2.4.2
MARKETING GUIDE
The Car Care Marketing Guide has been prepared to provide Franchise
Owners with the necessary tools to build sales volume within their franchised
territory.
Apart from the mainstream advertising provided by the Marketing Fund there
will be occasions where local area marketing activities are required.
The two major functions of your Car Care business are:
 To attract customers to the benefits of the Car Care range of services.
 To serve the customers.
Our strategy does not rely on any one single form of advertising. There are a
range of marketing initiatives available to all Car Care Franchise Owners to
establish a strong customer base. The ongoing challenge then is to provide a
consistently high level of service to maintain their regular custom.
The Car Care marketing strategy covers the four “P’s”: Product, Place, Price
and Promotion.
Product relates to the services provided and the quality of such service.
Place covers the areas in which our services are targeted for potential clients.
Price is the cost of services to the customer; and
Promotion includes advertising, public relations and Car Care brand
awareness: it also includes selling or “Winning the client”.
Car Care marketing involves a careful analysis of the clients who are likely to
utilise Car Care services. Potential clients (“prospects”) are targeted through
a number of means including:
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Yellow Pages display advertisements
Local community newspaper display advertisements and listing in the
Trades and Services classifieds
Direct mail marketing campaigns
Newsworthy publicity through various media
Web site and direct e-mail promotion
Customer referral systems
Various promotional items such as brochures, business cards, fridge
magnets, door jamb stickers etc.
Exposure to the brand name through vehicle signage and uniform
logos
Bonus reward points programmes
Major account targeting.
Expos and Trade Shows.
Sponsorships.
© Car Care Australia Pty Ltd
Franchise Owners Manual
The Car Care booking office maintains a record to identify the source of
enquiries regarding Car Care’s range of services.
Car Care may also conduct market research through surveys using Client
Questionnaires and have access to the data banks held by the Australian
Bureau of Statistics for demographic and other relevant information.
To assist franchise owners in the establishment and development of their Car
Care Franchise, the following local area marketing materials have been
developed to help with efficient customer recruitment. These are all able to
be downloaded from the Car Care web site and customised to show your own
contact details and prices.
The following documents are stored on the Car Care web site:
Direct_Mail_Letter.doc
Unaddressed_Mail_Letter.doc
Business_Letter.doc
Business_Fleet_Letter.doc
Neighbour_Letter.doc
Blank_Letter.doc
Secretarys_Bonus.doc
Dirty_Weekends.doc
Protection_Packages.doc
Xmas_Gift_Voucher.doc
Fathers_Day_Gift_Voucher.doc
Mothers_Day_Gift_Voucher.doc
Free_Car_Wash.doc
Prospect_List.doc
Customer_Enquiry_Summary.doc
Direct Mail Letter
These can be mailed directly to a potential customer informing them of your
services.
Un-addressed letter
These can be hand delivered to a large number of houses in your marketing
territory or selectively (e.g. all of the houses in the street in which you have a
client).
Letter to Businesses
Post or hand deliver these letters to businesses in your area that you have identified as
potential customers. Always follow up with a phone call to ensure they received and
read your letter and to answer any questions or queries they may have.
© Car Care Australia Pty Ltd
Franchise Owners Manual
Letter to Fleet Owners
Take these to businesses in your area such as panel beaters, car yards and
businesses with a large number of fleet vehicles. Ensure you meet with the
person in charge and explain to them the services you offer and how you can
help them! If you aren’t able to do this, post these letters to the businesses
and always follow up with a phone call to ensure they received and read your
letter and to answer any questions or queries they may have.
Letter to the Neighbours
Hand deliver a letter to neighbours to all of your existing clients and explain to
them that you are doing Mrs Smith’s car next door every second Wednesday
at 12.30 p.m. and that you thought you would just come across and introduce
yourself. This is an easy way to introduce your services to the people/person
involved and it may lead to new business. You could leave them a price
brochure and a magnet. If they are not at home, leave the letter containing all
of this in their front door, not in the letter box where it will just get mixed in with
all of the other mail.
Blank Letter
This allows you to present a professional image with an offer or wording of
your choice. For distribution in your territory only.
Secretary’s Bonus
Sometimes you may need to offer an inducement to a Secretary/Receptionist
in order to arrange a meeting with the fleet manager or business owner. This
special offer can assist in allowing you past the front door.
No more dirty weekends
A catchy brochure that outlines the full range of Car Care services without the
need for discount prices.
