Back in 2011, I started my detailing business. I was 18ish years old at the time. Just like most of us detailers that get into the business, I would take care of my personal car and others’ would ask how I kept it so clean.
They would then ask if I could clean their car and how much I would charge them.
On top of that, I’ve always wanted to run my own business since I was a little kid. So it seemed right to go ahead and start a business on something that I already knew how to do.
That’s how it starts for a lot of us, right?
You’re good at a specific skill= you start a business and make money.
The problem with this is we stay way too long in the technician mindset. We think that’s the most important thing in our business because that’s what customers are hiring us for.
That was certainly the case with me. I paid no attention whatsoever to the business side of things for a while. Which really hindered my results.
Instead of thinking, “How can I get more people to know who I am and call me to detail their cars”, I was thinking, “How do I clean carpets with XYZ tool and product?”
BIG DIFFERENCE.
It took me years to truly understand what needs to be done to start and grow a detailing business.
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Here’s a strong question from the book The One Thing by Gary Keller:
“If you could go back in time and talk to the 18 year young you or leap forward and visit the 80 year old you, who would you want to take advice from? What would the younger or older you say?”- Gary Keller, The One Thing
This blog post is what I’d send the 18 year old me 🙂
The Difference Between A Local Business and An Online Business
When you start a business, regardless of what business it is or what you offer, the primary focus is to get people to hand you their hard-earned money to you in exchange for your solution (product/services):
- A marketing agency needs clients who need help with their marketing and advertising
- A carpet cleaning company needs people who need their carpets cleaned
- A sales CRM software company needs other sales companies to sign up as paid users
The list goes on and on. If you have a business, you need people/organizations to give you money. If not, you’re either a non-profit or you’ll soon be out of business.
The part I needed help on the most was how do you market a LOCAL business. How you market a local business is MUCH different than how you would market an online business like ecommerce or software.
How do you use Facebook, Instagram, Google Adwords/organic, and YouTube to generate traffic and leads for a geo targeted company?
An online software company like KISSmetrics can run marketing campaigns to target their ideal customer across the world. As long as they fit their customer profile.
They can target potential customers in Asia, Canada, US, etc…. That means their target market could be millions and millions of people. Which means they have a lot of room for growth, despite the competitiveness of the industry they’re in.
It’s relative to local businesses, with just a different twist to it. As far as a local business goes, you can only target people within your city. But even then, there’s a big cap off on who you can actually service.
Let’s say you live in Los Angeles and you offer mobile detailing services
A quick Google search reveals there are 10.2 million of residents in Los Angeles. That’s a high number!
But now you have to into consideration who is an ideal target market fit you for:
- How far are they?
- Are you willing to drive that far?
- Does that market/area accept your price range?
- Can you repeatedly drive out that far?
- Are there any restrictions that prohibit you from working there?
- How can you market to them?
So the original numbers of 10.2 million is reduced to around 730,000. That’s not bad by any means. Heck, if you were able to capture .001 of that number every year, you’d stay crazy booked.
Of course, keep in mind you won’t actually be able to service an enntiireee city. There are zip code limitations here. But for the sake of the example, we’ll keep it simple.
This matters when you’re marketing online through Facebook, Google Adwords, local Google SEO (search engine optimization), and Instagram.
An online business like KISSmetrics is working on their SEO, they would target keywords such ‘software analytics’ or create blog posts that teach others how use analytics or marketing.
Likewise, as a local business, everything you do will have to be geo-targeted. It won’t just be ‘car detailing services’. It would have to be car detailing ‘your city’:
- Headlight restoration Los Angeles
- Mobile car detailing Dallas
- Seattle hand car wash
The same concept applies to Facebook, Google Adwords, and Instagram. If you wanted to pay for ads, called pay-per-click advertising (PPC), then you would have to target potential customers that are in the zipcodes you can service.
Or if you’re posting a lot on Instagram, you’ll have to go with #hashtags that are targeted to your city. You can use broad terms like the #make #model of the car you’re working on the type of #services you’re performing, but you’ll get eyes on those posts that aren’t necessarily in your area.
Side rant: When you’re in the online business world, there are TONNNSSSS of people that offer awesome online courses you can buy that covers content marketing, SEO, Facebook, PPC, Instagram, and every other platform you can think of.
When it comes to LOCAL marketing and having those same paid course available, you are much more limited. I’m not entirely sure why 🙁
I’m actually building an online business program for detailers. If you’re interested in step-by-step instructions on gaining customers and making money, click here to learn more.
Shift Your Mindset
If you’re detailing as a hobby on your personal cars, then there’s not much else you have to do. It’s all for the fun of it, the instant gratification and so on…
The day you turn from the hobbyist into a part time detailing business, you have to make a switch in your mindset.
