Starting a Car Detailing Business: How to Get Your First Customers

The problem that new car detailing businesses face is that they don’t have a good resource for new customers. What they don’t realize is they have access to most of the people selling their cars in their city, for free, instantly. Where is this place? Craigslist.

Craigslist is now the busiest marketplace for selling used cars in the world. It’s free, easy to search, and there is a massive inventory of cars for sale by owners and dealers there. Also on Craigslist is an automotive services section that receives a lot of traffic.

If you can post a professional looking advertisement they’re introducing yourself, your services, and your prices, you’re guaranteed to get some phone calls and e-mails. What’s important is that you provide specific reasons why your car detailing service is better than the others on Craigslist. Most detailers there emphasize their low prices, but this approach is flawed. The problem with selling on price alone is that the customer perceives your work to be of lesser quality.

Instead, emphasize the quality of your service. Describe your detailing process in detail. Write a short biography about your professional car detailing experience. Specifically name the equipment that you own and the products that you use.

And, if you have photos of your work, displaying these photos is extremely influential. Don’t just show photos of your finished work. Instead, show before and after photos of the common issues like dirty interiors and oxidized paint that someone selling their car is looking for professional help with.

Car dealers will contact you to, as they spend a lot of time each day on Craigslist. Although you may not want all of their business, there are some very good car dealers that pay good rates and give steady business. It’s always good to have some reliable business that you can count on to cover your costs each month.

So if you are a new car detailing business and looking for more work, post an ad on Craigslist as often as possible. First look at your competition’s ads on Craigslist, and see how you can improve on their message and get more business. Often it’s just a matter of producing a more professional presentation with more details and more photos of your services. You will find that a lot of customers are looking for a more trustworthy car detailer and not just the cheapest option on Craigslist.