Protection Packages
An opportunity to provide existing customers with details of the range of Car
Care Professional Services. A great method of arranging future bookings or
upselling on your current job. Why not leave this brochure in each new
customer’s vehicle.
© Car Care Australia Pty Ltd
Franchise Owners Manual
Special Offers
A price incentive offer to encourage trial of Car Care services by potential new
customers. Only a short redemption time should be shown on the brochure
and special care must be taken to confine distribution to within your franchise
territory.
Gift Vouchers
Gift vouchers for everyday use are available from the Car Care office. Special
purpose gift vouchers such as Mother’s Day, Father’s Day and Christmas can
be produced and distributed by yourself within your franchised territory. They
can be produced for any value requested.
Free Car Wash
The special offer vouchers provide an incentive to potential new customers –
particularly fleet operators or multi vehicle businesses.
© Car Care Australia Pty Ltd
Franchise Owners Manual
How to access documents from the Car Care Web Site
1. Go to the Car Care web site at www.carcare.net.au or
www.carcare.co.nz
2. Click on the relevant State/Country (NZ) from the main page
3. Click on Franchise Owners under the Intranet heading as illustrated
below
© 2003 CARCARE
4. Type in the Login Name and Password supplied to you. Please keep
these confidential.
5. Choose any document from the list and click on the document name.
(A detailed description of each document is found in the Franchise
Owner’s Guide revision).
6. The file will open in a separate window as a Microsoft Word document.
You may now save this document to your computer.
7. The document may be edited by adding in your Franchise Area Name,
Personal Name, Mobile Phone Number and specific prices.
8. Once edited, you may print a copy and have it photocopied onto white
paper (for letters) or gold paper (for flyers). Some flyers have been set
up to print 3 per page so you will need to have them trimmed once
copied.
© Car Care Australia Pty Ltd
Franchise Owners Manual
FURTHER STRATEGIES AND TIPS TO HELP GROW YOUR
BUSINESS
The following information outlines some fairly simple but very effective
strategies you can use in order to grow your business.
Recognise the value of your existing customer
It is a lot easier and costs a lot less to hold onto an existing customer than it
does to find a new one. It is your responsibility to identify the particular needs
and wants of your customers, and to make sure that these are fulfilled on a
regular basis. You should ensure that you are giving the customer value for
money and that the service you complete is the best you can possibly do.
One bad experience can cause a good customer not to use you again. Even
if you have built up a good relationship, not giving them your best service one
time can make them think about going somewhere else. The most important
thing is: don’t get complacent. You need to be consistent and reliable.
Whether the person is a new or old customer, give them your best!
Make your customer feel special
Do something special for your customer every now and again – leave them a
bag of mints with a note, a birthday/Christmas card, a chocolate at Easter etc.
These unexpected gifts, which don’t have to cost a lot, will help to keep a life
long customer and will have the added bonus of good word of mouth.
Ensure your customers have your number
In order to attract repeat business, it is vital that your customer’s know how to
contact you when they require your services again. Leaving a brochure and
business card with each customer is a good start. It is also a good idea to
place a door jamb sticker on the drivers-side door well of each vehicle
cleaned. This will further increase the chance that a customer can contact
you easily whenever they need to.
Follow up all customers
Always carry your diary with you and when you have completed cleaning a
car for the first time always open up your diary and ask when they would like
you back, (not IF but WHEN they would like to re-book). If they cannot decide
give them a courtesy call the following day. If they are not available when
you finish, give them a call that evening or the next day, make sure they were
happy with everything and then ask them when they would like to re-book.
© Car Care Australia Pty Ltd
Franchise Owners Manual
Up sell
Always try to up sell and make suggestions for other services your existing
customers may like to have you do. Offering to apply a paint protection for
example is all a part of good customer service and once you have the
customer’s trust, up-selling or “suggestive selling” should be easy to achieve.
Deal with all customer complaints efficiently and effectively
It is inevitable that at some stage you will receive a complaint from a customer
regarding the detailing you have done or your customer service. It is
important that you recognise such complaints as an alert to areas that may
need improving. A positive, cooperative attitude and effective handling of a
complaint can become a competitive advantage and win you loyal customers.
Remember the saying, “The customer is always right!” It is usually much
cheaper to resolve a problem with an existing customer than to seek a new
one. (see also “Complaints Handling” 3.1.3). Car Care advertising promotes
“all work is guaranteed”. Franchise Owners are responsible for rectifying a
problem by returning to the job until customer satisfaction is achieved. By
doing this, the customer is more likely to use your services again as they
appreciate the effort taken in making sure they are satisfied. The chance of
negative word-of mouth is also reduced.
