SMOOZ' M or LOOSE'M

Detailer business owners are so busy detailing cars that they too often forget to take care of the customers they have worked so hard to attain.

I would bet that most detail businesses spend at least 90% of their efforst and limited advertising budget on acquiring nrew business. That means the remaining 10% is spent taking care of existing customers.

Consider what you spend on advertising per year and you will see that you are not taking care of your existing customers who stand to be your most profitable customers.

It is proven that the easiest and least expensive customer to sell if one that has already purchased your service.

The detail industry in general spends too much time and too much money trying to acquire new customers. Not to say that is not an important part of your marketing plan, but you should have hundreds of customers in your database that you can keep if you attend to them.

There are no formal statistics on this but I would estimate that a detailer has a better than 75% chance of getting a satisfied past customer back for detail services if they stay in contact with them.

On top of that do you realize that over 30% of your customers have a relative or friend that can purchase a detail service if they referred them to your business. Do you even ask for customers to make referrals?

Very few detailers track their marketing and retension efforts. They probably cannot tell you what works and what does not. And, more often than not they keep doing the same thing they have done year after year, getting the same results.

INSANITY: "Doing the same thing over and over again and hoping for different results."

So are you doing to do something to retain customers? What?

What do you do to incentivize customer to remain loyal to your detail business? You do not have to give anything away to keep your customers loyal. All it takes is a little attention and a little consideration. Isn''t that what we all want as consumers?

There are numerous ways to retain your customers. But you must manage and measure what you do. No program you embrace is good or bad until you measure it.

Why not start investing in customer retension before spending another dollar in advertising. It's value cannot be overemphasized. Take this seriously that is why I have taken the time to post it.

Adpot some type of program to help you achieve results and measure and track how the program is working. If you do not do this you are loosing customers to other detail shops who care for them more than you do. That is why detail businesses loose customers. They do not contact them again and another detail business does, just when they need another detail.

Regards
Bud Abraham

Excellent Bud!
You have hit the "nail" on the head, a direct hit!
There are hundreds of "product companies" selling, marketing much the same products in this country, a few thousand around the world.
From my few "decades" of being in the industry, what I have observed, you got it right.
Most "detailers" are more focused on "what is the best wax/polish/cleaner/dressing, etc" rather than focus on "who is my potential customer, how do I reach them, how do I make my services superior to the guy down the street! Then it's gets worse, they "forget them".
Customer retentinion is the "key" to any operating business.
What most in this industry do not realize is the cost of getting a customer is very costly.
Keeping them, through superior service and relationships is that key, and it costs a lot less..
Much less expensive to keep a customer than what it cost to obtain a new one.
I remeber being asked to sit in on a closed circuit TV presentation to all the Chrysler Zone offices in 1989, with the speaker being Guido (you know who that is, the guy that made Ford billions with the Mustang, pulled Chrysler out with the K car, etc.)
He made a superior point in that broadcast, "it costs us less to keep a customer than gain a new one." and went on with example after example of just what the company was doing wrong in that area, the most important area of customer service.
I just hope all who read your post take it to heart, and forget their ego's, etc, but focus on what your words are saying to them.
Grumpy

Ketch

Thanks for the support on the issue.

It is very hard for a technician to be anything other than that.

So it is imperative that those in the detail business today, who want to be in the business tomorrow.", and the day after must do is embrace the "THREE A's":

AWARENESS - that the are technicians, not business men or women

ACCEPTANCE - accept that fact and be willing to do something about it

ACTION - and be willing to take some positive action to remedy the problem

Michael Gerber in his book, "The E Myth - Revisited" clearly outlines the problem and offers easy solutions for the technician business person.

It can be purchased on Amazon.com under books used for probably a couple of dollars. It is only 1/2" thick, an easy read but powerful for the person who is willing to accept his premise that a technician will have a hard time operating a business successfully.

All the best, Ketch

Bud Abraham