Business Marketing - by Jon Miller MBA [Business Management]
Liability
The information contained
herein is believed to be true and accurate; however we make no guarantees
concerning the veracity of any statement. The writer assumes no responsibility,
expressed or implied, due to misuse or misinterpretation of the information or
methods used, or for any vehicle damage or injury that may occur due to the
suggestions and information offered.
Business Marketing
[Marketing
is the management process that identifies, anticipates and satisfies customer
requirements profitably].
The Chartered Institute of Marketing (CIM)
No
company can survive without employing means to interact well with its market
I hope that this basic
information will help you take a critical look at your current business marketing;
and this article will give you the key elements that all detailing business
owners need to be aware of.
There
are many important words in business but there is one that holds the key to
entrepreneurial wealth and that word is 'Marketing.'
It
is the mainstay of business and although it’s not a panacea, it is the
one thing that if you don’t get right will kill your business stone dead even
in the best of times. Marketing is what gets people to come to your business
and try out your products and services. If you do a great job for them or
delight them with your products, then it’s this fact and your ongoing marketing
that’ll keep them coming back over and over again. And that’s where the real
money is: the ongoing relationship with your customer
Marketing is the wide range of activities that involve making
sure that you're continuing to meet or exceed the needs of your customers and
are getting appropriate value in return. It can mean direct-mail
advertising, e-mail marketing, traditional media like print and radio ads,
couponing, and non-traditional approaches like websites, blogs and social
networking through the Internet. The most successful form of marketing is ‘word
of mouth’ referrals and repeat clients
Being good at what you do is
25% the balance is business acumen, client relationships and marketing yourself
and your services and product. Strive to offer customer-focused services that
differentiate your company from the competition. Ensure that your marketing
focuses on customer’s needs as opposed to what you think they want
Marketing specialists often say giving people
an imperative to do something is much more compelling when you also provide the
reason.
Marketing Plan
A fundamental question; what
is my target market demographic and what exactly am I marketing? Is it a
detailing service, protection of investment; preservation of their leisure time
or is it to gratify their ego?
With a well thought out
business and a solid marketing plan, a good work ethics, quality tools,
products and workmanship, along with outstanding customer service, knowledge
and experience of products and the tools of your trade you'll be on your way to
achieving success. Take a step back from your business and start thinking
outside the box and begin looking at your marketing in a totally new way. (See also “Essentials for Starting a
Business” article)
A few
questions to enable you to form a marketing strategy
• Target market - who are my
potential customers?
• Where can I find potential
customers?
• Branding strategy - what
would make my services attractive to them?
• Pricing strategy - how can
I motivate potential customers to buy from me?
• Promotional strategy - how
do I reach potential customers?
• Customer – acquisition and
retention
Take
time to answer these questions as accurately as possible.
Internal Analysis
• Vision -what do we want to
be?
• Relative strengths
• Relative weaknesses
• Opportunities
SWOT Analysis
Everyone’s
heard of S.W.O.T. analysis, haven’t they? You need to read, learn and
know more about your competitors, your customers and your marketplace than
anyone else. SWOT analysis is a great place to start. Get a blank piece of
paper and list the Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats for your
business and those of your nearest competitors. SWOT analysis – as old as the
hills but still effective – it will make you think about your business from a
new angle and should ideally be repeated once a year at least.
External Analysis
• The current economy and
business environment
• The Market Place
• Competition - who are
they, what do they offer?
• Market share - in each key
market
• E-commerce/ technology
Help them to find your Business
Establishing a new business
or moving to a new town, the first thing you should do is create a Google Local
Business entry. Then prospective buyer
will know where to find you. It's a free way to get on the first page of Google
in the city you service.
Here's how to create your
Google Local Business entry, step by step:
2.
Follow the directions to create an account.
3.
Once your account is created, go to https://www.google.com/accounts and log in with the account information you
created in step 1.
4.
Once logged in, go to Google.com/LocalBusinessCenter
5.
Click Add New Business.
6.
Complete your contact information.
7.
Under "Category" be sure to type in Car Detailing
Service (exactly as I typed it there, with capitals).
8.
Enter your hours of business, payment methods, and photos of
your business if you have them. A photo
of a car you finished is a good thing to upload, as Google prefers businesses
that provide photos.
9.
Google will call the phone number you list and give you a
verification number. Once the code is
entered, the listing will go live within 24 hours.
Business Cards
The very first step is to
print at least 500 business cards. Hand these to EVERYONE! There are many sites
out there like vistaprint.com, with predesigned as well as allow you to design
your own. This is a fairly inexpensive option though can take about 2 weeks.
Sources for Detailing Work
Mechanics
Many mechanic shops either
get asked by their customers for a referral to a good detailing service or get
asked to detail a car themselves. This is a great way to build a working
relationship as most mechanics simply are not detailers and cannot offer the same
level of quality you can. Mention you run a detail business and get a lot of
requests for mechanic or vehicle inspection work. Take some of the mechanics
cards and say you will hand them out. Hand the mechanic YOUR cards for him to
display on his table.
Auto Stereo and
Specialty Shops
Glass tint, PDR and auto
stereo shops, exchange cards and assure them that their customers will be well
taken care of if they refer work to you. Again, you will want to visit on off
peak times to talk to the owner. PDR shops might already have a detailer but a
good relationship with other detailers can lead to referrals. Anytime you refer
a customer somewhere make sure they mention you by name.
Body Shops
Let the shop owner know
you're looking for a good body shop to refer your customers to. Exchange cards
and as you refer customers to them it will most likely come full circle.
