July President's Letter

My monthly message to the best detailers, suppliers, manufacturers, and distributors in the world.

By the time you receive this I will be embarking on an “International Mission” for the IDA. I am traveling as our ambassador to England, France, and Norway from July 17 – July 28.

This is a very exciting time for the IDA! We continue to grow in the United States as well as around the world. Part of “My Mission” is to represent us at Waxstock, a huge event in England, where I will get some great face to face time with our UK Board along with our members. This is so exciting!

In France, I will take part in formalizing our new France Chapter, which was recently approved for operation. In Norway, I will be with our Norway Chapter representatives working on building their already existing chapter.

I am super fortunate to be traveling with Alan Medcraf, “International Detailing Rockstar.” Alan has his own very successful detailing business in Scotland (AMDetails) and is an IDA RT (Recognized Trainer) covering all parts of Europe and beyond. He will be conducting CD certification and SV skills validated sessions at each of the countries we visit.  I invite all members in and around these countries to join us for these certification events or simply as we host live Q&A sessions and Meet & Greet events in each country. 

Take a peek at my travel itinerary on the IDA Facebook Group Page. Please do not hesitate to reach out along the way.

Wish me luck!

Ok, back onto my series that we have been working on for the past 6 months…

Know Your Numbers.  Not just in your operations, 
but in all the important aspects of your business.

Your operations numbers, your full P&L, your marketing all measure your customer/client experience. Measure everything so you know how you rate.  Quantify it so you can constantly work on it and improve it along with your profitability.

Don’t forget the basics.  Don’t forget what made you successful.

With the marketing, you need to concentrate on an important feature.  Keep a customer database so you can market all great services and products you offer. Keep all the pertinent information you gather from the clients you have now.

People are always infatuated with getting new clients, which you need to do, but it’s not nearly as important or profitable as marketing to your existing clients.  

It costs on average 6-10 times more to get a new client as opposed to getting your existing clients to transact more and spend more.

You need to have ongoing communication with your existing clients. Some ideas include: monthly newsletters, birthdays, anniversaries, thank you notes, and any other monthly promotions for things happening - a feedback system.  This does not have to be discounts. It is keeping them informed so when it’s time to make a buying decision the only logical choice is you and your business.

A really important characteristic of highly successful business owners is that they look at all marketing in terms of return on investment, not cost.  They don’t worry if something costs $50 or $100 or $0.47 to mail out. What they look at is - after my expenses, how much money did I make by doing this promotion?  Cost becomes irrelevant.

What you focus on expands.  The more you focus on a negative, the more the negative will happen, the more you’ll think about it, the more negative your staff will get.  Don’t get emotional about your marketing.  Take the emotion out of the marketing.  Let the numbers speak for themselves.

You need to understand and look to see what is making you money.  What is working?  Then do more of it!


Not a sermon, just some helpful thoughts!

As always, reach out to me or the IDA if we can help in any way!

Respectfully yours,

 
Jonathan Munsell, CD
IDA President