Here’s how to get customers for your mobile valeting business
This is a very important part of starting your business, knowing how to market your business is critical.
No matter how much research you do on marketing your business, you cannot know exactly which marketing strategy works by reading alone, each business differs completely.
For instance if you have a car wash, having a website would be almost irrelevant because the majority of people see a car wash and go to it or use their local car wash, not saying that it wont work but I am saying there are better things to spend you money on if it isn’t going to work for you.
A website for a mobile car wash is a separate thing completely and becomes incredibly important. image how many people in your area would need to look on google for a service like yours on on social media. This will be the first place people will look for you.
- Business cards & Flyers
- Personalised receipt book
- Word of mouth
- Website
- Google / SEO
- Social media
- Van logo
First of all I believe the best way to get new clients is through your website, social media and other printed marketing materials. The best way to get new customers when you are up and running is to do a good job – thats when word of mouth comes in.
Business cards:
I think are a must, good quality business cards will be saved rather than thrown away a week later, laminating the cards can make a business card look better quality whilst keeping it intact in someone’s wallet.
A potential customer will definitely be less inclined to throw away a laminated business card, especially if they have asked for your card or would need it for future use, some of my customers have kept mine for years.
Business cards are ideal to hand out to your customers stapled to their receipt so they can contact you again if they need your services.
Flyers:
My Flyers have a full description of my service, how long the job will take and how much I charge, I feel that the more information on there makes customers more relaxed about giving you a call as they know exactly what the job entails, some customers can feel abit worried about calling up to ask a hundred questions so they just don’t bother calling!!
they can be relatively cheap, the more you buy the cheaper it gets but don’t go crazy, handing out 50,000 flyers would be insanity.
Again a quality flyer will be kept, a 2 coloured one sided flyer will slip into the bin just as fast as it slipped through the letter box. Hand your flyers to friends family, post to your neighbourhood houses, car dealerships, taxi ranks, lease companies, office blocks, business parks ect..
Receipt book:
Having a professional receipt looks great, some people will keep a receipt from you for their records so if you have a personalised receipt with your name and number on they can easily find you again.
Service:
In the valeting business, service is EVERYTHING. Showing up on time, doing a great job and being very polite could be the only reasons why your business will succeed.
Always remember to tell your customers after you have given them their receipt with your number on that next time if you want your car cleaning I can do it at a discounted rate.
This will make them more inclined to call again, the car wont be as dirty (not always the case) and you have a happy customer who is more likely to refer you to a friend
WORD OF MOUTH:
Yes it is not just a cliché, in this particular business word of mouth can definitely be your best form of advertising so milk this as much as you can, this comes under service!
Provide your customer with a great service, be as nice as you possibly can then after the valet ask your customer politely to refer you to their friends if they are happy with the job you have done, maybe offer them a discounted rate if you are referred.
This will have your business booming in no time!
Website:
A Website is a must for your small business, I have previously used a DIY website software called Mr site which can get you a website up and running in a matter of minutes and host your site for a year or two for around £40, well worth the money.
These days more and more people are searching for small businesses on the web and it is luckily for you one of the businesses which will greatly benefit from having somewhere for your customers to not only find you but be able to see other great jobs you have done before by adding photos of previous valets, read details on the services you offer and your prices.
Having a website will gain you abit of an edge over some of your competition as I am sure that not all the mobile car valeting business in your area have one.
HOW TO ADVERTISE YOUR WEBSITE
Two of the best ways to advertise your valeting website I have found are:
Google adwords
google adwords is a marketing tool brought to you by google.
Have you seen the adverts on google search results either down the right hand side of the screen or right up at the top of your search? That’s google ad words advertisements. To get up their you need to firstly register with google adwords, you can do this by basically typing in “register for google adwords” and follow the steps.
Once you have completed this set-up you can have your business being viewed by hundreds of people within minutes! Google adwords works by charging you a small amount (like 35p) every time somebody clicks on your advert.
This can certainly ad up but it is a great way to receive a lot of attention straight away. When I first used adwords I registered and set-up the adwords account, within 2 minutes I got a call for a full valet and it cost me 45p.
This is rare and to be honest, it didn’t happen again but it shows the potential if you have the budget.
SEO:
SEO is a longer process but probably the better option for your long term goals, it basically makes you appear higher in standard search results. SEO is usually carried out by an internet marketing business or by a single individual, for a monthly fee they can work on making your website more visible to potential customers. But it can take sometimes up to 3-6 months to start seeing results.
*** we now offer SEO services for your cleaning business ***
Van logo:
I would always say you should have a nice professional van logo with your business name, number website ect on your van.
I always get people coming up to me on the street asking for a flyer because they have seen that I am a mobile car valeter, people see your logo and know what you are and the majority of people who see it enquire about your service, I would say for every 1 out of 4 private jobs which I do I will receive at least 1 enquiry from passers by, neighbours etc.
Not only is it yet another way to get your name out there but it makes your business look so much more professional.
Talk about your business:
Let everybody know your starting a new mobile car valeting business, they will no doubt be intrigued.
Tell your friends and family and anybody your have a general conversation with, this should not only be when you start up but whilst you have it too, you will be surprised at the amount of interest it brings and how fast the word will spread.
I’m sure there is people within your family and friends who would be willing to have a valet done by you to help you start your business so go around ALL of them and just ask.