Car Clubs
This is by far the most fun
of all the marketing experiences since you get to have a legitimate reason to
go to as many car shows as possible. Wear a polo shirt with your company logo
on it, introduce yourself to car owners and give them your cards. Some
enthusiasts do their own work but many are afraid to take a buffer to it to
really achieve the best look. Show genuine interest and compliment hem on their
car, after all they are here because they want to it show off. These are also
some of the best ‘word of mouth’ customers as they tend to talk and recommend
you to their friends if you do great work for them.
Google AdWords
Is a feature that Google and
many other companies offer to business to help create Internet traffic? These
are the little ads you see of the sidebars when doing a search. Your typical
cost is ‘per click’ based upon the keyword you select for your ad to display.
Be specific to your area vs. being too broad based. You need to reach YOUR
potential client base.
Typical
Keywords-
[City] detailing
[City] auto detailing
[City] car detailing
[City] mobile detailing
[City] mobile auto detailing
Take into consideration all the cities you
want to service and advertise to all of those cities. You’ll find you might get
a lot of keywords, don’t worry it will be worth it.
Now set a budget of around 5-10/day and set up
a line of credit via a bank account to fund it. They offer a couple different
ways they can be billed. After x amount or on x day. These are bids so make
sure you’re paying enough per click to show up on the first page. Make sure
your ad makes sense and explains what you do
Expert positioning
Any time your name appears
in print, you are automatically an expert. People believe what they read on the
Internet, read in the newspaper or see on the TV. It can be as simple as writing a small column
in a local paper, most of these papers are crying out for quality content. They
have little money to pay freelancers to write for them and might very well
welcome material from you.
Understanding who your
target is should help you decide how to communicate with them. Getting a sense
of their needs will help you decide the best way to communicate to them. The
answers will also help you develop a communication strategy. The key with all
your communication - be it words or pictures - is you want to develop an
emotional bond with your consumer. Pictures done well help deliver an emotional
bond at a different level than words alone. That's why the best ads almost
always will have a combination of words and pictures.
Article marketing
Has definitely become one of
the best things out there when it comes to promoting websites and businesses
today, you will find that many individuals are turning to this form of
marketing in order to promote their business. Article marketing is one of the
most popular tools which people use today to gain more and more traffic to
their websites.
On top of everything else,
you also need to make sure that you write numerous articles in the same niche.
You should also keep the same name on the articles you write, as this will help
to build up a good reputation on the Internet, which will be great for your
business
Target market
For example, a few years ago
Michelin ran an ad for tyres. All it was, was a Michelin tyre with a baby
sitting on top and the ad said something like "Aren't they worth it?"
See the emotional connection?
You're not just buying a
tyre; you are buying safety for your family so of course you will spend
whatever you have to. The campaign was hugely successful. [Based on an idea by MB fan, TID forum]
Potential customers are most
probably; professional with higher than average disposable income, aware of
maintaining their professional image, an automotive enthusiasts with more money
than time.
You must understand that
auto detailing is a niche market. It is not easy to define exactly who the
target market is One marketing sector- people will be of above average incomes
that truly care about the appearance of their cars;, doctors and surgeons,
realtors, dentist and oral surgeons (perhaps to project their professional
image) golf course, health spas and gyms or automotive enthusiasts with more
money than time and are willing and able to pay a premium for a detailing
service. Quality and outstanding customer service creates its own demand
If you live in an area where
there are people with prestige cars and high disposable incomes, the sky is the
limit. Customers in this type of niche market will have their vehicles detailed
on a fairly regular basis, especially during the concourse show season.
Building long lasting customer relationships should be your main goal, ideally
you want to establish a customer base that uses you not only for the major
concourse details, but also for maintaining their vehicles on a weekly to
monthly basis.
Build
a solid portfolio of before/after vehicle correction photographs, word of
mouth, show your work on various enthusiast Internet forums, and maybe even put
ads into some car enthusiast publications (i.e. Local Porsche publication (PCA
FSR: Horizontally Opposed, etc.). Most car clubs put out a newsletter or have a
website. Advertising there is usually pretty reasonable. Also, car shows/events
are good for marketing. They are usually populated with car wash & wax
operators as opposed to true detailer’s.
Marketing copy
Should
be a personal communication to the individual reading it; it should be about
them, addressing their needs, and it should
constantly communicate how you can meet and even exceed those needs and the
benefits of what services you are offering.
At
the end of the ad you need a call to action, that means you must state exactly
what they need to do to obtain the benefits of the services you offer ( contact
number, e-mail address, website, etc.) and
you must make it easy for them to do so.
It
can sometimes be misconstrued to be a
product vendor’s catalogue, or a vendor pretending to be an educator, as
there are a lot of companies that are now using forums and YouTube video’s on
detailing and preaching that only the product they sell or manufacture are
suitable. Posted articles (thread) should be a true ‘How-to’ for educational
purposes, not a lame attempt at a sales pitch
In
reality they are just advertisements, with the appearance of educators as
opposed to mere salesman. Commercialism brings with it concerns of honesty and
true representation. In other words, it’s difficult to know what is true when
someone is motivated by income, i.e. directly targeted at product sales, more
so than an unbiased opinion.
Types of marketing copy
a) Factual information = neither theory or
subjective opinion
b) Marketing Hype = Blurring the distinction between science and fiction
c) Opinion = Not necessarily fact or
fiction but usually highly subjective
d) Advertised Claims= Nothing more than
advertising copy of dubious functional validity.
Posting photographs and step-by-step How-to on detailing forums will have
a large and positives impact on the amount of potential work for detailers
Negative Marketing
In business negative
marketing involves making your competition look bad. This is a ploy used in
order to make their product look better than yours in the eyes of the consumer.
While some people may find this to be unfair or unethical it is a marketing
strategy used all the time. Why? Because it gets attention and it really seems
to work.
