Meet the California detailer who uses Facebook to attract top-paying customers.

[3000rpm]

My most recent blog post:
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Are you constantly being told how important Facebook is to small businesses (like yours), but have NO IDEA what to do about it?

Meet Richard Lin of ShowCar Detailing of Orange, County CA. His Facebook page has one of the largest, most loyal followers among the 1000s of detailers promoting themselves on the 800,000,000 member community. Most importantly, these aren’t price shoppers or tire kickers. They’re passionate and well educated car lovers who pay Richard WELL for his work.

Applied Colors asked him if he’d share tips for other automotive reconditioners, and Richard was generous with his advice:

How did you grow your audience to over 1000?

Richard: ”I am an active sponsor on a number of detailing and car enthusiast forums. I put in my signature on those forums to
visit us on FaceBook which helps. When we got the Fisker account, our fans grew 100+ within days, so having high profile accounts certainly helps. Most of our business is from word of mouth and FaceBook enables us to “share” our work across a large number of communities. We don’t use marketing gimmicks or encourage people to “like us” as we would rather have a fan base consisting of people that are truly interested in our work instead of people hoping to get something for free from us.”

What’s your strategy for keeping your FB page fresh, and how much time do you put in weekly?

Richard: ”I am on FaceBook every day. I receive updates via email and text. I make it a point to keep my fans updated about what’s in the shop and what challenges we face and most importantly, how we solve them. People enjoy seeing the Before and After pictures. We document everything we do with pictures and videos. Knowing how to take good pictures that clearly show the steps is important in winning the viewers confidence that we’re not trying to trick them into seeing something. We don’t process or retouch our photos. We do watermark them however for protection. We also like to talk actively engage our fans by sharing with them some of the crazy phone calls and emails we get. We find this helps educate them about what NOT to do when talking with us.”

What’s been the result of your FB effort? More referrals? More details per customer?

Richard: ”FB lets us stay in touch with our fan base and results in new customers weekly. It lets us reach out to the “local customers” more effectively and immediately. In short, FB is a tool that in combination with other online services like Yelp, helps substantiate our credibility.”

Any other tips for car reconditioners looking to use FB?

Richard: ”Take pictures of everything, challenge yourself, keep notes of your jobs. Respect your clients privacy and blur license plates. Also watermark images to prevent reuse from your competition. Always try to be better and do the best work possible. Engage the fan base and check the FB Insights often to better understand what they find the most interesting. Many new customers will message us through FB, so make sure you have FB Messenger on your phone. Share your work on related FB pages. We share our detailing work on the manufacturer FB pages for the products we use. Make sure to update your FB page daily!”

Learn from Richard. Follow him on Facebook.

Check out Richard’s Facebook page here. ”Like” the page and see why his customers remember and stay loyal to his detailing company.

[Mike Phillips]

Can't agree more with Richard about taking good before and after pictures. Also about the importance of learning how to actually get the pictures off your memory card and then resized to a size that's practical for a wide spectrum of people viewing with and even wider spectrum of monitors and visual display devices so they can see that you're talking about, comparing or promoting.


I recommend what I share in the below article and practice it myself daily...

The power in the after shots is created in the before shots


Here's a truck Richard and I buffed out years ago.

Wild Paint Job - Swirl Removal - Cover of Trukin Magazine


Here's some pictures from the original write-up posted on February 10th, 2006, hard to believe we buffed this truck out 6 years ago, seems like ti was just yesterday...

Check it out...

The Titan Richard and I buffed out is on this month's cover of Truckin Magazine.






This truck was filled with sanding marks and wool pad and compound swirls when we got to it. We worked it over pretty good with our rotary buffers and the hit it with the dual action polisher using the same techniques we show in our how-to DVD and it came out like very clear and glossy.

Before













After






Too bad we get no mention in the article. Sad thing about detailing, the detailer is the one who will make or break the painter's work yet the painter is the one who usually gets all the credit.




I met Richard when he attended one of the classes I taught for a Mini Cooper club in SoCal


Mini Coopers at Meguiar's NXT Generation Garage!

This was his car back then...

Lil Octane

[soto]

Could u please repost the link to Richards fb page it doesn't seem to be working for me
Thanks soto

[Flash Gordon]

Could u please repost the link to Richards fb page it doesn't seem to be working for me
Thanks soto

It wasn't the easiest thing to find. There must be a dozen other Show Car Detailers using Facebook. Rest assure though Richard is the original

http://www.facebook.com/ShowCarDetailing


Best Detailing in Orange County


ShowCarDetailing - Powered by vBulletin

[Mobile Detailer]

I like the idea of being able to get customers from FaceBook, but I have tried and tried with NOTHING! I currently have 900+ likes on my FB page and can say I have only had 2 customers ever call me from FB in the past 3 years. I am not sure what I am doing wrong.

Looking at my page, can you tell me what I am doing wrong or something that I should change.

Like Us on FaceBook

[3000rpm]

I like the idea of being able to get customers from FaceBook, but I have tried and tried with NOTHING! I currently have 900+ likes on my FB page and can say I have only had 2 customers ever call me from FB in the past 3 years. I am not sure what I am doing wrong.

Looking at my page, can you tell me what I am doing wrong or something that I should change.

Like Us on FaceBook

First, how many customers used you again and again because they follow you on facebook and...never forgot you. Can you remember the last 50 companies you spent money with?

Second, your posts are sales heavy. Use the 80/20 rule: INFORM 80% of the time. Sell 20% of the time.

I see posts of clean cars. People want to see the work...the process. See Richard's page.

[Mobile Detailer]

Ok.. will do!

[rwright]

First, how many customers used you again and again because they follow you on facebook and...never forgot you. Can you remember the last 50 companies you spent money with?

Second, your posts are sales heavy. Use the 80/20 rule: INFORM 80% of the time. Sell 20% of the time.

I see posts of clean cars. People want to see the work...the process. See Richard's page.

Great post!