Here are some ideas on who to spend your time networking and building a long lasting relationship with. As most of you know, you’re best asset is word of mouth coming from people who believe in your work. Here’s a list of people and businesses we recommend trying to introduce yourself to and establish a relationship with:

Aftermarket Part & Performance Shops – I’m not talking about the chain stores in your areas, but niche shops that specialize on a certain brand vehicle or cater to a specific clientèle. People going to these shops obviously care about their vehicles, so getting in good with the owners or sales representatives is a great idea. Could be beneficial to offer a referral bonus with them.

Window Tinting and Decal/Graphic Shops – Again, their customers are putting money into their vehicles, so they often care about them. Consider putting together a flier on how to maintain your tinted windows or how to clean and care for the vinyl graphics. On the bottom list your contact information and mention you offer detailing services. The shops will be happy to hand out the material and you’ll get exposure.

Paintless Dent Repair Shop & Upholstery Shops – I know when I was detailing I’d always get asked: Can you fix this dent/ding? Can you repair this burn mark? Can you fix a tear in leather? Finding a reputable place to refer your customers to or to have someone come out when you’re detailing a car can add value and you can often get a referral bonus for a new customer. Talk to the shop owners to work something out. Go into it saying you want to pass them business, if you do it enough, they will reciprocate the favor.

Car Audio Shops – Their customers are willing to pour money into their vehicles, so again they obviously care for it. Their customers are often your customers, so try to talk to shop owners and sales representatives to work out some sort of incentive plan.

Local Car Meets & Clubs – In almost every town there’s some sort of hang out of car people. Make sure your vehicle is detailed to the max and stop by one of their hang outs. Introduce yourself, and if it’s a car club, ask to talk to one of the leaders to possibly set up a detailing seminar. I’ve done this a few times and once you educate people about the proper ways of detailing, they often want to invest in your services.

Quality Body Shops – My customers were always asking for a recommendation on a quality body shop. Find out the most reputable shop or two in your area and introduce yourself and let them know you’ll pass business their way. Sometimes body shops only want to repair and repaint but hate detailing. They may want to pass some business your way.

Local Racing / Drag / Auto-X Groups – People who are usually into these types of activities care about their vehicles a lot. They also can get dirty really quickly as well. It’s worth trying to meet a few contacts in these scenes or attend some of their events to show support.

Local Owners Clubs – Quite often a specific car make and model has a local following. The first month I started detailing professionally, I found a local Subaru WRX / STi forum, ran a group buy where I included a free engine detail with any detail and did 8 Subi’s my first month. Well word spread within their club and more and more details came out of it. Check online for these local groups and if they have a forum, post up some detailing information to educate them.

Regional Sections of Large Automotive Forums – I would recommend targeting forums that revolve around BMW, Audi, Mercedes, Lexus, Porsche, Acura, any exotic cars, muscle cars, and enthusiast cars that are often heavily modified (Evo’s, STi’s, S2000s, etc.) Follow forum rules of course.

High End Dealerships – Many places may have a detailing center, but even if they do, they may look for a goto high end detailer. I used to do work for my local Porsche, Audi, VW dealership whenever their detailers would screw up or the car would be in horrible condition. I didn’t even cut them a break on price, they just passed it on to the customer. It’s worth a shot at some of the higher end dealerships. Talk to the Sales Manager and Sales Representatives, they also may be interested in your services, especially if they know their detailers are lower quality. Also, even if you don’t get direct work from the dealership, if you can connect with one or two sales reps, they’ll often refer their customers to you. Not a bad idea to do a free detail or two to prove yourself.

Financial Advisers/Planners – In this industry, FA’s typically target clients with an income of $100,000 or more. These people are also your target customers. In the world of financial services, first impressions can often make or break you. The people in the industry are very self conscious about what they wear, well groomed, and usually what they drive is important to them. Not only can they refer clients to you, but they often are good clients as well. Consider finding a local company of Financial Planners / Advisors and try to give a brief seminar about detailing to help educate them about what you do and your business. You can offer group deals or referral incentives (Something like for every X new customers you send me, you’ll receive a free detail).

Real Estate Agents & Mortgage Brokers – Again, these people are dealing with clients who are spending hundreds of thousands (or millions) of dollars. They will be able to find you well qualified leads and are probably interested in your services as well.

Lawyers and Doctors – While their clients may not be as qualified as the the above two professions, lawyers and doctors often are very busy people and usually drive nice cars. Wealthy people usually mingle with other wealthy people so if you get a chance to detail their vehicles, hopefully they can help spread the word for you.

Mechanics – They work on cars all day and sometimes their customers are looking for a professional detailer.  I’d cater to mechanics who specialize in European vehicles, exotics or enthusiast vehicles.

Boating Storage and Marina Shops  – Most people who own a boat, own a nice car.  Sometimes people are looking to get their boats or yachts detailed, which is another market you can target.
***Most Importantly***
Auto Detailing Supplier – Your business revolves around variable costs of your products, why not team up with your supplier? We offer a Pro Detailer Program at Detailed Image to all of the pro’s out there, which gives pros an average savings of around 30% off every single order. Let us help you grow and profit more. Also, we always are getting asked by people, I found you on such-and-such site but I don’t want to do the work myself, do you have someone you’d recommend in XYZ area? We can send customers your way. We also give you the opportunity to get a lot of web exposure which is explained in our Pro Detailer Program link above.

Keep plenty of business cards on you at all times and always give out more than one when people ask. Hopefully they will distribute the extras to close friends and family who they think will benefit from your services. Also, any of the shops mentioned above, offer to pay for a nice business card display rack and see if you can put some cards out on their counter or waiting area.

An major added benefit to teaming up with all of these groups of people is anytime you need something, you can often barter your services. For example, I did a detail for the owner of a local car audio shop and my girlfriend wanted a car starter, so I did the detail and he installed a nice car starter free of charge. Don’t be afraid to give away some of your time and services to make an impression on the right person. For me, it paid off big time in the long run.

Hopefully, others can give input to this list and keep it growing. Networking is a major part of being a successful pro detailer.