Promoting the strengths and advantages of your own
product is much more effective; but it takes creativity and intellectual
effort. Negative Marketing, which slanders competition, is a new and growing
trend
Customer Satisfaction
A well-defined customer
satisfaction strategy is essential to create and maintain mutually beneficial
business relationships.
Customer - is a company or
client that provides compensation for the products and services produced or
delivered by you
Customer Satisfaction – is the customer’s
perception to what extend set of implicit and explicit requirements have been
met. It is a neutral feeling, which may or may not translate into real bottom –
line benefits. Meeting customers’ expectations or even exceeding them may not
always ensure loyalty.
Customer
Loyalty – is more than a feeling. It is a set of behaviours that
produce benefits (revenue). It means that the client wants and prefers to do
business with us next time and we are his “detailer” of choice.
Requirements –
need or expectation that is stated, generally implied or obligatory
Marketing Questions
The
purpose of this process is to motivate you to make marketing a top priority.
1.
Do you obtain and effectively use testimonials from your best
customers?
2.
Do you have referrals systems in place?
3.
Do you offer something of value to your website visitors in
exchange for their contact details?
4.
Do you know how to write a press release to instantly grab the
attention of the person reading it?
5.
Do you personalize your email newsletters?
6.
Do you know the most important piece of marketing information there
is – your clients’ birthday
7.
Does your team understand that the best way to sell is to ask
questions?
8.
Do you take really good care of your current customers?
9.
Do you market to your current customers?
10.
Does your team understand the importance of up-selling?
Prospects for Success
By providing a value added
service that meets or exceeds their needs, believe me customers will come to
you in droves. Auto detailing presents vast opportunities for motivated
individuals. It is an industry in its infancy. Only about 20 percent of the
population knows what auto detailing is, and less than 15 percent have
purchased detailing services. Yet, auto detailing is a huge industry. The
biggest challenge for the industry is educating the public.
As the number of detail
shops continues to grow, the public slowly is becoming aware of the service.
The average price of a new car is over $20,000. That level of investment warrants
maintaining the resale value by maintaining and protecting the vehicles
exterior and interior.
People are keeping their
cars an average of nearly nine years. During this time, they need more services
than washing, waxing, and vacuuming the inside i.e. specialist services such as
Paintless dent repair (PDR) carpet dyeing, paint surface renovation, leather
dying and repair, etc. (See also A Vehicles Condition and How
it Affects Resale Price)
Testimonials
All of us in businesses can
make better use of testimonials. Why are they so powerful? Because, no matter
how strong your sales and marketing skills, no matter how well you communicate
the benefits of your products and services, nothing communicates the quality of
what you are offering better than the words of other people who have
experienced doing business with you.
The best testimonials give a
detailed and specific description of how the person has benefited from what you
have to offer. Let’s suppose an accountant wants to use testimonials.
“David is a great detailer
and I highly recommend him” is not a particularly effective testimonial. The
following would be much better because it specifically describes the benefits
of hiring Jon:
“Jon is a great accountant.
He takes all the hassle away from taking care of my vehicles and is always
available to answer my questions. Just one piece of advice that he gave me a
few months ago saved me $2,000 when I traded in one of my vehicles. Above all I
trust him. He started as my detailer, but has become a trusted advisor. If your
vehicle requires a top notch paint renovation and detailing - I strongly
recommend calling him today.”
One of the biggest obstacles
to growing your business is convincing people that you can really deliver on
your promises. A testimonial does it for you. So when customers tell you
they’re pleased with you, don’t be shy. Ask if they would be willing to share
their experience with others. Most will actually jump at the chance to write
you a testimonial. You know what it’s like to experience a great product or
service. It’s so unusual you want to let others know about it.
Include your customer’s name
and if appropriate their business name on the testimonial. Don’t use anonymous
testimonials because people don’t believe them.
If you are starting a new
business, plan to make testimonials an integral part of your marketing from the
outset. You could even give your first customers a price reduction if they’ll
write you a great testimonial.
Don’t under estimate the
power of testimonials. They can increase your conversion rates by 30% or more.
Photography
Another useful piece of
marketing copy is a photographic portfolio of your detailing work. Try to show
a cross-section of vehicles. Ferrari and Lamborghinis are great but include
some everyday vehicles (unless of course this is only the market segment you
sell too). Show a cross section of before and after details and don’t forget to
show a few vehicle interiors, after all that’s were most drivers spend most of
their time
As a professional detailer
you need to showcase your work as best you can. A portfolio of your detailing
work is a great selling tool. Internet detailing forums all have a section
(Detail Gallery) were you can showcase your work as a form of advertising to
potential clients. A decent camera with a great lens makes the world of
difference. Without good photographs, people find it difficult to imagine what
a difference a proper detail can make, after all you cannot describe a ‘look’
with just words, as they say a picture is worth a thousand of them
If you've ever removed
red-eye from a photograph, or used a spell checker to correct an essay, then
you know how computer software can enhance a raw photographic image.
• Take photographs when the sun is setting
• Use digital a photograph in an editing software
picture editing program (i.e. Paint Shop Professional X1) you can also adjust
contrast, and white balance from the camera
• Open the digital photos in a picture editing software
program and use the tools to "sharpen" the image. The end result is a
better, more finely tuned picture.
Does the camera ever lie?
Photographs can now be
digitally altered to tell an entirely different story. In the age of the
airbrush, can we ever really believe our eyes?