You are a business owner first, then a detailer. And in my view, I wouldn’t even call myself a business owner. More on that later…
The switch is important because if your plan is to make money on the weekends or eventually go into it as a full-time business, then your foundation will directly impact how you grow for the upcoming months and years.
Have you ever heard of the starving artists that never make money?
The artist is the painter, the musician, the photographer, the ice sculptor, the website designer, etc…
These artists are passionate about what they do. They indulge themselves in their work. They practice their craft everyday. They are in the top 1% of their craft.
They use the finest material, they analyze and critique their work in every way possible, and are always looking for the smallest techniques to improve.
Guess what? They also make little to no money because all they do is focus on their work.
Don’t be a starving artist.
Here are a few things that should happen when you make the shift:
- Instead of spending most of your time researching products, tools, and different detailing methods, you’ll have to spend most of your time researching how to market your business so more people know about what you offer
- Different parts of the day are different departments/roles you’re working in. When you’re detailing, you’re in operations. When you’re on a phone with a potential customer, you’re a salesperson. When you’re talking with a customer, you’re a customer service rep
- You no longer give your work away for free just because it’s a fun project to work on. Because that will then turn into habit. Instead, focus more on your sales skills to where you don’t have to agree to the customers’ demands
- You see yourself as a professional, regardless of how much experience you have. Not just in detailing, but how you operate your business as a whole
Don’t get me wrong, you can still detail for free or give a discount as a part time or even full time detailer. You’re not turning into a dry, suit and tie person that’s only looking for money.
It’s just about being very intentional of your actions. You don’t want to accept a detail at a lower price just because it’s going to be fun to do when it’s really because you don’t feel comfortable demanding a higher price for your services.
That’s why I don’t call myself a business owner.
For starters, I’m just one person. So the business owns me, not the other way around (this will soon change)…
Next: If I’m detailing, I’m in operations, I’m a technician. When I’m thinking of how to be more efficient, I’m the Director of Operations. When I’m responding to an inquiry, I’m a sales rep.
Why do I do this?
I want to detach myself from what I’m doing and look at it from a different perspective. I want to have a different set of eyes on what I’m doing.
Lastly, as mentioned in the bullet point, there’s no one telling you you’re good enough to be a professional. No one is going to give you permission to start charging higher prices. There is no higher detailing organization that’s going to validate and justify your skills to be good enough for customers.
It’s not going to happen.
When you start to charge money, you are now a professional, regardless of your skill level. It doesn’t matter if you’ve only been detailing for 2 days, you have to believe in yourself that you’re a professional.
You’ll have to work your face off on both sides of the party. You’ll have to work hard to get your skill level up AND learn and execute marketing strategies to get people to know who you are.
Don’t fall into the trap where you’re going to learn how to detail first and then start your marketing. They’ll have to go hand and hand.
Which brings me to the next point..
[bonus]Download the [link]9 Services You Can Offer In Your Detailing Business[/link] guide. Over 10,000 detailers have downloaded the guide to kickstart their business![/bonus]
Focus On The End-Results For Your Customers’. Not The Products and Tools You’re Using To Get There
You’re now a professional. Potential customers’ have a problem and they look to you for a solution.
That’s all their thinking about.
“I have a dirty car. I need someone to clean it. Who can I call and pay them money to solve my problem?”
You as the expert will have the solution on how to get it cleaned. You can charge money. That’s what they want to happen. They have a problem, you have the solution, they pay you money for it.
They may ask about the process and products and tools you’re going to use, but most of the time they’ll have no idea what any of it means. All they know are the few name brand products they’ve seen at their local auto parts store and a few vague keywords like “shampoo seats and buff scratches”.
The customers’ knowledge is very limited. So when you’re looking at what products and tools you need in your arsenal, focus on the results you’re going to achieve.
If you’re just starting out with a limited budget and you want to offer paint correction services, it would be great if you could have the following in your garage or mobile rig:
- Griot’s Garage Boss G21 ($385)
- Griot’s Garage Boss G15 ($365)
- 5″ Lithium-ion Random Orbital ($239)
- Scangrip Sunmatch Light ($150)
- Scangrip Mobile Multimatch (385)
It would make your life easier if you were able to have those at the ready. But are you willing to shell out $1,500+ on 5 tools? That’s not including compounds, polishes, waxes, towels, and everything you’ll need to offer paint correction services.
Because in reality, you could simply go with the Griot’s Garage 6” Polisher of a whopping $150. Heck, if you were on a really tight budget, you could even choose the Harbor Freight sold Heavy Duty Dual Action Variable Speed Polisher for $70.
