This article published in the summer 2015 edition of B2B.
Sure, you can swing through the car wash attached to your local gas station. But as the days get warmer, the line gets longer. Add to that vacuuming up dirt and grime, and wiping down the car interior, and most of us put this necessary chore off for as long as possible.
Enter Kirk Koop of Crystal Blue Mobile Detail. Crystal Blue is a mobile business providing customizable, luxury mobile detailing services at either your home or office. That’s right. Both the car wash and the car detailing services come to you.
“Our services are available in Omaha and the metro area, within reason,” he explains.
Koop started Crystal Blue back in 1997 with just $2,200, which was originally intended for college. Growing up with a passion for cars, Koop picked up and moved to Las Vegas after high school graduation.
It wasn’t exactly the traditional route, but it certainly paved the way for his future. In Vegas, he began working for Total Mobile Detail, a company that provided services similar to what he now offers here. “When I returned to Omaha, I saw an opportunity to fill a need in our community,” Koop says. “I found one client who was willing to allow me to care for his detailing needs and I invested my whole $2,200 into a working detail van, equipment, and chemicals.”
Crystal Blue Mobile Detail, he says, takes pride in its family business values. “We believe that the way we treat the customer is just as important as how we treat the car,” he says.
The company is contracted to provide services for fleets such as all 21 Enterprise Rent-A-Carrlocations. To date, Crystal Blue has two vans that detail an average of about 450 cars a month. Of those, 71 are monthly agreements for which Crystal Blue maintains an individual’s car at a set time and place on a weekly basis. “I like to say, ‘You look good, you feel good. You feel good, you do good!’” Koop proclaims.
Crystal Blue has not only grown significantly since its one client and minimal investment, but it has also provided Koop with relationships throughout Omaha. He maintains about 90% of his clients, including that very first, trusting individual, he says.
“We plan on providing our luxury service for many years to come,” Koop says.