Commercial Office Accounts

J

joburnet

New member
Today we started soliciting for commercial office accounts. We would like to set up some relationships with office complex's and large companies in the are to come and wash employee's cars during the day. We think this will be in high demand during the winter when everyone's cars are getting so dirty from the salt and grime being kicked up from the road.



Does anyone have any experience or any ideas as how to establish relationships with these companies? This being the first time, we're kind of in the dark here as to who to what types of companies to contact, what people within those companies to contact, how to approach them and what to offer.



Thanks a lot!



Chris Dutrow
 
Chris



Iâ€â„¢m not quite sure how up tight the property managers are in tour neck of the woods. Around here they like it if you ask permission first. If they give you the green light go for it. I would target complexes with doctorâ€â„¢s attorneys.



Try giving a couple of free washes to the sectaries. If people see you working on cars especially guys they will come out and talk to you. Let them know that you can come every week on a set day to take care of there cars sell them on the connivance.

As soon as you start doing one persons car they all will want it done. Donâ€â„¢t be a Flake be there when you say your going top be there. My Detail business in California was built on Flaky Detailers. I would get calls every week from people wanting some one reliable.
 
I CHECKED WITH THE SECURITY FORCE ON THE PROPERTY AND WAS GIVEN THE GO AHEAD OR POINTED TO THE PERSON I HAD TO TALK TO TO GET THE OK. I HAD A BROKERAGE HOUSE THAT WAS IN A MULTI OFFICE BUILDING AND WASHED 25 CARS EVERY FRIDAY BETWEEN 1:30 AND 4 OCLOCK HAD 2 HELPERS WITH ME ALOY OF WORK BUT WORTH IT, AFTER GETTING PERMISSI0N TO WORK THERE I BROUGHT MY WIFES CAR AND DETAILED IT IN THE PARKING LOT TO GENERATE INTEREST THE NEXT WEEK I HAD MY DAUGHTER DROP HER CAR OFF THEN 1 OF MY FRIENDS SO I ACTUALLY DID 1 DETAIL FOR FREE ( I DO MY CARS ANY WAY ) THIS IS HOW I GENERATED AN INTEREST AND LANDED THE ACCOUNT ALONG WITH NUMEROUS DETAILS FROM OTHER TENANTS IN THE BUILDING
 
Frank, please, chill on the caps, it seems like you have a lot of good stuff to say, but it gets a little hard to read WHEN EVERYTHING IS LIKE THIS AND THERE ISN'T A PERIOD ANYWHERE.
 
Sorry about the caps, thought it would be easier to read. As for the price I was charging $15 per car. That was for a wash and dry, vac the int.and dress the tires. All of the custs. gave us a 20 and told us to keep the change. Funny thing was I was charging them $17 per car, and they were giving me $20 but they wanted a better deal so I went down to $15 and each week gave 1 of them thier wash for free they were happy and still gave me the $20 so it did not matter.The one who got the free wash almost always gave us a $10 anyway.
 
It's alright about the caps, sometimes it gets harder to read, and over the internet is often associated with yelling or being loud, it comes with a rude connotation. No harm done.



Sounds like a decent deal on the cars price wise. If there had been less cars though, would you have upped the price a little bit?



You had a good volume, so your profit per vehicle didn't have to be quite as high, so prices could get lowered a little bit is how I see it. I am thinking of starting out this spring/summer doing some detailing locally, and want everything sorted out before I start.
 
There was no need to go any lower price wise other detailers were getting $3 - $5 more for scheduled washes in my area. however the volume took its toll , at one point i was up to 40 washes per week plus the brokerage house that left little time to do full details and the washes started to wear on me as the custs. would start to ask for things like my matts are dirty could you touch them up or my hood looks a little dull could you wax it while your here? When i mentioned a price some would get mad, they thought that they should get these extras for free. I ended up selling off my washes to another detailer who eventually lost almost all of the accounts, if you can avoid doing washes on a weekly basis I would unless you get a bunch of cars in 1 location. They do take up a lot of time and money wise I can make the same or more doing details
 
FLAME SUIT ON>



Washing cars for $15, in a parking lot, hmm...

Does this belong in the Professional Detailing Forum?



Probably just me.



Jim
 
UnsanePyro said:
I am thinking of starting out this spring/summer doing some detailing locally, and want everything sorted out before I start.
Click to expand...