Some of you are going to think; “you seriously want to be a professional by using a piece of crap machine like that? Yeah right!”
And to that, I will say, YEP! If someone doesn’t have the budget or simply doesn’t want to invest in a more expensive machine, then it’s absolutely fine. The customer doesn’t care what they’re using. They want the end result.
Obviously there a tons of pros and cons depending on the machine that you’re using, of course there is. That’s not a surprise.
But the fact of the matter is you can use whatever you want to get the end result your customer is paying you to get. That’s what really matters.
Consistency… Consistency… Consistency
This is probably one of the biggest reasons I (and most likely you) didn’t see the results I wanted throughout my detailing business. Especially in the early phases.
The lack of consistency. I would always end it too soon on whatever I was doing.
This could be working on my search engine optimization (SEO) rankings for a couple of months and then stopping because I wasn’t seeing any results.
It could have been not following up with potential customers’ that called me up. Instead of following up via phone call, text, or email, I’d just assume (and hope) they’d call me back.
WRONG.
Regardless if you’re a part-timer or full-time detailer, I’m going to assummmmeee you’re in business for the long-run. I’m not talking about 12 months. That’s a short time frame.
I mean anywhere between 3 to 10 years. If that’s the case, you’ve got to start thinking long term with your actions.
Once you start your business, you’re going to be super pumped to start marketing and advertising your services. You’re going to do things like create social media business pages, post on your social media pages of before and afters, post on Facebook groups, create Craigslist ads, and perhaps “do a little bit of SEO on your website.”
Then 2 months later, all you hear is crickets… No calls or emails. Zip. Nada. Nothing.
It will be very discouraging. You were PUMPED to get started. You were excited on starting a business you were passionate about. You have all the tools and products to handle any customer coming your way.
Yet, you’ve had no luck getting any customers.
Very important: If you’re going to be consistent, you have to be consistent on the right strategies!
This is very difficult to do because how do you know what’s the right thing you should be doing and what’s the wrong thing you shouldn’t be doing?
“Download The One Thing book notes. 3,372 words of pure wisdom. It’s helped me identify the most important things to focus on to yield me the biggest results.”
For instance, should you keep posting on local Facebook groups for 5 months even though you haven’t’ had one lead come from there? Is that the right thing to do or are you just going to be wasting time?
So how do you determine what is good and what is right?
Well, the answer is not simple and most of you will not like to hear it. You can figure it out in two ways:
- Take the time to learn, implement, and reiterate- most of us will fall into this option. This can be blogs, books, or (paid/unpaid) online courses
- Pay someone that’s more experienced than you to guide you in the right direction- This is when you give someone your money so they can talk to you and give you a plan of action
- Hire an agency to do 90% of the work for you- If you have the $$$ to hire a legitimate, proven-track record agency, then this is your best bet
Option one doesn’t necessarily require you to spend money (although you could on books and online courses), but it sure is going to require a lot of your time and energy.
Option two will require more money, but you’ll cut down a significant amount of time and will have a clearer path to take action. You’ll spend a good amount of time and energy, don’t get me wrong, but you’ll be running in a much straighter path.
Option three will require the least amount of time and energy from you but will need the most money from your pocket. To generalize how much a reputable agency would cost to market your local business, I’d say a minimum of probably ~$1,000/month.
There is no way around either of these options. You’re now a business owner. You’re now an online marketer. You are now a salesperson. You are not customer service rep.
You have to acquire these skill sets in order to be successful. It will take a lot of time and and energy and you’ll have to be consistent with it.
There’s not much in your business (and life, really) that you will accomplish and be successful at without being consistent.
If you’re in business for the long haul, then you can’t have a short-minded mindset. You have to think about current you and future you:
- Current you: This sucks. It’s taking a lot of time. I’m frustrated. But if I do this now, my future me will reap the rewards
- Future you: I’m so glad I went through that crap. I’m now getting consistent customers every week. If I didn’t suck it up, I would not be where I am now
You have to be consistent.
Get Their Information and Follow Up… Consistently
Have you ever had a friend that asks you for money or for a favor only when they need it?
How do you feel about that person?
Do you love that person for contacting you only when they need something?
Not really…
It’s the same with your business! Do you want people to buy from you when you ask? If you do, you’ve got to stay in constant contact!
You can’t reach out every three months saying “HEY I HAVE A SALE GOING ON. COME GIVE ME MONEY!”
Don’t get me wrong, you’ll get a few sales, but you’re leaving a lot of money on the table with that method.
Instead, you need to consistently follow up with them on a weekly and monthly basis. You’ll follow a basic 2-step process.
