Do you attend car shows in an attempt for new business?

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Delicate Touch Auto

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Hi All,

In my area there is a weekly car show where people bring there vehicles and show them off for the night, its completely free and open to the public. I had the idea of attending the car show in an attempt to find new business. Curious if any of you attend car shows to find new business and if you do also curious how you approach car owners or what the approach is in general. Thanks for any input.

Sam,
 
Just start talking to them. In my area people will go around and place flyers for other shows in the cars. Few years ago I would drop a business card in the car
 
Back in the day i tried, waste of time..people don't know what a difference between a swirl and squirrel is and think they take the best care of their scratched up car.
 
GenesisCoupe said:
Back in the day i tried, waste of time..people don't know what a difference between a swirl and squirrel is and think they take the best care of their scratched up car.
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This, and even if people are interested if you have a booth or a tent, they are more then likely embarrassed to come and ask questions, cause they are "car care masters" because they have detail spray and a 1 year old terry cloth towel that they never washed.

The majority of them all think they are 2 cool for school though, these are the same people that think you have to wetsand an entire car just to get out basic swirl marks and automatic car wash scratches.

Even though 99 cars out of 100 at those shows need paint correction, like GenesisCoupe stated above they think they take the best care of there cars.

The scratches i can accept, but not only are the cars filled with scratches, you will seriously not find any car streak free of detail spray or left over wax.

Also the glass cleaning is poor, again dirty old rags used and just smudged streaks all over the glass.

My advice to be a success at a car show, is to do a car at the show, and have a sign right infront, saying you offer that service at that show.

Have a sign that says Wash + Showcarwax
You can do a rinseless wash and wax to generate business at the show. This will make you easier to approach for other car show participants , and then you can show them there car flaws. And make later appointments for paint correction etc.

A booth and a tent , you get interest but no where near if you have a car at the show your working on.
 
I am actually hitting 2 car shows todays. Just watch the cars pull in cause most people will get out and start wiping car off. Thats when you can approach them compliment their car then politely explain by wiping the car while hot and in the sun they are gonna leave the paint with a haze cause thier product is drying to fast. Apologies for being "rude" and just drop a line saying you are a detailer and it's just an uncontrollable response to help people keep their investments looking their best. Alot may get mad but be as polite and helpful as they will allow you to be. Somebody standing by may hear you and start to ask questions.
 
GenesisCoupe said:
Back in the day i tried, waste of time..people don't know what a difference between a swirl and squirrel is and think they take the best care of their scratched up car.
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Yup, exactly. I just attended a Concours Car Show with million dollar + cars all over the place and a few hundred drive in attendees and I saw many buckets with bath towels, cheap Wallyworld micro fibers etc. But all of the car owners were proud of their rides. I wouldn't and didn't approach any of them.
 
Yesterday me and my work partner when to Cars and Coffee here in Jacksonville NC. We cleaned his car up nice which is pretty perfect to begin with and we parked it and had some of our flyers and business cards under the windshield wipers. About half of the ones that put out we're gone by the end of the show. Closer to the end of the show they did this free raffle giveaway. There was only a couple prizes so the guy that runs it ask anyone that own a business if they have anything they want to give away to kind of promote what they do. One guy went up that owns a performance shop and he gave away a free dyno /tuned session. So I was like screw it and I went up and decided to give away a free quick detail. After that about 15 people approached us and want their cars done. So it worked out pretty good
 
not to be negative on this topic,but it's a waste of time to try a earn business at a show.I use to belong to the treasure coast Chevy classics and paid a yearly fee to be a vendor and all proceeds went to the veterans.I was able to park my mobile truck right into the mix of cars.I left the door cracked on my transit just to show my inventory of neatly supplies and left cards on my windshield under each wiper in a fan design.It couldn't get any better than that.for three years maybe got 4 cars from that,you could talk the walk once the show was done you are forgotten.my biggest break was from a restoration shop that restored or quick repairs on classic cars,from that alone within 2 years probably did 40 cars.car shows is like cold calling there is so much little time to talk to someone about there car and how nice it is,then bam you whip out a card to solicit business.There are probably better ways to promote yourself in those gatherings.I think a lot of it is trust and the cost.They immediately want to know how much for a destroyed swirled out belair ,you tell them the steps and time and they think you're nuts.so to wrap this up car shows can be a hit or miss,but you won't find out till you try it.I think it's much easier to sell a 19.95 wipe on wipe off swirl concealer type product then a 500 one step polish detail.
 