Photoshop CS5 Content Aware is a
simple and easy program that allows users to ‘desaturate’ the background enough
so there is still colour; Selective Colour this will make the ‘subject’ more
vibrant than the background without being too obvious, or fill in parts of the
photo that are not desirable and allows easy manipulation of images, but just
be careful what claims you make for a product with ‘enhanced’ photographs
(i.e.’ Truth in Advertising’ ) as a professional detailer you will be expected
to replicate this in your work
Very subtle differences in
shadowing are often a give-away. Identifying exactly where the shadows fall on
an image reveals where the light source must have been to have created that
shade. Re-touching: sharpening blurred or under lit detail, but proportions of
basic colours in sequences of pixels are often not balanced after a re-touch.
Lighting -by
analysing all shadows in an image, scientists can tell whether a shot had a
single light source. RAW pictures; uploading jpeg images to a computer allows
its hard drive, which is much bigger than the camera’s, so that you can
manipulate the picture on a computer, which is not possible on a camera that
simply records .jpeg images.
Is this then cheating? Liken
it to the ‘air-brushed’ photographs of fashion models or celebrities, it has
very little to do with reality, you are creating an illusion that people ‘want’
to believe.
Brand (Band Name)
A brand is the identity of a
specific product, service, or business. A brand can take many forms, including
a name, sign, symbol, colour combination or slogan. The word brand began simply
as a way to tell one person's cattle from another by means of a hot iron stamp.
Your brand identity is what separates you from your competition. When people
look for a product or service, their logo plays a big part in their purchasing
decisions as they equate a quality logo with quality work, it is also a ready
means of your company’s identification
A
legally protected brand name is called a trademark ™ or a registered name ®. The
word brand has continued to evolve to encompass identity - it affects the
personality of a product, company or service. In the automotive industry,
brands were originally called marques, and marque is still often used as a
synonym for brand in reference to motor vehicles. [1]
Almost every business has a
trading name, from the smallest market trader to the largest multi-national
corporation. Only a minority of those businesses however, have what could be
classed as a ‘brand’ or a ‘brand name’. Branding is a word commonly referred to
by advertisers and marketing people, but what does it actually mean, how can
you get it, and most importantly; how will it benefit your business?
There are many different
definitions of a brand, the most effective description however, is that a brand
is a name or symbol (i.e. Nike) that is commonly known to identify a company or
its products and separate them from the competition. A well-known brand is
generally regarded as one that people will recognise, often even if they do not
know about the company or its products/services. These are usually the
businesses name or the name of a product, although it can also include the name
of a feature or style of a product. The overall ‘branding’ of a company or
product can also stretch to a logo, symbol, or even design features that
identify the company or its products/services.
When creating a brand, you
must be careful not to lose the image of personal service. This is one of the
biggest advantages small businesses have, and any branding must show the correct
image that you want your customers to see.
Recognition and Loyalty - the main
benefit of branding is that customers are much more likely to remember your
business. A strong brand name and logo/image helps to keep your company image
in the mind of your potential customers. If your business sells a service or
products if clients trust your brand, they are likely to trust you with
unfamiliar products. If a customer is happy with your products or services, a
brand helps to build customer loyalty across your business.
Image of Quality - - a strong brand projects an image of quality in your business;
many people see the brand as a part of a product or service that helps to show
its quality and value. It is commonly said that if you show a person two
identical products, only one of which is branded; they will almost always
believe the branded item is higher quality.
If you can create effective
branding, then over time the image of quality in your business will usually go
up. Of course, branding cannot replace good quality, and bad publicity will
damage a brand (and your businesses image), especially if it continues over a
long period of time.
A strong brand creates an
image of an established business that has been around for long enough to become
well known. A branded business is more likely to be seen as experienced in
their products or services, and will generally be seen as more reliable and
trustworthy than an unbranded business. Most people will believe that a
business would be hesitant to put their brand name on something that was of
poor quality.
Protecting Your Brand- one
key aspect of creating a brand is trade marking. This protects your name, logo,
and sometimes design features against being copied or misused by another
company. If you work hard to create a recognised brand, the theft of it by
another company can damage the brand image, as well as providing the other
company with an unfair advantage.
Multiple Services / Products - if
your business has a strong brand, it allows you to link together several different
products or services. You can put your brand name on every product or service
you sell, meaning that customers for one product will be more likely to buy
another product or service from you
Disadvantages of
Branding - if
you wish to create and maintain a strong brand presence, it can involve a lot
of design and marketing costs A strong
brand is memorable, but people still need to be exposed to it, this often
requires a lot of advertising and PR over a long period of time, which can be
very costly.
There
are also costs involved with the creating of a brand image or logo (Paying for
a designer, printing new letterheads/business cards etc.), and although most of
these are only one off costs, they are still relatively large for most small
businesses.
The
exposure of your brand can be left to word of mouth, this will save you money,
but will also greatly slow down the exposure your brand receives.
Repeat Business
Customer service is the key,
by providing quality work, listening (and doing) what the customer asks for and
exceeding their expectations will help to build referral business in addition
to your repeat business. Being knowledgeable, solving customer problems,
explaining the service and giving advice on ‘after care. If you can ally this
to a reasonable pricing structure both your repeat business and referral
business base can only increase
Photography
As a professional detailer
you need to showcase your work as best you can. A portfolio of your detailing
work is a great selling tool. Internet detailing forms all have a section
(Detail Gallery) were you can showcase your work as a form of advertising to
potential clients. A decent camera with a great lens makes the world of
difference.
Without good photographs, people find it difficult
to imagine what a difference a proper detail can make, after all you cannot
describe a ‘look’ with just words, as they say a picture is worth a thousand of
them
If
you've ever removed red-eye from a photograph, or used a spell checker to
correct an essay, then you know how computer software can enhance a raw
photographic image.
·
Take photographs when the sun is setting
·
Use digital a photograph in an editing software picture editing
program (i.e. Paint Shop Professional X1) you can also adjust
contrast, and white balance from the camera
·
Open the digital photos in a picture editing software program
and use the tools to "sharpen" the image. The end result is a better,
more finely tuned picture.
