rewards for new customer referrals

The highest compliment my customers can give me is the referral of their friends, family and business associates. That's why I mail out a $20 Gift Card to every customer who sends me a new customer. Over the years this type of reward has worked out very well. Some people actually send me two or more new customers and end up saving $20, $40 or even $60 off of their next car detailing. While a few others appreciate the gesture and do not even use the gift card. What this type of incentive does, at the very least, is let my customers know that I appreciate when they tell their friends, family and business associates about my mobile car detailing services. After all, that is the primary goal.

high pressure sales tactics

A good sales pitch will usually do very little when it comes to getting someone interested in having their car detailed. High pressure sales tactics, in most cases, don't work. What does work is going out there and finding the target market who already has need for the car detailing services I offer and then filling that need. Being in the car detailing business is not about becoming a good sales person. It has more to do with becoming a good business person.

working with synthetic car wax

Most synthetic car waxes, such as polymer sealants can be left on the surface of a vehicle much longer than carnauba waxes. Something else to consider when working with either type of car wax is the amount of relative humidity on a given day. For example, during a damp day, most waxes will usually take a bit longer to dry compared to a dry day with low relative humidity. When working with carnauba wax, which can become very hard very quickly, try not to get too far ahead of yourself. Do a few small sections of the car first, just to see how quickly the carnauba wax dries and how easily it can be removed. Then proceed accordingly. Synthetic wax is a lot easier to work with and humidity levels will usually not be a problem, compared to carnauba wax.

polishing and waxing only by hand

When I was in the beginning stages of starting my mobile detailing business, I had to think about the things that I could do to make my auto detailing service just a little bit different than most of the other detailing businesses in South Jersey. One way to be different was to do all of the polishing and waxing only by hand. That is something I figured out in way back in 1986 when I started my business and it is what I continue to do today. Actually, my customers would never think of having a machine used on their vehicle. They prefer the high quality results that I have been able to provide by doing everything by hand.

it's usually either feast or famine

When you're in your own detailing business, it is usually either feast or famine. Here in the northeast part of the country, you can basically figure that most detailing businesses are not very busy during the months of January and February. Hey, who wants to get their car detailed with sub-freezing temperatures and a foot of snow on the ground? Once the weather starts to get a little milder by the beginning of March and the chance of snow, ice and road salt are gone, that is the time when detailing really begins to pick up again. The demand for detailing in New Jersey usually remains high until late August, right before schools begin to open again. That bit of a slowdown usually only lasts a few weeks until everything gets back to normal from summer vacations and school opening. By the middle of September, the phone starts ringing again and doesn't stop until the holidays in December. Autumn is the time of year when just about everyone wants to protect their car from the upcoming extremes of winter weather. Usually, December is relatively busy, however when the extreme cold weather comes a bit early, that can really have an effect on demand at that time of the year. As you can see, depending on where you're located, seasonal conditions do affect most detailing businesses.

car detailing when there's a chance of rain

Since I operate a mobile car detailing business where all of the work is done at the customer’s location, I usually wait until the very last minute before canceling a scheduled detailing appointment due to a chance of rain. I get up an extra hour earlier the morning of the appointment and check the weather radar on my computer. That way I can access the situation first hand and get a good idea of the probable weather conditions during the hours I would be out there working. Only then, with the absolute latest weather information do I take responsibility to cancel a detailing appointment. Of course, when the customer calls ahead of time, then I will do whatever they want me to do.

it's clear, what goes around comes around

Maybe it has something to do with the cost effective advancements in clear coat technology. Here is what I have seen over the past twenty-five years regarding auto paint finishes. Whatever paint processes that were being used on the more expensive cars usually ended up being used on the lower priced cars a few years later. This is what happened when clear coat finishes first started into the marketplace during the 1980's. So what we are seeing now is a situation where the average low priced everyday cars are catching up with the enhanced painting processes used on more expensive cars of just a few years ago.