The Next Big Thing in Car Washing:

By: Anthony Analetto
Originally Published in AutoLaundry Magazine

In a sea of debate over how to adapt to today’s economy, one thing is certain – operators competing to deliver a superior customer experience are winning hands down. Two camps have formed. On the one side you have those that are trying to hunker down and cut costs. These are the operators cutting hours, eliminating free vacuums, and scaling back on facility maintenance and improvements. On the other side, you have operators pushing the envelope. These are the operators innovating new ways to give the customer more. They’re focused on creating an emotional bond with customers, delivering a memorable show, and offering a faster, better, and more convenient product. Now I’m a frugal guy. But when you see the numbers some of these forward thinking operators are posting, it gets exciting. The formula is simple. Give more to customers, get more in return. And here are the leading tools I’ve seen used to achieve remarkable results.

Deliver a customer experience:
Some things in life make you stop and scratch your head. In 2001, Microsoft™ launched the first tablet computer. After nearly a decade of dismal market adoption for the Microsoft tablet, Apple™ computer launches its IPad in 2010, sells 300,000 units on the first day, millions globally, and is today the world’s most valuable company. Before you write-off the latest round of innovation in high-end foamed pay waxes as “nothing-new,” look at the numbers. It’s hard to find fault with an online extra service adding $2 to $3 over the current average ticket price at express-exterior sites – with no reduction in wash volume. Is this car washing’s version of the IPad?

Services vary, but feature a combination of state-of-the-art chemicals married to supplemental equipment to deliver a distinct and spectacular show to the customer. Typically, this five-step process begins with two foamed soaps poured over the car at the entrance of the tunnel. Imagine a big trough pouring a sheet of scented foam that covers every part of the car. This show of foam must be visible to cars waiting to enter the tunnel. Ideally, customers waiting at the pay station can see what’s happing as well. Third, after a friction and high-pressure wash, a foamed total-body protectant is poured over the vehicle for a second show. The vehicle then travels through a second set of friction brushes activated only on this top package service to work in the sealant. Next a literal sheet of water rinses the car, cures the protectant, and provides a spectacular experience for the customer. After air dryers, a final set of wraps and a top brush outfitted with one of the drying materials available, buffs the car for a shine and depth of gloss that is clearly visible to the customer. Everything that’s being done in the service has been done before, just not in the same combination.

Excited to see the process in action, I went to a wash offering this service and have to say it’s an absolutely phenomenal customer experience. But there’s more to it than chemistry and equipment. Above all else, the sites experiencing huge numbers are effectively marketing the service. They’ve branded it with signs around the property, at the pay station, and repeated the branding on the actual equipment delivering the experience. Some have created t-shirts for staff to wear that advertise the pay wax, and mailed out postcards to customers to try it. Any operator can borrow from that playbook to distinguish their top wash package and take a huge leap towards delivering a customer experience.

Faster, better, and more convenient:
For so many years, the battle-cry of car wash operators was all about eliminating labor. We’ve done that. Equipment is readily available to produce a consistently clean, dry, shiny car with absolutely no labor. Pay stations and surveillance cameras have enticed most to experiment with just how few attendants are actually necessary to run their business.  The latest battle-cry is something new. Create solutions to provide customers with faster, better, and more convenient service. Last year we saw the introduction of new mini-express tunnels from several manufacturers. This year, things are starting to get interesting.

These tunnels, engineered to fit into a standard 35-foot bay, can deliver the wash quality, extra services, and consistency of the most advanced full-sized tunnel. The advent of express-exterior tunnels washing well over 10,000 cars per month has taught us something. We’re seeing a surge in interest from in-bay operators at both petroleum and self-serve sites looking to retrofit rollover automatics with mini-express tunnels. That was what was expected. What’s surprising is the interest from existing express-exterior operators looking at this format to grow their business.