The same thing I thought when I first started out, but after running my business for awhile now I quickly found out that even with careful planning and sorting out every last detail...there was an abundance of issues that affected my plan and also was completely different than what I researched....especially with our industry!! The way I learned how to run my business effectively was by trial and error...in other words just got off my butt and went for it. I've had many ups followed by many downs...but I wouldn't trade it in for anything. My advice is to come up with a basic plan (what business name, what products, money issues, what areas to target, etc.) and then just go for it.:xyxthumbs
 
Jimmy Buffit said:
FLAME SUIT ON>



Washing cars for $15, in a parking lot, hmm...



Jim
Click to expand...



I was thinking the same thing. Even though you could drum up a large volume of business, you are going to get alot of beaters - which will mean you may not be able to finish your workload for the day - which will mean upset customer's - which could mean a bad rep for your business...or it could mean that you could finish your workload, but some of the cars may not look that great because you had to rush - which again will lead to a bad rep. The simple smart advice, increase your price, along with the specifics you do with a car wash, and this will lower your volume, give you alot of cars in good shape, possibly more money, definitely more profit, and for the icing on the cake...a good rep.:xyxthumbs
 
Have any of you ever been thrown off the property or told to stop by local or federal EPA officers? I know if it is a large company that owns the parking lot you are washing in, they must follow strict storm water pollution guidelines, that is why I ask.

The company I work for had a charity carwash in the parking lot until our own EPA/Compliance dept shut them down in fear of fines.
 
If we have any EPA concerns then we will just get some kind of containment unit. Or we could use S&W exclusively and not have any run off.
 
Jim

I understand what youâ€â„¢re saying about car washing in the pro detailers section. When your mobile you set up accounts after you do full details to maintain these cars on a weekly basis. I like to do this not a full days worth of maintenance washes but enough to cover half the day. I will usually bill these customers every 4 weeks. When youâ€â„¢re mobile this gives you good exposure.

I know from your end of professional detailing that it would be hard if people wanted you to wash there cars regularly but when your mobile this really helps. I did this with my company in California. Then it got to the point that I had one van dedicated to the washing and one for the details and dent repair.
 
Dent's & Details - that's what I'm hoping. I am going to offer washes which is something that I've never been able to do before and I'm hoping that it will lead to a lot more business. At the office complex's I am going to be offering my full line of detailing services.
 
Don't drop your pants on the washes. The cheaper the price the crappier the cars will be that you are washing.



Look into a spot free water system. Or buy the water in bulk from a water store. I pay .10 cents per gallon. It's like having a helper when it starts to get hot.
 
These brokers all drove mercedes, vettes and porsches all about 2 - 3 years old and considering I ended up detailing about 2 thirds of them at least twice a year and getting vehicles from other offices in the same building to detail I think it belongs here and it was a great money maker ($500- $800 for a half a day every week ). Did not get any beaters these were the same cars every week.If any one else wanted just a wash and the car was a dog I would say sorry but I was on a strict schedule and would not be able to fit them in this happened maybe twice so I really did not have to deal with this problem.
 
Jimmy Buffit said:
FLAME SUIT ON>



Washing cars for $15, in a parking lot, hmm...

Does this belong in the Professional Detailing Forum?



Probably just me.



Jim
Click to expand...
What are you, the Autopia police? He's a detailer who's obviously created a market and niche for getting other detailing business. While most people have to solicit business, he's getting paid AND getting the word out. Yeah, it IS just you. MYOFBMF. No, those aren't initials for new microfiber towels. Figure it out smart guy.:angry
 
mav63 said:
Have any of you ever been thrown off the property or told to stop by local or federal EPA officers? I know if it is a large company that owns the parking lot you are washing in, they must follow strict storm water pollution guidelines, that is why I ask.

The company I work for had a charity carwash in the parking lot until our own EPA/Compliance dept shut them down in fear of fines.
Click to expand...



There is one office complex in north Dallas that does not allow detailing (or any other work) on their lots and a couple don't allow vendors for security reasons. Otherwise, no problems. Since I use QEW as my primary wash and it requires less than 2 gallons per wash, I am exempt from water reclaimation and currently in Texas it isn't an issue anyway.



I never really targeted office complexes but when my business owner customers found out I would be willing to come out to their office and clean their car, naturally their employees were also interested and I picked up their business that way. Honestly, right now, I have too many weekly regulars and I am running out of time to do details. Definitely going to have to get help come spring. :)



BTW, I charge $25-35 for wash/vac/windows/tires and fenderwells, depending on the size of the vehicle. Most of my regulars tip me every week on top of that.
 
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