precisionmobile85 said:
Yesterday me and my work partner when to Cars and Coffee here in Jacksonville NC. We cleaned his car up nice which is pretty perfect to begin with and we parked it and had some of our flyers and business cards under the windshield wipers. About half of the ones that put out we're gone by the end of the show. Closer to the end of the show they did this free raffle giveaway. There was only a couple prizes so the guy that runs it ask anyone that own a business if they have anything they want to give away to kind of promote what they do. One guy went up that owns a performance shop and he gave away a free dyno /tuned session. So I was like screw it and I went up and decided to give away a free quick detail. After that about 15 people approached us and want their cars done. So it worked out pretty good
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Let me clarify my post. I kinda made it sound like that was the only reason we went to cars and coffee was to promote our business....it wasnt at all. We go to everyone they have and many other car shows cause we love cars . i only posted that to show that we simply left some flyers on a car and were just curious to see if anyone would even take a quick second to notice them. I guess what im saying is guys that clean their own cars for a car show mostly do it as a pride thing for themselves. I wouldnt approach anyone at a car show and try and sell them a detail.
 
OP if ur talking about the Pavilions , good luck....like was said above, those ppl there think they take the best care of their cars despite the swirls and scratches projected by the bright white lights in the parking lot....plus a lot of them are tight a$$es .... I've been there and sort of tried it, just the populous there doesn't really care for a REAL detail, they're satisfied with their $2 coin op wash and detail spray.
 
It's just very hard to sell your services there,you are dead on with there mentality.
 
You could detail a car there for free just before a show and let the owner help you market your services.But I rather not do stuff for free.
 
GSKR said:
I think a lot of it is trust and the cost.They immediately want to know how much for a destroyed swirled out belair ,you tell them the steps and time and they think you're nuts.so to wrap this up car shows can be a hit or miss,but you won't find out till you try it.I think it's much easier to sell a 19.95 wipe on wipe off swirl concealer type product then a 500 one step polish detail.
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Jeff pretty much hit it on the head here.... That is exactly my experience when going to cruise nights.
I actually tried to change my approach, they won't let you touch their old cars, but they have daily drivers... But then again I hit a brick wall.
As soon as I quote a price, their $7 bottle of new finish, applied with an old terry sock turned inside out (from the 70's) is a better alternative.

I stopped going to the cruise nights except if I want to look at some old cool cars.. and get some ice-cream :-)
 
Maybe, go to the car owners, and talk to them about their paint. Tell them what you do, and bring 50/50 shots and a swirl-finder light. A lot of people just don't know any better. There will be that one guy, or two, who will be happy to see you.
 
For most of us regular car show attendees it's more about the cause than the cars. I have friends that attend a couple car shows a week. It's tough to maintain a car when your showing that much with work, family, etc also needing your time.

We have a couple local detailers that actually volunteer their time working at the shows, parking cars, working registration, etc. They even come and just hang out at cruise nights. They are always wearing clothing promoting their business and are always keeping an eye on our cars. They don't hand out cards or flyers although they always have cards on hand if asked for one.

If a bird bombs one, they spring into action. They always ask the owners before they touch their cars though!!

I know others that take their show cars to them as well as their daily drivers.

They seam pretty successful by being part of the cause. That's a great way to generate business. Heck, I've met my A/C guy and my electrical guy at car shows.

Don't you do business with a good friend before a stranger?
 
I think you'd have better luck advertising at a mom-to-mom sale.

You aren't going to easily convince someone who has put on their own roof, new doors, expanded their garage, and poured their own concrete, to let you do their landscaping for them. If you are persistent and cheap you might get to mow their lawn.
 
I do great at car shows, usually without even being there. All I do are full paint corrections, and I leave a few cards with each customer. If I know someone is going to a car show I ask if they'll throw a card or two under their wiper blades. They're more than happy to and most have pics on their phones of 50/50 correction shots I sent them during the detail that they LOVE to show off.
 
Wow lots of negativity. First off don't set your expectations that you'll walk away with a large contract and you're good. It's a way to refine your skills first and pick up business second.

If the show is free, then why not attend as many as you can? Practice/perfect talking and LISTENING. This will take you far as a business owner.
Every car enthusiast is going to be a little different. You never know what leads you may get.

So what if their technique isn't the same as yours? Mother freakin educate them!
If you expect to run into know it all egotistical guys, then that's what you'll find.
 
No way in h€!! would I attend Car Shows,
in an attempt to drum up new business,
without first contacting the Car Shows'
coordinators/sponsors---well in advance of
their events---of my intentions to do so.


Bob
 
I think the best course of action would be just to bring your own car, detail the heck out of it, and have a binder full of pictures that show all the different steps of what you did to the car. Then have business cards to hand out. I think the best course of action is still social media for advertisement.
 
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