In markets where express sites are prevalent, customers have been conditioned to expect a consistent wash, in a predictable amount of time, at an affordable price, from a business that is open when they expect it to be regardless of weather. There is an increasingly recognized opportunity to offer this same value proposition to smaller markets with smaller versions of the express exterior model. The key advantage to running a mini-tunnel is that it widens the universe of available properties, at more affordable price points, with lower construction costs.  There is no question that the high volume automated express exterior model is growing, but mostly in large markets. Does this mean that customers in smaller markets don’t want a fast, affordable wash? Traditionally these areas are served by a combination of self-serves, in-bay automatics, and small full-serve locations relying heavily on labor. That appears to be changing.

It’s safe to say that if the price of gas continues to rise, the cost of construction will go up as well. Combined with documented proof of tunnels less than 60 feet long capable of hitting 15,000 car per month records, interest in this model is starting to heat up. The first tip to any operator looking to run a mini-tunnel is to ensure a premium wash process. This demands more than just a slower chain speed. Elevated attention must be given to water quality, equipment layout, and detergent selection to deliver a great product consistently. In addition, with limited redundancy, there is an even more urgent need to stay on top of all preventive maintenance. In a large tunnel, the breakdown of one component means you run slower until it’s repaired. With a mini-tunnel, you’re potentially closed until the repair is made.

Create an emotional bond:
Creating a customer experience is often free or low cost. Instead of money, it requires creativity, planning, testing, and execution. I’m the first to admit I’m much more comfortable with the nuts & bolts of putting out a clean, dry, shiny car. But the locations reporting the greatest returns aren’t just cleaning cars, they’re creating an emotional bond with their customers. Subtle customer perks such as providing detailing towels, fragrance carts, self-prep stations, and extended service hours are commonplace at these locations. Free vacuums are the standard. Engaging customers through e-mail and social media is their rule rather than the exception. Professional branding and logos with signage working in conjunction with kiosks to promote extra services, fundraising programs, VIP club memberships, and the free perks themselves are their norm. Combined with spotless facilities, groomed and smiling attendants, and gorgeous landscaping, these operators are earning record profits with careful attention to detail. And it works. One wash I know took its logo, created versions of it showing support for local sports teams and charities, and lets members of its VIP club select a small bumper sticker of their favorite logo to put on their car. Driving around town near the wash, it seems that every other car has one of these stickers on it. Each day a different perk or discount is offered to any car with a logo sticker on it, and the result is phenomenal.

Unlimited monthly wash plans are also producing tremendous results for these operators. Tying customers to the wash provides a predictable revenue stream. Be careful here however. I saw one model for an ultra-low monthly subscription that on the surface seemed like a home run. After a few hours of plugging numbers into a spreadsheet however, I realized it didn’t account for increased maintenance costs associated with the tremendous projected volume. It might work, but wouldn’t be the type of location I would want to run. Always do your homework to make sure the strategy makes sense for you.

Competition is heating up, and the lowest price doesn’t always win. Customers want to feel a part of the businesses they frequent and prefer a professional retail look and feel as part of the experience. Ask yourself, as a customer, would you have an emotional bond to your car wash?  Create that feeling, and you’ll likely achieve the next big thing in car washing.

Troubleshooting Action Plan for Success.