·
Posting
photographs and step-by-step How-to on detailing forums will have a large and
positives impact on the amount of potential work available for detailers
Does the camera ever lie?
Photographs can now be digitally altered to tell an
entirely different story. In the age of the airbrush, can we ever really
believe our eyes?
Software like Photoshop
CS5 Content Aware is a simple and easy program that allows users to ‘desaturate’ the background enough so there
is still colour; Selective Colour this will make the ‘subject’ more vibrant
than the background without being too obvious, or fill in parts of the
photo that are not desirable and allows easy manipulation of images, but just
be careful what claims you make for a product with ‘enhanced’ photographs
(i.e.’ Truth in Advertising’ ) as a professional detailer you will be expected
to replicate this in your work
Very subtle differences in
shadowing are often a give-away. Identifying exactly where the shadows fall on
an image reveals where the light source must have been to have created that
shade. Re-touching: sharpening blurred or under lit detail, but proportions of
basic colours in sequences of pixels are often not balanced after a re-touch.
Lighting -by analysing all
shadows in an image, scientists can tell whether a shot had a single light source.
RAW pictures; uploading jpeg images to a computer allows its hard drive, which
is much bigger than the camera’s, so that you can manipulate the picture on a
computer, which is not possible on a camera that simply records .jpeg images.
Is
this then cheating?
Liken it to the ‘air-brushed’ photographs of fashion models or celebrities, it
has very little to do with reality, you are creating an illusion that people
‘want’ to believe.
Social Media Sites
There has been an explosion
in the popularity of on-line communities where people can network, exchange
information and ideas as well as advertise their products / services. An
on-line presence has become essential for any business that wants to be visible
to their market sector.
Social media enables
business owners to communicate and build a two-way conversation with both their
existing and potential clients and the detailing communities – and that
communication is vital. Carefully used, it allows companies to build passion
for their products and services by writing clear, targeted copy with concise text that
speaks directly to the audience you wish to reach.
Make sure that you highlight
any unique features that differentiate you from the competition. If your goal
is brand/company name recognition, we suggest using your company name in the
title or somewhere in the body of the text
Create your copy so that it
is as simple and easy to read as possible. Avoid long sentences or complex
punctuation. Use simple, grammatically correct, complete sentences and
language. Use proper punctuation, punctuate the end of sentences, put spaces
after full stops and commas, and don't use hyphens instead of full stops.
Don't try to fit every
detail about your product or service into the text Make it clear what your
product or service is so a user can tell what your website will be about, but
save the details for your landing page.
Your copy should convey a
call-to-action along with the benefits of your product or service. A
call-to-action encourages users to click on your advert and should explain to
the user exactly what you expect them to do when they reach your landing page.
Some call-to-action phrases include: buy, sell, order, browse, sign up and get
a quote.
Face book is a social network service, although
their face book Page is aimed at business marketing. Their website was launched
in February 2004 that is operated and privately owned by face book, Inc. As of
July 2010 it has more than 500 million active users, which is about one person
for every fourteen in the world
There are two types of face
book, a personal one that can be used as a day to day personal event diary and
a face book Page that allows professionals to have a web presence distinct from
their website.
Create a face book Page and start talking to your
customers in a few easy steps - www.facebook.com/Pages
It is important to promote
your page. Let a client know after you have detailed their car, shown or sold
them a car to check out your profile on face book Page. The more people
following you on face book the more likely others are willing to like your
business and the more likely those viewing your profile will become your next
client, especially when they see all of the positive feedback. A page lets your
display all of the relevant information potential customers might be looking
for such as:
·
An overview of your services
·
Website for more information and pricing
·
Contact Information
·
Location
·
Hours of operation
·
Reviews
·
Customer interaction
·
Photographs of vehicles
cars and boats you have detailed
Face book pages are
extremely easy to update and provide analytics information so you can see how
often users are visiting your pages, liking what you post, or sharing your
page.
It will take time to build
up your fan base, just remember to always be asking people to become a fan of
your page. Constantly promote your page as much as possible and be sure to keep
your content fresh to keep old fans coming back and to entice viewers to join
in. If you have a website or email marketing program make sure to cross-promote
your business page
Face book Pages are
increasingly becoming a “second home page” for businesses online. And while more
and more Page owners are learning how to become expert face book marketers, face
book has recently created many new opportunities for Pages to get more traffic
through the tried and true methods of – you guessed it – search engine
optimization (SEO).
Marketing APIs help
advertisers achieve success on Facebook at scale through efficiency and
innovation. Facebook has developed a set of Marketing APIs to enable developers
to offer innovative solutions that help marketers scale their presence on - Face book
Marketing Solutions - http://www.facebook.com/marketing?sk=wall
10 Key SEO Strategies Every face
book Page Owner Should Know - http://www.insidefacebook.com/2009/07/13/seo-facebook-pages-10-key-strategies/
Stik.com - Stik.com
is a website that uses Face book to connect people who need high-value goods or
services with trustworthy professionals that their friends recommend. When you
need to make an important purchase, it is better to deal with people you know.
You will get a better deal, with less stress and hassle.
Stik.com makes it easy to
find the right people by searching your personal Face book network. To get
started, use the search box to tell us what you need - we'll find someone who
can help. It helps professionals build their reputation and referral networks
on Face book. The site does this by collecting hundreds of recommendations and
referrals on Stik.com professional profiles.
The average Face book user
has 40,000 friends and friends-of-friends on Face book. Stik.com allows you to
tap into this vast universe of potential buyers and turn your social network
into a referral network, driving your business from buyers with whom you
already have a personal connection.
If you are a professional
looking to build your reputation and
referral network on Face book, follow the directions to connect with your Face
book account and build a Stik.com profile.
