3 ways to get more business from your website.

[3000rpm]

Car detailers, PDR techs, and interior repair techs like yourself have a massive opportunity to make more money with a website because:

• Your business is visual, and so is the web. What better way to win people over than with photos?
• Your customers are affluent, and therefore more likely to search for services online. Busy car owners are doing thousands of monthly searches for dent repair, bumper repair, and detailing in your city. They like that the web allows them to quickly compare the prices and reputations of many different shops.

Yet...most reconditioners don't have a website. And those that do, sort of leave them out there as "virtual business cards": they present what they do and how they can be contacted, but don't offer reasons why.
If you're planning a website or if you already have one and want better results, here's the 3 smartest things you can do to attract lots more customers.

Introduce yourself. Include a photo.

People are more likely to hire businesses once they get to know the owner.
Here's the most common mistake I see out there: sites that present nothing about the owner! Your customers aren't hiring shiny expensive cars, so why do detailers compulsively post photos of BMWs, Ferraris, and Porsches? They're hiring you, a human being they must trust with the second most expensive thing they own. So let them know who you are why they should hire you, and share a photo of yourself (preferably in-uniform and on the job).
Case in point...
Our customer Jason Plummer of NWPDR added a short video introducing himself to his website visitors. Business is up, and customers frequently say: "I saw your video and found you trustworthy. So I called."

Build a Google "power listing."

A healthy "Google Places" listing is like positive word of mouth on steroids.
If your customers love you, ask them to tell more than just their friends. Ask them to recommend you half your entire city on Google. Here's how:

• Create a free Google Places account. It's free, and takes about 10 minutes.
• Ask every customer for feedback, and a Google review. The day after their appointment, send an email thanking them for their business, and a request for feedback or a review on Google. Make it easy for them, and send them the webpage of your Google Places listing.

In time, you'll start to show up on page 1 (for free) with lots of glowing praise for your service.


Present before and after photos of your customers' most common problems.

Customers respond to images demonstrating you can fix THEIR specific problem.
The second most common mistake I see on detailers' websites is their fascination with posting photos of their favorite cars at the exclusion of photos of the jobs their customers actually hire them for. So be sure to capture before and after photos of these nasty problems you fix to pay the bills:

• Filthy interiors
• Pet hair
• Stained wheels
• Water spot removal
• Stain removal

Robert Keppel
Applied Colors
More articles to help your detailing business succeed online.

[215Detailing]

Thanks for your time and effort putting together this very useful and helpful information.

[VP Mark]

Great article.

[bigbadbp7]

Thumbs UP! Thanks for taking the time to do this!

[DetailedByPrecision]

thank you for your time. informative post.

[billmac]

Thank you!!!

[Billand]

Great info

[Dougw4355]

Great info..Thanks for taking the time

[g35_coupe]

Lots of useful tips. Thanks for the write up.

[TundraPower]

Have someone that knows what they are doing design and implement your web site. It doesn't matter how good your detailing work is, if your site looks like it was put together in 20 minutes by a drunk stewardess, people will conclude that's how you run your business as well. Trust me, I am a Senior Web Developer and 95% of my customers are people that tried to do it themselves or have "their brother in laws son" do it for $100.