Show Former student pays attention to detail Lockhart Contributing Writer Some students leave college and compete compete compete com com- pete for jobs but Darryl Whiting did the opposite by creating his own business Whiting came to Utah from Dallas Texas after being in the Air Force for 10 years A friend he met on the internet told him about Utah so he decided to come to visit He ended up making it permanent Darryl Whiting a former fonner Salt Lake Community College left school after Spring Semester 2005 to pursue a business business business busi busi- ness in mobile automotive detailing where he comes to the customer and cleans his her car from bumper to bumper Ive been doing mobile detailing off and on for my friends and never considered considered considered consid consid- ered making it a business until I moved to Utah Whiting said Whiting solicits potential customers by asking a simple question Is your car as clean as you like it to be right now About 98 percent of the people he asks say no Whiting gathered a lot of his advertising ideas from his Marketing professor Barbara Willet an Associate Professor at She taught him how to research proven methods of customer service and how to target the market For other advertising he uses email word of mouth referrals and advertisements in City Weekly However his article ran for four weeks and only one person responded to the ad adfor adfor adfor for service I got more people looking for work rather than looking for service Whiting said His first customer has given him repeated service and referred some of her friends who later referred some of their friends It is so convenient to leave your dirty car in the parking lot and to come back and have your car sparkling clean said Lisa secretary for Student Life and Leadership has recommended Whitings Whiting's service to many people She also bought a friend one of his gift certificates for her birth birth- day Getting started wasn't easy for Whiting he encountered many chal chal- lenges Whiting had no cliental He was new to Salt Lake City and he had a limited budget With his extensive customer service ce background and prior experience with mobile detailing however he decided to take a class through Budd Company Distribute who sponsors a class on auto cleaning to enhance his perception about detailing Whiting makes sure his cars are well cleaned He said There are right ways and wrong ways in cleaning cars |