Lets talk business management

[infinitone]

Aside from car detailing, there's more to running a proper detailing business.  I was wondering what everything uses to manage their business such as scheduling customer bookings, invoicing, taking payments, keeping in touch with customers, attracting new ones.

 

Are their any specific strategies people use?

[Whitlock]

Some free/damn near free products we use here at Atlanta Auto Salon to help manage our business:

 

Scheduling: Google Calendar

Invoicing: Quickbooks

Taking payments: Square

Keeping in touch with customers: Ace of Sales for my email campaigns, Highrise for my CRM

Attracting new ones: Facebook, Google+, Forums, Thesis for on page SEO, Leadpages for landing pages, custom forms for email capture. 

[eric@thompsonracing.us]

I have been using Quickbooks/Intuit for a few years.  It has it's pluses and minuses.  I recently moved our website from Homestead (Intuit platform) to Big Commerce.  I am not good with computers and was able to build the site myself and manage it myself.  My Big Commerce store is a lot easier to manage, offers a lot more options, including sales, banners, etc.  My internet business has expanded because of it.

 

Big Commerce

 

Shop Thompson Racing

 

I have also moved from Intuit Merchant Services to Cashier Live for my POS @ shows/clinics.  I use a Linea Pro on my iPhone and it works amazing!  They are the same scanners/CC swipers used @ the Apple Store.  I have barcoded all my inventory and can teach someone to run the system in under a half hour.  The system is very easy to use and works!  I used to use a Mophie and before that had a Square.  In my opinion, Square is a POS and has left me stranded at multiple Carlisle events.  That was 4 years ago, there are more options today.

 

Cashier Live

 

Linea Pro

[Kingsford]

Mines just side jobs and this isn't just for detailing but for computer repair and consolations as well...

 

Schedules: Calendar App with iCloud

Invoices: Totals

Payments: Square

Keeping in Touch: Facebook, Word of Mouth

Attracting: I don't really like taking new customers because of how busy I am but when I do it's usually Word of Mouth and my good looks.

[Dreamworkz]

Great info here.

[infinitone]

Some free/damn near free products we use here at Atlanta Auto Salon to help manage our business:

 

Scheduling: Google Calendar

Invoicing: Quickbooks

Taking payments: Square

Keeping in touch with customers: Ace of Sales for my email campaigns, Highrise for my CRM

Attracting new ones: Facebook, Google+, Forums, Thesis for on page SEO, Leadpages for landing pages, custom forms for email capture. 

 

Have you guys looked into services like http://www.carwashy.com ?

 

They seem to provide an all in one solution specifically for detailers.

 

Also, what do you use to remind customers/etc. do coupons/deals.?

[Whitlock]

Have you guys looked into services like http://www.carwashy.com ?

 

They seem to provide an all in one solution specifically for detailers.

 

Also, what do you use to remind customers/etc. do coupons/deals.?

 

Will give carwashy.com a look. 

 

To remind customers I use HighriseHQ to call on confirm appointments. 

Whenever I do a deal, I promote it through my email list first, then Facebook with a landing page set up to capture contact information. 

 

Be very careful with coupon sites, it cuts down on your margins SIGNIFICANTLY. That being said, I ran a promotion with Gilt City (best %'s of all sites I explored) here in Atlanta and build specific high-end packages for the campaign and made sure to keep a keen eye on my margin for each package. Sold a handful and saw a nice jump in website traffic on launch day. 

[infinitone]

Be very careful with coupon sites, it cuts down on your margins SIGNIFICANTLY. That being said, I ran a promotion with Gilt City (best %'s of all sites I explored) here in Atlanta and build specific high-end packages for the campaign and made sure to keep a keen eye on my margin for each package. Sold a handful and saw a nice jump in website traffic on launch day. 

 

A valid point.

 

But what I meant actually do you run your own coupons, like for christmas deals?

 

Also do you do subscription packages?  Whats the typical rate people subscribe for? Monthly? Bimonthly?

[Liltrekkie]

This would be a great place to store information to people looking to start a detail business but don't know how. 

 

With that said, is there much of a difference between building the website myself (since I can code) Or having a third party website builder?

[infinitone]

This would be a great place to store information to people looking to start a detail business but don't know how. 

 

With that said, is there much of a difference between building the website myself (since I can code) Or having a third party website builder?

 

Well, define 'website' - if you are look for a 5 pager, then sure can be done by you.  If you are looking for something that can get your customers, like one that has scheduling, taking orders online and managing everything in between.  Then you can't really build that yourself (unless you spend a good 6 months on it).

[Liltrekkie]

Well, define 'website' - if you are look for a 5 pager, then sure can be done by you.  If you are looking for something that can get your customers, like one that has scheduling, taking orders online and managing everything in between.  Then you can't really build that yourself (unless you spend a good 6 months on it).

 

Heh. Maybe in the future then. Can you or anyone else recommend any good website builders that have all the features you discribed AND looks decent?

[Odds and Ends]

I run invoicing, inventory, and merchant services all through Quickbooks.  Easy, one entry, and lots of reports to keep track of how you're doing.  I can separate retail sales from services etc. which I find useful.

 

I use my Facebook page more than my website for social media type stuff.  Easier to post photos quickly and interact with your "fans".

 

Lastly, a significant part of my clientele comes from sponsoring various car clubs.  It's great for referrals because when you do one car for a club member, all of the club members see the car at a club event and then the phone starts ringing.  

 

- Darryl

[infinitone]

Heh. Maybe in the future then. Can you or anyone else recommend any good website builders that have all the features you discribed AND looks decent?

 

Well, currently I'm signing up for Carwashy's platform (http://carwashy.com)- looks promising and they have a free plan (if you do less than 100 bookings/month).  They give you a lot of tools to get more customers easily.

 

 

I run invoicing, inventory, and merchant services all through Quickbooks.  Easy, one entry, and lots of reports to keep track of how you're doing.  I can separate retail sales from services etc. which I find useful.

 

I use my Facebook page more than my website for social media type stuff.  Easier to post photos quickly and interact with your "fans".

 

Lastly, a significant part of my clientele comes from sponsoring various car clubs.  It's great for referrals because when you do one car for a club member, all of the club members see the car at a club event and then the phone starts ringing.  

 

- Darryl

 

I think what he means is for your customers, if you are looking to get more customers (ie. the ones that search for you online), you want to close them right when they land on your site.  The way to do that is to allow them to schedule on your site and also pay.

[eric@thompsonracing.us]

Heh. Maybe in the future then. Can you or anyone else recommend any good website builders that have all the features you discribed AND looks decent?

 

I have had good success with Big Commerce, as I mentioned above.  

 

I built the site myself and have little computer skill.  You can add multiple pages.  I just began adding all of the Adam's Videos:  

 

http://stores.shopthompsonracing.com/adams-detailing-videos/

 

I had used Homestead (a Quickbook website builder) in the past and it was aweful.  I'm doing everything I can to move away from Quickbooks.  They were ok 4 years ago, but really haven't stayed up with the pack.

 

Also, Constant Contact is a good way to keep your customers in touch.

[dipolley]

I used Wix to build my site. Once you play with it and learn it then you should have no problems building a great site. You don't have to know code or even be a webmaster. Just remember to put your SEO information in. I have gotten jobs purely on having a great website. We don't rank high on Google or Bing to be up at the top, but having a great site brings in customers and keeps them engaged.

 

www.highpointdetailing.com

 

For payments we use Square. So far no complaints. Money is in my checking account the next business day. Same with our Chase on-line. We deposit checks as soon as we get them and we typically have them the next business day.