If you are looking to FIND a trusted professional, simply
search for the kind of help you need in the search box and connect with
professionals in your network recommended by your friends
Blog- if you only have the time or desire to create one social media
platform, a blog should be at the top of your list. Blogs give users a few
distinctive advantages over the other platforms that make them absolutely
invaluable in the world of Internet marketing, plus search engines love blogs.
First, become the “go-to” expert in your industry.
They have plenty of content
and are easy for the spiders to crawl and categorize online. Second, consumers
love blogs. They aren’t hard sales, but instead are a mix of marketing and
education that online shoppers trust.
Really Simple Syndication (RSS)
RSS allows you to see when websites have added new content, as soon
as it’s published, without having to visit the websites you have taken the feed
from. Feeds are also known as RSS. There is some discussion as to what RSS
stands for, but most people plump for 'Really Simple Syndication'. In essence,
the feeds themselves are just web pages, designed to be read by computers
rather than people.
If you do any online
networking, especially on social sites that use the Ning platform, you can add
your blog’s RSS feed to your profile. Every time you update your blog, your
profile will be updated with the new information from your blog. Other people
may wish to syndicate your blog, or they may wish to add you to their blog
reader. Providing an easy accessible RSS URL on your blog will increase the
chance that other people will follow your blog.
Submit your blog to
different blog directory sites, but they need to know your RSS URL; simply add
this to the end of your blog address: /atom.xml (i.e. http://TOGWT ® 1980.blogspot.com/atom.xml) with some bloggers you add feed after .com
YouTube - the main video sharing platform, YouTube
is one of the best forums available to create a viral marketing campaign. From
publishing client video testimonials to creating social proof of your
abilities, YouTube videos are a great way to get other site owners to link to
your website.
Twitter - is a micro blog that limits posts to 140
characters. Although you’ll typically hear the most scepticism about Twitter,
it can be an amazing tool for your business.
Twitter plug-ins allows you
to update Twitter and literally push it out to your other platforms, such as Face
book. Additionally, Twitter posts rank in the search engines
LinkedIn - is a popular business profile site,
LinkedIn ranks very well in search engines and is a great platform for sending
event updates out to business associates.
When optimizing your Social
Media sites, select one core keyword (or search term you would like to be found
under), use it frequently without sacrificing consumer experience, and watch
your profile skyrocket in the search engines.
Social Media Marketing is a
vital addition to any public relations marketing campaign. With a Facebook Page
that has interesting and regular updates to its content, you’ll get people
following your every move, which will lead to more customers and higher sales;
the exact payoff every business needs.
Detailing Forums
Posing
a descriptive write-up and photographs (always obtain owner’s permission before
posting and blanking out their registration plate) of details carried out is
another form of marketing
Website
An
Internet website is a very viable resource for marketing. Costing as little as
$500 depending on what you want done. Hire a competent professional web
designer, the internet is an ever evolving so you need to hire a person to give
you a professional web presence; it's their job to understand it.
Ensure there are no spelling errors,
and thoroughly check the quality of written English, as these types of mistake
will put off consumers who could have concerns about a website's credibility,
and will negatively impact sales. This is because
when you sell or communicate on the internet 99% of the time it is done by the
written word.
Contact a web developer that
will provide both an attractive and easily negotiated website, ensure you can
make up-dates to the website easily and make sure it has the ability to capture
e-mail information about visitors through registration for a “car care”
newsletter or tips.
From the e-mail information
you will be able to follow up and better serve clients and potential clients.
When you run a promotion this e-mail list will get your company name and a
specific promotion directly into the inboxes of your clients and potential
clients.
Have a regularly
updated section on ‘Car Care’ so that
you can provide advice and ensure both clients and potential clients visit your
site, which keeps your company name fresh in their minds and will boost
recognition
Page Speed Online analyses
the content of a web page, and then generates suggestions to make that page
faster. Reducing page load times can reduce bounce rates and increase
conversion rates - http://pagespeed.googlelabs.com/#
or Torbit -http://torbit.com/ref/8l7
The single largest upload
speed killer is image resolution. Develop a standard practice with your photos
and images, with Photoshop or whatever image hosting site you use you use, set
the resolution to 72dpi If your images area higher resolution than this you are
wasting bandwidth and significantly
reducing the amount of time the site needs to load. Scale down image
size and resolution, the larger the image the more bandwidth you'll need.
Google
Analytics - I would highly recommend it; it's free
and can give you some great insight in to what people are looking at on your
site - http://www.google.com/analytics/
Email Marketing Software
Create profitable customer
relationships for your business; a website owner’s email marketing tools like
professional email signup forms and auto responder services make it easy for
you to build your email list and stay in touch with prospects. - http://aweber.com/
Back links
These are links from other
websites.
Some examples:
1. You create an entry on
local.yahoo.com that includes your web address.
2. You edit your signature
on autopia.org to include a link to your website.
3. You publish an article
about car care on ezinearticles.com that includes a link to your website.
4. The car dealers and other
automotive businesses you work for include a link to your website on their own
websites.
Google sees all of these
links to your website as "votes" as to your popularity on the
Internet. Generally speaking, the website with the most "votes" gets
top spot on Google. [602rwtq Autopia]
Google Places
Millions
of people search Google Maps every day. A free listing on Google Maps makes it
easy for them to find you.
Use
Google Places to create your free listing. When potential customers search Maps
for local information, they'll find your business: your address, hours of
operation, even photos of your storefront or products. It's easy, free, and you
don't need a website of your own.
