said about pricing is very true my prices are higher than everyone else by me. Most people have no problem paying for it especially after they see their car.You will always get the cheap person wanting something for nothing and those kinds of customers can go somewhere else.

[DeepReflections]

Great thread topic!

1. Why are you priced comparatively to your competition? That just tells people that price shop that you do similar work. My prices are disgusting low compared to a lot of people on this board, but believe it or not I'm a lot higher than ANYONE else in my market. Don't sit in the muddy middle, be either the top and worth the price of the top, or the bottom with quality to show for it.

2. What do you offer beyond interior/exterior that makes you different? Uniqueness = attention+money. People will see that you offer things different than anyone else does such as coatings, odor removal, paint correction(very small clientele here), ect. and it really does set you apart. Not to mention it is the key to the UPSELL. A key profit margin increasing tool for any business.

3. No offense, but the problem is not usually Google Adwords, it is the person running it. They are obviously going to your site if you are getting clicks, but they are clicking away because of price/how your website looks/what you offer. When someone clicks your site within 30 seconds they need to be able to find your contact number, rough price for their type of vehicle, and pictures of your work. Your web site needs to say you are the one, and the only one to go to.

4. Do you have an active facebook page? I don't update mine much in dec/jan, but the rest of the year I try and post every other day, minimum. It is just an extension of your website.

1. I am priced compared to the other very high end detailer that I consider competition. I am not a low end priced detailer, we have a superior product and I am more interested in getting a quality customer than quantity. The rest of the detailers are much lower in price, although we do have a service that matches price with a superior product. We rarely give a price out over the phone and if we do it is with a ton of caveats. Profit is not the issue, it is getting customers to know we exist.

2. We are set apart from anyone else in the SF Bay Area due to the product and the skills of the people I have working for me. My Yelp Reviews are novels about exceptional service and how magnificent the cars look when they get picked up and how what we do lasts more than anyone else. We literally kick butt once a customer gets in the door.
Upselling is not the issue,again the question is getting potential customers to know we exist. Once in the door and they see what we do, upselling is simple. I ran a very profitable Groupon campaign and 95% upgraded over and above the price we were at, willingly with no pressure on our part. We made suggestions once we saw the car and customers were happy to upgrade. I actually made money on the campaign and got very few coupon clippers. In fact we got several customers to bring in their second car at full price. That did help get us some of the exposure we were looking for.

3. No offense taken and hope it is reciprocal when I say I had probably one of the best campaigns seen. I had inside information from someone intimately involved in Adwords helping me review what I put together, so the program was better than excellent. I do have a clue about how to make this work, along with first hand knowledge of the program and what makes it tick. Being in Silicon Valley, and being an ultra techie myself we put together an incredible campaign. We had thousands of impressions with an average position of 1.2. My assistant, who has intimate knowledge of the program was not totally baffled when she looked at the stats and Adwords results from others in our area.

4. Yes there is a very active Facebook, Linkedin and Blog going. My website was farmed out to someone that was going to revolutionize how a website interacted with people. In theory they had something really cool, in reality it totally sucked, and we lost a ton of ranking, as they did not conform to Google's Panda and Penguin releases best practices.
I was the customer from hell, as I knew what needed to be done. Once my contract was up I dropped them, and I am slowly rebuilding our ranking.

Organic searches get us to the top in our local area, which is very high end but small. I am slowly getting the ranking up in surrounding areas, but still begs the question what have other people done to get your surrounding potential customers to know you exist?

[DeepReflections]

I have tried adwords with no success. I have tried what you post before Nicholas and I've had no success with it. Reputation is a huge in our business when there are lots a hacks out there. Like Mark said about pricing is very true my prices are higher than everyone else by me. Most people have no problem paying for it especially after they see their car.You will always get the cheap person wanting something for nothing and those kinds of customers can go somewhere else.
:iagree:

[VP Mark]

Organic searches get us to the top in our local area, which is very high end but small. I am slowly getting the ranking up in surrounding areas, but still begs the question what have other people done to get your surrounding potential customers to know you exist?

Ok then, you are looking to brand your business. Branding is all about name recognition, which means you will need exposure.

Branding is one of the most long term successful marketing campaigns ANY business can do, but it involves a lot.

Branding will include, but will not be limited to a combination of e-mail, web based, social media, print material, signing(such as bill boards, yard signs, ect.), radio/tv, promotional, and referral based marketing.

It is all about getting people to "recognize" your business, and it is more than just advertising.

I'm just in the relative beginning stages of branding my business, and I've been at it for almost two years. It really is an ongoing and aggressive marketing approach.

I can give you some advice on what has worked for me so far, but would really need to know more about your business/market/plan first. It really is a "process" that takes a lot of time, dedication, and sometimes money.

[Scott@IncrediblyDetailed]

The reason adwords didn't work is because of your website. While it looks pretty nice...It's hard to use and doesn't follow web design standards. You should re-do the entire thing and use HTML5 instead of java script.

Did you build specific landing pages for your adwords ads?

Also, this book will help you tons... Don't Make Me Think, Revisited: A Common Sense Approach to Web Usability (3rd Edition) by Steve Krug.

PM if you want specific website help...I'm also well versed in SEO.