Actively seek referrals
In order for your business to grow it is important to ask for referrals from
existing customers. Referrals are the most powerful way to build your
business. You should explain to your existing clients that you are in the
process of building your business and that you were wondering if they knew of
anyone else in the street, a friend, member of the family, someone at work etc
who may benefit from using your services – get their number and give them a
call. Remember 9 times out of 10, satisfied customers will be happy to give
referrals – so don’t be afraid to ask. It is important to acknowledge and thank
your referrer. You may offer some benefit such as a reduced price detail or
glossing the dashboard in a Class 1 for example.
© Car Care Australia Pty Ltd
Franchise Owners Manual
A sample script is provided below for calling a prospective customer from a
referral.
CONTACTING A REFERRAL SCRIPT
1.
Hi ………………, My name is (Your Name) from Car Care Your name has been given to me by ……………………… He/She
suggested I give you a call as he/she thought you may be able to
benefit from the services I am providing.
2.
(Prospects Name) have you got a moment to talk now?
“No” - That’s O.K. – When is a good time to call back, or can I send you
some information? What is your address?
3.
“Yes” - Great! I recently cleaned (Referrer’s Name) car(s) and they
were extremely happy with the job.
4.
Can I ask you - from time to time, do you require any help with your car
cleaning?.
5.
No - That’s O.K. Is there anyone else who you know that could benefit
from our services?. Where are they located? Do you have a contact
number?
Yes - Great. What I’d like to do is send you some information about
our services or if you prefer I could come over and
provide a no-obligation quote for you. (If agreeing to quote, arrange
time and gather customer information) or
(Prospect’s Name), what I will do now is put this information in the mail
to you, then I will give you a follow up call to make sure you received it
and to see if there is an opportunity for us to get together at some
stage. Is that O.K.?
7.
(Prospect’s Name), what’s the best address to send this information
to?
[Check Spelling of Name & Address]
8.
Thank you for your time today (Prospect’s Name). I look forward to
speaking with you in a week’s time. Bye. [Hang Up Last]
© Car Care Australia Pty Ltd
Franchise Owners Manual
Prospecting
There are three main ways of approaching prospective customers; by mail, by
telephone and by personal visits.
One way to increase bookings is to build a prospect list by using your sales
records. Every customer you have previously serviced is a particularly good
prospect. If they have used your services in the past, they are more likely to
use you again than someone else. Always add the names of previous
customers to your prospect list.
Prospect List
Contact
Name
Business
Name
Phone
Number
Notes on Prospect
Prospecting Tips
Use your customer: People who buy from you have confidence in you or they
wouldn’t be buying in the first place. They have friends and they are usually
willing to recommend you to their friends if you ask them.
Use your prospects: Even people who haven’t bought from you yet may have
friends who are interested. Ask them if they know of anyone else who may be
interested in your services.
Use your social contacts: Your friends and neighbours, people you meet at
clubs, meetings and other events. Let them know about your business and
what services you offer.
Use business directories in your area: Businessmen buy for themselves and
for their business. Talk to businessmen in your area, suggesting ways they
can use your products or service to make money.
© Car Care Australia Pty Ltd
Franchise Owners Manual
Successful prospecting relies, in part, on how you look and act at the first
meeting. Be dressed neatly and cleanly. It’s important to have as little as
possible in your hands. Smile and talk in a pleasant, easy manner. You aren’t
soliciting money; you are doing something that will benefit the prospect.
If the prospect does act rudely, before moving on to the next, make a quick
mental check to see why. Whatever you find, correct it before going on. You
should attempt to talk with as many new prospects as possible each day,
regardless of how many jobs you have already booked. You want to keep the
"pipeline" full of potential customers. Give as many cards and flyers out to as
many people you speak to. When you talk with a potential new customer try to
get them to their vehicle so you can review with them your services and how
the services will make the appearance of their vehicle look new again.
Another prospecting method is to go into a potential customer’s business and
ask who owns that "black Mercedes" in the car park and ask to speak to them.
You would have already taken a good look at the car and made some notes
on how you can improve its appearance. Once you introduce yourself to the
owner of the car, ask them if they would be interested in seeing how you can
correct any cosmetic problems and add protection and value to their vehicle.
