The buzzword in the business realm was ‘business transformation.’ about a decade ago. That is all that mattered. Fast-forward to the days when Facebook, YouTube, Instagram, and social media platforms were all the rage, the term has suddenly changed to ‘digital transformation.’
Without a digital presence, a car detailing business cannot profit enormously. And if by any chance you think your detailing studio is not ready for digital transformation, then you are in denial. Because the truth is, it’s either digital or death. Simple as that.
So why take the digital route?
There are a few reasons why being at the forefront of digital transformation is rewarding.
- Firstly, it’s the best way to ace your competitors and keep your profit margins higher.
- Secondly, your customers too are constantly being exposed to new seamless technology and they’ll expect you to keep up. Put simply, you’ll be able to adapt to their rapidly changing demands.
- Thirdly, because of a better digital strategy, your position in the marketplace becomes unchallenged. Moreover, digital technologies streamline management processes resulting in increased productivity as well as faster designing of customer-oriented products and services.
Core areas that need a digital makeover
If you are new to the world of digital transformation, it’s hard to know exactly what the adoption process looks like-leave alone what to go for. But we will make that clear in a moment.
To keep up with the digital transformation, here are the core areas to focus on:
Integration and automation
Time is money. If you spend lots of it doing things that don’t move the needle a lot, you end up shrinking your profits. There are multiple admin duties in the car detailing industry that is best left to an all-in-one auto detailing software. Some of them include customer management, setting appointments, collecting signatures, etc.
Software programs also come in handy in connecting multiple business devices. This way, you can utilize multiple data without switching from one point to another.
Marketing & advertising
We know your auto detailing business is right across the road from where any customer in need of a tune-up can visit you. That’s okay. However, failure to leverage digital platforms can severely limit your growth & expansion.
You already got a website up and running, right? Then why not invest a few bucks into SEO to improve your online presence? Being on top of the search results means anyone who prefers to look for car detailing online could be your potential customer. If you are a mobile detailer, you could easily arrange to visit some in their homes if they are in a nearby city.
Digital platforms also allow car washes and detailers to operate like e-commerce shops. This means they get to pay even before you can detail their vehicles. How wonderful is that?
Customer feedback
The value of customer feedback can never be stressed enough. But you can’t run all the day-to-day businesses and still get time to monitor online reviews and feedback. So this is another department that could be digitized through the use of reputation management software.
What the software does is run a search for any comment (positive or negative) made about your detailing studio. This gives you a chance to respond pronto so your reputation is not hurt. This can mean reaching out to a dissatisfied customer and offering to provide better services at a discount or even a freebie.
Word of advice: since digital processes can demand multiple software subscriptions, it would be wise to find one that encompasses multiple services. If you are a mobile detailer, you can easily make use of a mobile detailing software that handles marketing, payments, appointments, and contacts on top of reputation management. That’s a lot of bucks saved with one versatile application, don’t you think?
Personalization
One way to stay ahead of the game is by treating each of your customers right. Remember, no two of them are alike and that means this can be a huge task curating unique services.
Thankfully, this is something better left to modern technologies. Personalization software through the help of RFID technology can track each car as it enters your garage and pulls out the necessary upgrades, wash options, special pricing, and discounts unique to each user.
Since you are able to present each customer with the right service and deals, your engagement will soar. The same can be said about your sales.
Inventory management
Do you stock your auto detailing garage with products to sell? If that’s the case then you have to make sure they are replenished as soon as possible. Otherwise if after a service a customer fails to get a certain product, you just made them spend more gas looking elsewhere and this will not reflect well on your brand.
There are many tools that can accurately show remaining items and send warning alerts before the shelves run out. A good example is having a point of sale (POS) software with multiple integration channels so all the sales data is visible from any device and any place. Besides easy access to data and proper stock keeping, you will be able to tell which products are selling fast and those that aren’t.
Wrapping it all Up
Having a digital presence is not only vital… in fact, it’s a matter of survival. As of this moment, you should have a solid digital transformation plan for your business. Without such a strategy, the death of your auto detailing business is imminent.
As a matter of fact, several other industries such as the tattoo industry is also embracing digital transformation to stay ahead of the curve.
Of course, it may not happen today or even after a couple of years. But the truth is, your business is likely to become one of the excellent examples of digital die-off. You don’t have to dive in with all your feet.
Start slow, spend what you can, and keep making those small digital upgrades…that’s the way to keep up with the fast-evolving digital technology.