Local customers
are already searching for the products and services you offer. Why not make it
easy for them to find you on Google search and on Google Maps? Google
Places is the
place to start -
SSW
Rules to Better Google Ranking -
http://www.ssw.com.au/ssw/Standards/Rules/RulesToBetterGoogleRankings.aspx
Search engine optimization (S.E.O)
[:is the process of improving the volume
or quality of traffic to a web site or a web page (such as a blog) from search
engines via "natural" or un-paid ("organic" or
"algorithmic") search results as opposed to other forms of search
engine marketing (SEM) which may deal with paid inclusion.
The theory is that the earlier (or
higher) a site appears in the search results list, the more visitors it will
receive from the search engine. SEO may target different kinds of search,
including image search, local search, video search and industry-specific
vertical search engines This gives a web site web presence] [1]
S.E.O
is an acronym for search engine optimization or more simply; how to get more
‘traffic’ to your Website or Blog. The practice of obtaining high search engine
rankings by performing keyword research, modifying the HTML code to reflect
such keywords and building relationships with other websites to promote your
site via a linking campaign
Search Engine Optimization Starter Guide - www.google.com/.../search-engine-optimization-starter-guide.pdf
http://www.seomoz.org/learn-seo/title-tag
SEO
can also lift your site, by helping search engines find your site. Search
engines on the Internet allow users to type in key words such as “detailers,”
“detail services,” a company name, or anything else. In the blink of an eye,
the search engine scans the millions of sites on the web and lists those that
have meta-tags identical to the typed-in search term.
This
tool is very helpful for finding out the strongest words on your site. Make
sure you keep your site title relevant to the content. Some things to include; keyword research, title tag and word search
optimization, search, working on HTML source code, image, hyperlink and header
tag optimization and page ranking - www.freshegg.com
Flash
Programming in ‘Flash’
my look attractive, however it's invisible to search engines, because to an SEO
it’s essentially a collection of pictures, and not actual text. Google does not
recognize pictures; only text.
Meta-tags
Meta-tags are simply words
and phrases that describe the contents of your website and the nature of your
business, making it easier for the search engines and interested viewers to
find you.
Meta tags are mainly used for search
engine optimization; they are placed at the top or head of the page code and
provide keywords for search engines to find your pages more frequently and more
easily.
Meta-tags are not a magic
key to site effectiveness; but they do increase the chances that your site will
be included in the list that pops up when a web surfer types in a key word or
phrase.
Be careful not to have more than 7-9
keywords. Google cuts off anything over 7-10 keywords depending on number of
characters. You can find keyword analyser tools online that can tell you how
the search engines see your site. Meta
Tag Analyser
The use of meta-tags is a
technical subject you should discuss with your web designer to make certain
that they include a full measure of appropriate tags in your home page. How to Use HTML Meta Tags
Web Crawlers
A web crawler is a
relatively simple automated program, or script that methodically scans or
crawls through Internet pages to create an index of the data it's looking for.
Alternative names for a web crawler include web spider, web robot, crawler, and
automatic indexer.
There are many different
uses for a web crawler. Probably the most common use associated with the term
is related to search engines. Search engines use web crawlers to collect
information about what is available on public web pages. Their primary purpose
is to collect data so that when Internet surfers enter a search term on their
site, they can quickly provide the surfer with relevant web sites.
All the content is taken by
the Web Crawlers and copied onto indexes.
The frequencies of the visits by web crawlers to websites depend on the
popularity, quality, size of the website and the number of visitors a websites
receives. A website such as face book is crawled several times per day,
however, if we have a website that receives only a few hits per month the web
crawlers may only visit once every few months in order to check for updates.
Pay per Click (PPC)
Advertising on Google is the
most powerful breakthrough in marketing this century, yet very few small
business owners truly understand its power. I'll be keeping you updated on Pay
per Click in the weeks and months ahead.
The key to successful
advertising is to find a method of conveying your information to as many people
as possible while keeping your advertising costs to a minimum. PPC advertising
may be one of the easiest ways to generate traffic to your website
Using Video and Social Media
Taking
a video of a detail (seek owner’s permission beforehand) and then up loading it
to YouTube, face book or other social media networks is a good and inexpensive form of
marketing (See also The CMO's Guide To The Social
Media Landscape)
. It’s also a good idea to send a copy or a hyperlink to your client; they will
proudly show them to their friends, thereby expanding your network of future
clients. You could also add it to your Blog and / or Website
Incentive Rewards
Rewards
for client referral will provide an incentive to your existing clients for
recommending their friends and relatives by offering them a discount from their
next detail.
Create
a similar promotion to encourage repeat business from your existing clients as well;
it is always easier to retain clients than it is to obtain new ones.
Testimonials are the best way to obtain new clients and in letting potential
clients know how good your services are.
Client Introduction Program
Referrals
– offer a percent discount for each new client introduced
New
Clients – offer a percent discount for all first time clients
Networking
•
Start attending local car club meetings and get to know its
members.
•
Join and have a regular presence on social website, face book,
twitter, etc.
http://www.cmo.com/social-media/cmos...edia-landscape
•
Create a great Website and a Blog; hire a marketing start-up to
manage your online presence.
Public relations
Involvement in the community
can boost your company’s recognition. Attend local car shows and Concours
d’élégance, write car care tips and
How-To articles and submit them to the editors of various car clubs and the
media in your area. Become the credible “expert” source for car care that
editors contact and refer to in articles, interviews, or stories.