By: Anthony Analetto
Originally Published in AutoLaundry Magazine

“Is it plugged in and does that receptacle have power?” How annoying. You call technical support for help and the first thing they do is insult your intelligence. The truth is, however, that without training and procedures, people tend to dive into the complicated first when troubleshooting a system. Overlooking the obvious, people will waste hours of time forcing unnecessary business closure. Having personally wasted 2 hours of my life as the result of poor troubleshooting in the last month, I decided it was time to take a step back and document the steps to effectively troubleshoot a car wash. Not a checklist – but a decision making process. One that includes fundamental concepts a car wash owner must include when creating a location-specific troubleshooting checklist for employees, and themselves, to resolve problems quickly. Like washing cars, troubleshooting is a mixture of standard procedure and personal creativity. Rarely does the source of a problem directly present itself for all to see. A further complication at most washes is that over time, things become less straightforward. Secondary electrical panels and other “work-around fixes” are added to accommodate new wash features. Two weekends ago, for example, I was at a car wash where an in-bay automatic wash shut down. Half the motors were working and the other half stopped. Having confirmed that no breakers at the electrical panel were tripped, I violated my first rule; to exhaust every potential problem within arm’s reach, and dove into the complicated. After an hour of frustration working on the rollover, I went back to the panel. Looking closer, within arm’s reach of the first electrical panel, I found the second panel. Feeling a little foolish, I quickly realized that it powered the other half of the machine, and a breaker was tripped.  As things increasingly become “as-built” rather than following customary practices, put labels where feasible to help guide technicians in troubleshooting your wash. Before leaving, I put a label on the main panel with a note that the other breakers for the unit were in the secondary panel. These “as-built” labels and notes combined with a thoroughly documented troubleshooting checklist specific to your wash can save countless hours of downtime. So, let’s get started.
Have you exhausted every solution within arm’s reach? While some people are gifted with a natural talent for troubleshooting, it is a skill that can be learned like any other. Cause and effect relationships are often complex. Training you and your staff to keep things simple though will almost always yield better results. To drive this point home, I’ll train staff, and try to remember myself, to always exhaust every potential problem within arm’s reach. It’s more than a coincidence that the second hour of my time lost last month from flawed troubleshooting also resulted from a failure to adhere to this principle. At this wash, a colleague had called with an intermittent problem causing his conveyor to fail on busy days. Sounding like a problem with insufficient compressed air to pressurize the air take-up cylinders I had him check the compressors and lines. He reported back that everything was in perfect order and asked if I could stop in the next time I was in the area. It was a Saturday and the site was hopping. Every express-detailing bay was filled. Looking at all the orbital polishers and other tools using compressed air I started to add up the CFM demand. On a hunch, I went to my car, grabbed a portable air compressor, and connected it to the conveyor. Problem solved. Although the air take-up cylinders require very little pressure, it must be constant, and when all of the detailing tools were being used there was insufficient pressure for the conveyor. Admittedly calculating the required CFM required for peak volume is far more complex than me failing to look for a secondary electrical panel, but we both made the same mistake. Failure to exhaust every potential problem within arm’s reach before moving to the complex will almost always add hours to resolving a situation. Are all prerequisites available? In the examples above the electricity and compressed air prerequisites were inadequate. Taking the time to accurately measure that the appropriate quantity and quality of these, and other, variables such as hydraulic power are available before jumping to more complex possibilities is critical to your troubleshooting success. Has anything happened that could cause this problem? Rarely is this as obvious as a lightning strike. In the example above an uptick in express-detailing services from a new menu sign resulted in the conveyor failing. Too often when something fails, the assumption is that something broke. That isn’t always the case. Before going through the costly exercise of replacing parts, detergents, or equipment, stop and evaluate. List anything that’s happened or changed recently. Review all maintenance procedures performed. Sometimes variables such as water quality can change without notice. You may be tinkering with different detergents or wash materials to resolve a spotting problem when the truth is that the Ph or hardness of the water supply has changed. Small investments in time to research and test potential variables and to document any changes can deliver tremendous results. Has this problem occurred before? Here is where taking the time to document troubleshooting incidents, resolutions, and outcomes can really pay off. If a component or process has ever failed in a particular way, having the ability to reference detailed records to find a resolution quickly can save huge amounts of money. The following situation happens too often. Your staff struggles to resolve a problem for hours until a technician familiar with your wash arrives and fixes the problem in a few minutes. Now the employee at your wash knows how to troubleshoot the problem and resolve it quickly but nothing is documented. With the solution locked in their mind, you’re faced with downtime waiting for a technician if that employee isn’t available. Even worse, if a new technician arrives, they may not be as familiar with your wash and will have to troubleshoot the problem, again. Don’t let this happen. Following any repair, update your troubleshooting log with the resolution and post “as-built” labels and guides to help your wash reopen as quickly as possible. How urgent is the need for repair? Every repair needs to be made, but a prepared operator will have a documented procedure to determine how urgent a situation is, and the appropriate course of action to resolve it. Situations that either create an unsafe condition or force the business to close should be treated specially. Diagnostic procedures and telephone numbers to call for support should be posted. Often a wash can turn off components and slow conveyor speed to remain open while repairs are scheduled for the evening. What are the safety concerns before I start troubleshooting? Living in a hurricane zone, it always amazes me that more people are injured trying to troubleshoot and repair damage after a storm than from it. The same holds true at your car wash. Anxious to run in and troubleshoot a problem quickly, staff may take shortcuts with safety procedures or forget to adhere to lockout/tag-out requirements. Combat this with training. Remind staff to take safety precautions with signs. Often the worst offenders are your most experienced employees, who after many years have little fear of the car wash. Help keep them aware by involving them in training new staff in safety procedures. Emphasize that they are expected to act as safety role models when performing any service. Small repairs can turn into business closing catastrophes when staff doesn’t carefully evaluate safety concerns before troubleshooting. What are the process quality concerns before I start troubleshooting? This question is not trivial. One busy Saturday delivering an inferior wash to hundreds of your most loyal customers can damage your business and take months to recover. When first approaching a failed or otherwise misbehaving car wash system, the troubleshooter often doesn’t know where to begin. Upon correcting an issue such as a tripped breaker, the system begins working, and they consider the problem solved. All troubleshooting procedures must include a process quality check to confirm that the problem was actually corrected. Just because the brushes start spinning doesn’t mean that detergent is being applied correctly or that cars are being washed, rinsed, and dried properly. Full-serves will have exit-end attendants to fix wash quality issues and alert the manager of the problem. Express-exterior sites however can potentially put out a stream of unhappy customers, undetected, until they simply don’t come back.

