Who is doing 're-booking'?

[Waxman]

My little company makes a big effort at marketing.

We affix a static label indicating 'last waxed' and/or 'last interior clean' with a hand -written date and our company logo etc to the windshield of each car we detail.

I saw a tv show about hair salons where they emphasized asking clients if they would care to re-book their next appointment while they were there.

Do you do this in your detail operation as a standard practice?

 

[mjc3333]

Yes, just like the dentist or hair salon would do. We capture about 20% of our clientèle this way. Most if not all are repeat customers.

 

[Waxman]

What is your protocol for implementing this?

"may we re-book you in 3 months?' etc. then wirte in the apt and do a reminder call the week prior to the appt.?

thanks!

 

[pitzerwm]

How about this idea, "Sir/Madam, we have found that your detailing will last about X months, so we have a discount of X% if you book an appointment now and keep the appointment".

 

[mjc3333]

This is what we offer in a package form for our repeat customers.

http://carwashcompanydetailcenter.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=15&Itemid=30

We tell the customer what we think their needs are and let them pick from our menu. If we both agree on one package, we set them up with a year long schedule. Not every customer gets to pick any package, it depends on how the customer takes care of their car in between the detailing, and what color type and year car they may have.

We tried the soft sell approach only to find the customer not wanting to make a 3 or 4 month schedule every 3 or 4 months. They were too tempted to say "I'll call you when I get home and look at my schedule" or "No thanks maybe next time".

Tying them into a year long package gave them more of a discount and ultimately us a better product to work with (having the car 3 or 4 or 5 times a year instead of once a year for buffing and waxing etc.)

 

[jfmoran]

I think the combination of trying to pre-book and or selling package details at a discount would go along way towards energizing your repeat business. How about quarterly e-mails or a quarterly newsletter by e-mail or mail or direct mail postcards to you database of customers.

John Moran