Customer Relationship Management (CRM)
What
is Customer Relationship Management? It concerns the
relationship between the organization and its customers. Customers are the
lifeblood of any organization be it a global corporation with thousands of
employees and a multi-billion turnover, or a sole trader with a handful of
regular customers. Customer Relationship Management is the same in principle
for these two examples - it is the scope of CRM which can vary drastically - http://www.businessballs.com/crmcustomerrelationshipmanagement.htm
Customer Service
Always be polite, listen to
your customers’ needs and focus on fulfilling them. Explain to your customer
exactly what you will be doing and ensure that it matches exactly what they are
expecting. How you treat your customers is the ultimate promotion, courtesy and
delivering on time, as promised, is not enough. In fact, those only get you on
a par with most others. You need to exceed their expectations by delivering
more than they necessarily expect due to their past experiences or preconceived
ideas. Offer a first class, quality checked service that goes well beyond
customers’ expectations. This is the way to create the kind of customer you
want; a loyal one.
Customers today will tell
their friends about the kind of service they received, positive or negative,
but they do it online, using social media websites like YouTube, Facebook and
Twitter.
Marketing to existing Clients
Business owners have only
one source of wealth and it’s not their talent or expertise. It’s not even the
product or the services they provide. Their main source of income, and
ultimately wealth is an existing client base; and yet it’s very easy to neglect
that source; it is
always easier to retain clients than it is to obtain new ones and
it will help you boost sales productivity and cut the cost of sales.
You can focus on your most
valuable opportunities. After all, it is more profitable to keep an existing
client than find a new one. Keeping track of all your company’s interactions
with customers lets you give a better service and stop sales slipping through
the cracks.
A company can lose as many
as 50% of their clients over a five year period and acquiring a new customer
can cost five times more compared to retaining an existing one. Winning new
customers is vital, keeping loyal customers happy and doing more business with
them is also essential. Clearly, it pays to build a lasting relationship with
customers.
Marketing to existing
clients is an often overlooked strategy. As well as maintaining your client
base by providing quality service and exceeding their expectations you should
be offering them other services If you
don't ask your clients to buy more from you, they'll rarely offer (you sell,
they buy). I believe you have to keep
searching for ways to deliver more value to customers; offer more reasons to
visit your company. You can build tremendous sales momentum if you offer
add-ons and optimized or premium versions. Don't just sell an exterior car wash
- up sell it with a paint restoration and / or full interior detailing.
What would happen if you
took your client list email addresses and sent out the occasional email making
them a special offer, or reminding them that it’s been X amount of time since
they last had their vehicle detailed and asking them if they would like to make an appointment, or asking
them for referrals? You would probably
increase your re-booking rate by 20-50% and their rate of referrals could
easily double. And it will have cost you virtually nothing.
Go out and meet your top 10
clients. Don't try to sell them anything, but do ask for referrals. Take them
to lunch, or even better a coffee at Starbuck's.
This is a powerful strategy
simply because in this modern and hectic world, no one seems to want to do it
anymore. If other people aren't doing something, that's a good enough reason
for you to think outside of the box and try it.
·
What are you not offering existing clients that you could be
offering them?
·
How often do you communicate with your clients by direct mail?
·
Do you test and measure the response?
·
Do you spend at least 15 minutes each month thinking of an
exclusive offer you can make and e-mail to your existing clients?
·
Do you say 'Thank you'
to your clients either by letter, email or telephone?
·
Do you proactively ask your clients for referrals?
·
If you have a limited service or product line - do you know of
additional companies, products or services that your clients could benefit
from? Car care product sales, carpet dying, PDR, AC system cleaning, headlight and
/ or windscreen restoration, cosmetic wheel repair, paint or leather upholstery
renovation and etc.
There are hundreds of great marketing
strategies that can be used in obtaining new clients. But first and more
importantly, you need to nurture your relationships with existing client; they
are your primary source of income, and your most important asset. They are the
first key to your financial stability; the second is word of mouth referrals
from existing clients
Summary
Professional detailing can
be a great business opportunity, but like any other business, it requires very
careful planning, marketing and execution. Work smart, take the time to study
and understand your market and build a business strategy around it. Once you’ve
established your business plan, all it takes to execute it is hard work. Take
the time to understand your market and build a strategy.
Plan
your marketing and work your plan.
Bibliography -
·
Automobile Detailing Business Start-up Guide eBook
·
Selling The Invisible, by
Harry Beckwith
·
The E-Myth Revisited: Why Most Small Businesses Don't Work and
What to Do About It, by Michael E. Gerber
·
What Clients Love: A Field Guide to Growing Your Business, Harry
Beckwith
·
Mentored By A Millionaire, by Steven K. Scott
·
Guerrilla Marketing in 30 Days, by Al Lautenslager
·
Ultimate Small Business Marketing Guide, by James
Stephenson
·
Search Engine Optimization
(SEO) for the Automotive and Motorsports -Industryhttp://www.performancewebmarketing.com/seo-search-engine-optimization.htm
Other Resources
·
Marketing Teacher.com (books and videos)
·
The CMO's Guide To The Social Media Landscape - http://www.cmo.com/social-media/cmos-guide-social-media-landscape
·
The Chris Cardell newsletters
·
SWOT Analysis Diagrams Software (inc. templates) www.SmartDraw.com
Software
With its simple-to-use
design tools, Microsoft Publisher 2010 gives you the power to
create professional-quality marketing materials and publications that can be
printed and shared with ease. You'll be able to work more efficiently with an
updated user interface, along with improved photo tools that let you get the
results you want, plus visual guides that help you navigate publications and
see what you’re printing.
I
would like to think that these articles become an asset to anyone who is new to
detailing and to professionals alike, as well as industry experts who seek to
advance their knowledge.
I hope the above article was
informative. By having some understanding of the ‘What’ and ‘Why’ as well as
the ‘How’ along with a little science to help you understand how the chemicals
we use react, you can achieve the results you desire.
I would appreciate it if you
would share this article as it helps other detailers further their knowledge.
Questions and/ or constructive comments are always appreciated.
Copyright © 2002 -
2012 TOGWT® (Established 1980) all rights reserved
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