Raising the Bar without Raising the Price

By: Anthony Analetto
Originally Published in AutoLaundry Magazine

To me, the single greatest challenge of our current economy is that it is less predictable. Markets and demographic customer profiles are changing differently, at different times, and in different directions, making it more difficult than ever to run a business. One day you’re beating proforma estimates, the next, your business isn’t meeting targeted growth objectives. That’s exactly what was happening at two car washes in western Florida where I have an investment. Below I interview my partner, Marc Taglienti, who actively manages the washes, as he details the steps he took to turn things around. Not all customers are created equal. Marc’s insights turned this truth to the advantage of our business – let’s take a look. Analetto: What was the most significant problem you were facing? Marc Taglienti, Owner, Blue Lightning Car Wash, Pasco County Florida: Two years ago, we hit a wall. Four years before that, we opened our first $3 express-exterior with free vacuums. Volume was growing according to plan and a year later we opened a second, nearly identical location, only 13 miles away on the same highway. What attracted us to the area was that it had strong retail activity in an economically depressed area. This demographic has worked well for other value priced express-exterior washes. Volume was growing quickly and the percentage of $3 washes was starting to drop. Our proforma estimated that the $3 wash would start at 50% and steadily reduce as a percentage of our total washes sold. Unfortunately, when the economy took a hit, our $3 wash started to edge higher, hitting 55-60% and volume started to soften at the same time. Our plan was for the $3 wash to be at 40% and for volume to accelerate dramatically, so we had to create a new plan to hit our objective.
Analetto: What was your dollar per car average?

Taglienti: We fought tooth and nail for four years to increase our dollar per car average and had to battle for every penny. With three lanes we were able to experiment with different menus and survey customers after their purchase with one question, “why did you select the wash you did?” What we learned was that customers in our market reacted differently to incremental value than what we anticipated. In our experience, when presented with a good, better, best scenario, 40% or more select better. Instead, our customers seemed to select all or nothing, either getting the best we had to offer at $12, or the cheapest wash on the menu at $3. Frustrating at first, things started to improve when we added a $14 top wash and adjusted the differential amounts between packages. Immediately over half of our $12 customers moved to $14. In addition, upon selecting the $3 wash, the kiosk offered an a la carte Rain-X service for an additional dollar. Combined with the additional Rain-X service, our average jumped 75 cents per car to $5.60.

