"Mobile Car Wash" event can lead to detailing customers
Sunday, May 15, 2011 at 6:14PM 
If you are a Mobile Detailing Business owner and have been looking for new ways to build your client base, one possibility may be a "Mobile Car Wash" event.
Exactly what is a "Mobile Car Wash Event"? It's really very simple assuming you can obtain permission from the business owner or store management.
First contact the store manager of your local home improvement store. These locations are very busy on weekends during the spring and summer months. Ask if it would be possible to set your mobile detailing equipment in an area of their parking lot on an upcoming weekend. In exchange for letting you set up, you can offer to wash employee's cars at a discount or arrange to detail their car for free at a later date. Another option is to donate a percentage of your sales receipts for the weekend to the stores employee fund which is often used for store holiday parties etc. or to a charity of the stores choosing.
Agree on a specific date and with the guidance of the manager, set up in a high visible area that will not disrupt the flow of traffic into the shopping center.
Set up as early as possible, around 8:00 AM would be good. During the weekend only do "Washes" for customers as they are doing their shopping. With 2 people you can get through an exterior wash, do the windows and dress the tires in plenty of time before they complete their shopping. In the event you get back logged (and you will)...have a table with chairs for customers to wait at and have refreshments for them to enjoy while you finish. On the table include brochures of your detailing services and have plenty of business cards on hand.
You may very well find as I did that you have customers lined up all day and many will contact you later for full detailing services.
What you charge for the washes will need to be determined by your current market.
Sometimes you can even get local press coverage of the event. You can also promote the event of your facebook and twitter pages.
This is a great way to increase name recognition in your community for your mobile detailing business.
Be prepared to provide business license (where required) and proof insurance to the property manager.
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Reader Comments (2)
I agree with this post 100%. I do want to add my own flavor here. We did this with a local grocery store. In return for doing this in their parking lot, we washed and spruced up their three delivery vehicles. At the end of the day, I approached the manager and was able to negotiate a monthly maintenance package for their fleet vehicles. So not only were we able to gather new business from the regular consumer, we gained a contract for a guaranteed monthly gig.
My suggestion is to explore all the options for your local market. You may find with a little extra research on top of this excellent post, you can gain not only new clients, but steady ones as well.
Adam,
Great idea! Fleet washing services are another way of increasing exposure for your business in addition to the regular income that they produce.
I did fleet services for several businesses including a coffee delivery business, local pizza restaurant and an armor car company. I was able to obtain many personal detailing clients from the employees of the businesses as well as people passing by.
Other ideas??