You may even want to bring out some polish and hand polish a small section
of the car to show your potential customer what you can make the entire car
look like. This takes longer to do than just passing out flyers, but your success
ratio will be higher. Take the extra time to cultivate new prospects that would
be more inclined to purchase your services and show the prospect the
features and benefits of your offering.
Car Dealership Opportunities
Car Dealers are not always the preferred target market for Car Care franchise
owners however opportunities certainly do exist here. Typically the dealership
does not have the space, the equipment or the expertise to detail cars to a
professional level. When approaching car dealers it is best to speak to
someone within the service division rather than the sales division. As the
service department will be “profit motivated”, it is important to let them know
that your services are not inflated i.e. offered at the usual charge out rate so
they are confident that they can charge a premium price to the client to
recover their cost of arranging and overseeing the job. You should formulate
a plan and offer your services to the new car dealerships and show them the
revenues that they can generate by explaining the long-term profits. You
could suggest as an example that if they have 5 customers’ cars detailed per
week at a mark-up of $50 each they will increase their sales by $13,000 per
year.
© Car Care Australia Pty Ltd
Franchise Owners Manual
Other Opportunities
Insurance companies are always looking for a professional, reliable auto
detailing business that they can send their claims to. This is a huge
opportunity to obtain consistent and profitable business. You will need to
contact the "claims office" of the insurance companies you plan to market
your services to. They will have claims varying from fire and smoke jobs, theft
recoveries to vehicles with water damage. These are all big money jobs.
They will only give you one chance. But if you prove yourself from the very
first claim job you will receive many more profitable repeat opportunities.
There are usually many other types of automotive oriented businesses in
most towns and communities. You will want to go to these businesses and
introduce yourself and tell them what you do. Smash Repairers, Muffler
Shops, Auto Electricians, Motor Mechanics and Service Stations to name a
few will need your services. They may want you to provide your detail
services on their own vehicles or quite possibly on a customer's vehicle that
was in their care and became greasy and dirty. You also could promote your
company within theirs. You may have them hand out your flyer and you would
do the same for them. This is called Co - Promoting.
Phone Techniques
As a result of direct marketing and word of mouth, you will receive phone calls
from potential customers. They are calling you because you have paid for
some type of advertising, or your good work that you do has been referred.
You should always view each incoming phone call as an opportunity rather
than a nuisance and ensure that it is answered as quickly as possible.
When the phone does ring you want to handle the call with the utmost
professionalism and take advantage of this selling opportunity. The phone is a
very powerful sales tool. You have to "be your best" and not turn this "buyer"
into a "shopper." Most incoming inquiries will ask you that famous question:
"how much does it cost to detail my car?" You should not answer that
question until you have gathered enough information from the caller, and even
then only offer them a price range if possible. Anyone can give a potential
customer a "price." If your price is considered too high on the other end of the
call then you may get "OK thanks, I will call you back if I'm interested." If you
give them a price that is too low you may book the appointment but may find
you have “under-quoted" on the job because you did not ask the right
questions over the phone. You want to "envision" in your mind, what the car
looks like and possibly what condition it may be in while speaking to them.
This not only helps you give an accurate "estimate" of what the cost may be to
the customer but it also keeps them on the line longer and allows you to
describe the features and benefits of your services for their particular vehicle.
© Car Care Australia Pty Ltd
Franchise Owners Manual
You should "probe" the customer with an array of questions.
Some of the questions you may ask are:
what is the make and model?
what is the year?
what is the colour?
are your seats cloth or leather?
have you ever had your car professionally detailed?
how long ago?
do you use your car to transport kids and pets?
do you garage your car?
how often is it washed?
The answers you get from these questions will enable you to inform the
customer of how you will make their car look like new again through your
"state of the art" products, equipment, industry experience and knowledge.
Now is the time to mention that you have a shampoo machine that will deepclean the velour seats and carpet to remove ground in dirt, most stains and
pet odours. Now is also the time to educate the customer that you will use the
proper wheel cleaner and wheel brush that will expertly clean their dirty, brake
dust infected wheels without removing the shine or scratching them. By doing
this you are building value in the services that you will be providing. So, when
you finally answer their original question of "how much will it cost" and they
say "is that all" you now have a buying sign. Now it's time to book the
appointment. Remember to only give the customer a price range. If you are
uncertain as to exactly how much work may be required or the vehicle is
described to be in particularly bad condition, you may say, "based on the
information you have given me Mr Jones, the cost of detailing your vehicle will
be from $150 to $175." By giving them a range you will not be selling yourself
short. Once you see the vehicle and if it is in worse shape than the customer
described over the phone you will not upset them or loose the sale by telling
them you need $175 to do the job to a professional standard.