Step #1: If you have a prospect calling/emailing in about your services, you want to get their name, phone number, and email at a minimum. If you have current customer, you’ll want their name, phone number, and email address.
You’ll then import those contacts (with their permission) into MailChimp (or something equivalent). This is what you’ll use to send your emails out.
You can use a free option like MailChimp. It’s really basic email marketing that we’re doing here.
Step #2: Send an email out to your list every Friday or every other Friday. This email can be how-to tips, a detailed write up on a car you serviced, or it can be a how-to video linked in the email.
It has to be an email that adds value to them. It’s not just an email blast with “BUY HERE. BUY NOW. BOOK NOW. LET ME TAKE YOUR MONEY”
You have to give them a reason to want to open your emails.
This method is for nurturing your email list to buy. The next method I’m going to show you of follow up is for more direct sales.
If a prospect calls and doesn’t book. Call them back.
Most of the time, you’ll have wishful thinking when a prospect calls you.
You’ll want to talk for 5 minutes, and wish they say, “This sounds great. I’d love to book at your earliest date and not give you any headaches whatsoever. I’ll pay in cash with a 20% tip. I’ll also want you to come out every weekend.”
No. Just no.
Often times, the prospect is not going to book on the first call and will say something like:
“Let me look at my schedule and I’ll get back to you”
“I’m going to keep on looking around for prices. Thank you”
“I’m going to be gone till next week. I’ll call you then”
Now it is your turn to follow up with that prospect via phone call, email, and text in order to get them booked.
If they say, “Let me look at my schedule and I’ll get back to you”, then you should reply with, “Sure thing Jon, I’ll give you a call back on Monday at 10am. Does that work for you?”
And when Monday at 10am comes around, YOU PICK UP THE PHONE AND CALL THEM. If they don’t pick up at 10am, call back that same day at 6pm.
Just because they don’t answer doesn’t mean they don’t like you or they don’t want to buy. It probably means they didn’t have their phone or they were in a meeting at the time.
Follow up. Call them back. Everytime.
You Don’t Need To Offer Every Service Under The Sun
What are the different types of services you can offer? Here are a few:
- Deep interior cleaning
- Basic interior cleaning
- Wheel polishing
- Wheel coating
- Tire coating
- Trim restorer
- Engine cleaning
- Paint correction
- Paint coating
- Metal polishing
- Headlight restoration
- Paint chip repair
- Smoke odor removal
- Pet hair removal
- Tint installation
- Vinyl installation
- Decal removal
And you can even add more if you’ve wanted too.
With a list that big, what does that make you think? To me, it means you can possibly offer more services to more customers, meaning you’ll be able to make more money.
It also means you may need a lot more tools and products to offer those services.
The thought process is you want to offer all the necessary services and carry the correct tools and products to be able to handle any need your customers may have.
It makes perfect sense.
But in the beginning phases, you don’t need to go that route. You can keep it much more simple than that.
Here’s a few reasons why:
Reason #1: Most of your customers are only going to want a few of your services. You should make a list of ALL the services you’d like to offer. Right every single one down. Then apply the 80/20 rule to it.
80% of the services you sell are going to come from 20% of the services you offer. Focus only on those.
Reason #2: If you have very limited knowledge and experience in detailing, you’re going to do too much research and buy too many tools and products based on what others are saying. This is going to cause you to have a garage full of items collecting dust on your shelves.
Reason #3: You can always go as they come instead of preparing for everything all at once. You want to be prepared and ready to handle any customers’ needs. That’s great. You’re also going to assume those needs and base your purchases off of that.
Instead, just buy what you need as the requests come in. You won’t have to dish out so much money at once and you won’t really know WHEN EXACTLY you’ll need those items until the time comes.
It can be a week it can be 5 months. You don’t really know.
Reason #4: Build relationships with local detailers in your area to use their tools and gain their knowledge. If you’ve never used a steam cleaner before but need one for an ugly interior, call up a local detailer.
Ask him what his process is like, help him out and see how he uses it first hand, ask if you can borrow it for a detail. This is can yield so many benefits for both parties.
Reason #5: Just because you offer more services doesn’t make you any better or more diverse. It doesn’t yield a bigger market for. Why? Because first you need to be able to get eyeballs on your business.
You can’t grow and offer tons of services if no one even knows who you are and what you do.
So What’s Next?
Let me know in the comments below what it is you’re struggling with at the moment, regardless if you’re just starting your business or if you’ve had your business for a couple years.
The best thing you can do is gain knowledge from buying books, courses, and reading blogs from those that have gone through it already and are more experienced than you.