How Do You Like Them Apples!

Pull out a calculator. How much would an extra 32 cents per car add to your bottom line over the next year? $20,000? $50,000? Now what would you say if I told you that that’s exactly what one operator did, with minimal investment, and is willing to share his easy to replicate formula?

Marcus Kittrell, owner of Marc-1 Car Wash, is famous for pushing the status quo. But on a recent phone call with his Vice President of Operations, Kevin Hendricks, I was astounded to learn of his latest success.

Regular readers may recall an interview that appeared in Auto Laundry over a year ago when an F3 tornado severely damaged one of Marcus’s three car washes near Birmingham Alabama. Reopening as an express-exterior with free vacuums, Marcus introduced a seemingly minor wash package modification that he later rolled out to his other two locations. This simple idea has added tens of thousands of dollars in incremental revenue to his business. Below are some excerpts from the conversation with Kevin that I’m sure will leave a lingering scent of green apples in your brain for weeks to come.

ANALETTO: Many Express Operators have experimented with raising the price of their base wash package, is that something Marc-1 is considering?

KEVIN HENDRICKS, VICE PRESIDENT, MARC-1 CAR WASH: Not at all. A customer told me something the other day that blew me away. He had just purchased a $5 wash and was vacuuming his car. When I asked him how he liked the wash he starts telling me that the wash isn’t why he’s a regular customer. He tells me that we’d do more business if we put up a big sign that said “Unlimited Vacuums Only $5 – Includes Free Car Wash!” I had to laugh. By talking constantly with customers, I’ve learned that the things they value, and that keep them coming back, are often the little things you do. A low price will get people on the lot, but you’ve got to produce a great car, and take it a step further if you want to earn their loyalty. We have a philosophy that a customer has to feel like they’ve won something when they visit our washes. To give them that feeling we provide a lot of extra services for free. There’s a self-serve bug prep area before the tunnel. In the vacuum area customers can use free body and window towels, window cleaner, and mat cleaners. I believe strongly in the express model. I know a lot of guys with $3 and $5 base washes are considering raising their base price points but we feel that that’s what gets people on our property. Then it becomes our job to show them the value of picking a higher priced wash. Right now we have no plans to raise our base price and are actually in the process of installing scent machines as another free service included with the wash. We’re averaging between $8.12 and $8.34 per car between the locations and are instead looking to invest in higher-end automated services to push that number even higher.

ANALETTO: Over the last year, you’ve increased your per car average by 32 cents at one location, what were the steps you took?

HENDRICKS: Late last year we decided to add a $14 wash option. Before the change, we offered $5, $8, $10, and $12 options, with the $12 wash giving a customer Rain-x, triple shine, tire shine, and extra high-pressure blasters. We didn’t change any of those packages. We didn’t even add the $14 wash option to our menu signs. Instead, we added an option on the video transaction kiosk for the $14 top wash, which included a green apple scented low-PH polishing foam. We haven’t even advertised it and the impact has been amazing. At one wash, the average dollar per car went up by 32 cents.

ANALETTO: $14 is considered high for an express-exterior by many, where did you come up with the idea?

HENDRICKS: After the tornado struck our full-serve wash, we took advantage of the renovation opportunity and converted it to an express-exterior like our other two washes. What we did differently was add a $14 top package. After seeing that wash reach an $8.45 per car average in less than a year, we decided to roll it out to the other locations.

ANALETTO: Was the impact the same at both washes?

HENDRICKS: No. One site went from $7.80 per car and now is averaging $8.12 a 32 cent increase. The other went from $8.10 to $8.34, only a 24 cent increase, but a higher average overall. What is interesting is that even after adding the $14 package at both washes, the percentage of customers buying the $10 wash stayed absolutely fixed at 19% both years. $8 washes also remained fixed at one wash and increased by only 1% at the other. The real change was that $5 washes dropped 2% at both locations while the $12 and $14 washes combined gained 2%. Also interesting was that the $12 and $14 washes were split 50/50 between the two, meaning half of our former $12 customers became $14 customers. On top of that both sites grew in overall volume making for a great year so far. We’re adamant in our belief that a business can’t rely upon credit to finance its growth. The extra revenue however has allowed us to explore new equipment investments to increase the value we can deliver to our customers.

ANALETTO: Do you think you’ve hit the price ceiling in your market for an express wash?

HENDRICKS: Not yet. Coming from a full-serve background we’re used to being in front of customers and spend a lot of time surveying what they want and learning from their answers. Express washing has revolutionized our industry. I remember after the tornado, when we converted from a full-serve to an express, one customer made a point to tell me that it would never survive. I told him to give it a chance, and sure enough, a few months go by, and he’s telling me it was the best move we could have made. There are a lot of people struggling, and the $5 express wash delivers what they need. You’ve got to deliver a great value and customers have to feel that they’ve got the upper hand. All day long I get customers ask me how we can afford to give away so much at $5. We invest a lot of money and labor into washing towels, giving out free supplies, constantly replenishing the bug-prep areas, and more. But there are a lot of people who want more and are willing to pay for it. Those free services improve their experience, get them to come back more often, and move them into higher wash packages. So what’s the price ceiling? Sure, a full-serve can probably command $22 to $25, but we don’t want to get back inside the car. We don’t want to manage 20 people with the constant training and management headaches. Our next logical step is to follow our philosophy of making every customer feel like they’ve got the better end of the deal, add more free services, and add more automated online wash features. As we roll out new services, I think the ceiling price for an express wash, not only in our market, but in all markets, will be between $20 and $25.

ANALETTO: That’s double your current top package; do you think it’s realistic?

HENDRICKS: Just like a full-serve, getting a higher price has a lot to do with the experience the customer has in addition to getting a great wash. Although an express wash doesn’t need the same labor as a full-serve, it’s still a service business. By constantly talking with customers in the vacuum area, listening to their suggestions, encouraging them to use the free services we provide, and doing everything we can to make them feel welcome, we’re trying to deliver the same level of personalized experience you normally see at a full-serve. At an express wash, it’s so easy to forget to stop and talk with, or smile and wave hello to your customers. I’m constantly reminding both myself and my staff that we have to do everything we can to serve our customers, and when we think we’ve done a good job, give it another 1% better effort. We’re fortunate to have a truly dedicated staff. But no matter how much you talk about customer service and facility maintenance to your staff, you’ve got to “walk the walk” and invest in their training if you want it to happen. Nobody would have said getting an extra 32 cents per car with a green apple scented polish was realistic, but it worked. We’re looking for more ways to use new detergents, equipment, and other options available to increase the “Wow” factor a customer has when visiting any of our locations. If we stick to our philosophy of adding visible services that make customers feel like they’re getting the better end of the deal, then there’s no reason we can’t continue to increase our average ticket. Kevin Hendricks was introduced to car washing over 18 years ago when Marcus Kittrell gave him his first job. Kevin credits Marcus with everything he knows about the industry and for helping him and so many others to find success and enjoyment in the business of washing cars.