Customer Enquiries Received Summary
To gauge the response to your various marketing activities, it is a good idea to
keep a record of each booking received. A form like the one below should be
kept updated by asking each customer how they heard about you. You can
then mark the response in the various columns to see what form of marketing
is returning the best results
Brochure
Business
Card
Referral
Flyer
Letter
Office
Yellow
Pages
Other
Monday
Tuesday
Wednesday
Thursday
Friday
Saturday
Sunday
Total
© Car Care Australia Pty Ltd
Franchise Owners Manual
Distribute Flyers/Brochures
Ensure that you always have stock and distribute them freely. These may be:
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Placed in letter boxes - an easy way to do this is to put one in every
letter box in the street of the car you have just cleaned.
Displayed on pin up boards - in local shopping centres, clubs,
libraries etc.
Local shops - a small bundle placed on the counter of a few in your
area. (Ensure this is done with the owner’s permission).
Business Cards
It is a good idea to make sure you always have some business cards with
you. Even after normal work hours you will meet people who may be a
potential customer. Make sure you always have business cards in your wallet
and your personal car. Business cards probably give you the best return of
any of your local area marketing methods.
Local Area Advertisements
You may wish to place advertisements in your local paper or in newsletters at
schools, sporting clubs etc. Prior franchisor approval is required.
Smile
Don’t forget to smile! Happy Franchise Owners create happy customers
which leads to return business and healthy profits.
Show Good Manners
This includes obvious things such as acknowledging the presence of
customers, looking them in the eye, using and spelling their name correctly
etc.
68% of customers who do not return to a business do so because of an
attitude of indifference.
Examples of such indifference could be:
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Not doing what you said you would do.
Accepting a phone call while meeting with a customer.
Arriving late for an appointment without advising your customer.
Not returning phone calls.
Not saying please and thank you.
© Car Care Australia Pty Ltd
Franchise Owners Manual
Environmentally Aware
As business owners, we have a moral responsibility to look after the
environment. So far as is possible all vehicle detailing should be carried out
in a situation where run off cannot enter the storm water system.
It is preferable to allow excess water to soak into grass verges than to run into
water drains. In some markets the use of water catchment systems is
mandatory.
Benchmarking
There are over 100 Car Care Franchise Owners running a business similar to
yours. They are not your competitors and can, in fact, supply good
information about what local marketing methods have brought the best results
for them. Why not contact other Car Care Franchise Owners and compare
results with them.
Payment Options
Business today needs to provide a range of payment options for customers.
There will be a continuation of the trend towards the use of credit cards particularly for Car Care professional services such as paint and fabric
protection.
Car Care also offer Bonus Reward Points to members of various loyalty
programmes.
It is therefore important that we accept all major credit cards as a means of
payment.
Courteous Driving
The reputation of the whole Car Care system can be harmed by one
Franchise Owner driving in a less than courteous manner. Our vans are
highly visible and most be kept clean to portray a professional image.
Safe driving can also reduce accidents which results in less down time for
you.
© Car Care Australia Pty Ltd
Franchise Owners Manual
Sign writing
Car Care service vehicles act as giant mobile billboards. It is therefore most
important that this highly visible advertising is well presented and carries a
clear message.
If your vehicle sign writing becomes damaged or tired looking it will reflect
poorly on the Car Care brand – discuss new signage options with your
Franchisor.
Keeping your van clean, well maintained and free of accidental damage all
help in presenting a professional image.
Guarantees and Warranties
Car Care advertises a Satisfaction Guarantee to its customers. If a Car Care
customer is not satisfied with the result of our detailing we will return to the job
and undertake further work until satisfaction is achieved.
Car Care does not advertise money back guarantees.
Some car care professional services such as paint and fabric protection are
provided with a manufacturer’s warranty which is seen by our customers as a
most valuable advantage.
Over promise and over deliver
Don’t be afraid to put your reputation on the line by promising, with
confidence, that you can provide the service requested by the customer. By
doing so you will find improvements in your business. You will move forward
rather than continuing to achieve what you have in the past.
You may even be able to over deliver on your promise. Exceeding customers’
expectations is the surest way of maintaining their continued custom.
© Car Care Australia Pty Ltd
Franchise Owners Manual