Analetto: Your $3 wash has dropped from 60% to 29% at one store and from 50% to 15% at the other with no decrease in volume, how did you achieve that dramatic change?

Taglienti: What we learned when surveying our customers was that many of them came with exactly $3 in cash to the wash to put into the machine. You have to realize that for four years we advertised on huge billboards $3, 3-minute car wash with free vacuums. We were making enough profit at $3 to keep the business running and couldn’t risk losing half of our customers. Volume started to soften with the economy. We decided that instead of raising our prices, we would gradually reduce the availability of our $3 wash to customers. Everything was done in stages over a year. First we changed the billboards to 3-Minute Car Wash, dropping the $3. Next we took the $3 off our menu but left it as an option on the kiosk only. We kept it like that for nearly a year before aggressively advertising that we now offer the $3 car wash every day from 8am to 10am and all day on Tuesday. We updated the kiosks to reflect the change. Even then, attendants had the authority to sell the $3 wash, and were trained to educate customers by saying “we value our customer’s loyalty and haven’t raised our prices, but had to limit the $3 car wash to 8-10am every day and all day on Tuesday.” At first, we actually offered the $3 car wash in the evening as a “happy hour”, which was a disaster. Customers lined up and blocked the entrance waiting for the clock to change. Now, there is a nice surge of traffic each morning, Tuesday is one of our busiest days, and Saturdays have a higher ticket average with no bottlenecks. The big story is that my overall ticket has jumped $1.14 at one location and $1.25 at the other while the wash volume has continued to grow.

Analetto: Your one store still has nearly twice as many $3 wash customers, 29% versus 15%, to what do you attribute the difference?

Taglienti: Demographics. The two stores are nearly identical, and are only 13 miles apart on the same road. Average household income at the 29% store however is approximately $20,000 less per household than the other. Both income targets have performed extremely well for other express-exterior locations, but having spoken with many other express owners since, other demographic variables can dramatically effect capture rate and average wash ticket.

Analetto: Other Express-Exterior operators are experimenting with higher top package offerings. What services did you offer to achieve a $14 price-point?

Taglienti: To me, the express model is all about efficiency. I believe you have to deliver a perfect car in your base package. In our market, the challenge isn’t taking market share from competitors – it’s getting people out of the driveway. To make customers not only loyal to our wash, but loyal to using a professional car wash, I believe I must deliver a consistently clean, dry, and shiny car every time. Our $3 wash includes wheel cleaning and a spot-free rinse so the customer is always satisfied at any price. I also believe your top package has to provide a visible show for each extra service you charge for. Our top package includes extra high-pressure, extra flashing signs, additional wax applications with vibrant colors, and additional in-tunnel polishing – we don’t skimp. I can’t afford to give any reason to a customer to try another wash.

Analetto: What do you wish you could have done differently?

Taglienti: I’m glad that we started out promoting a $3 wash package. It helped build volume quickly, but I wish I would have restricted its availability sooner. I also wouldn’t have featured $3 on our monument sign. Promoting it on the billboards and in our advertising would have accomplished the same thing without making it the focal point of our entire brand. On a positive note, changing my monument sign after only a few years forced me to really research more affordable sign options. We found a flex-faced vinyl material at a fraction of the cost of a traditional injection molded panel. It’s brighter, looks nicer, and allows me to update the sign every couple of years. Everything I can do to make it look like there’s something new translates to increased wash volume.

“Would This Help my Mom Recommend my Wash to Friends and Family?”

By: Anthony Analetto
Originally Published in AutoLaundry Magazine

I just returned from an out-of-state family gathering for the holidays with this question – are my efforts to acquire and retain customers at the car wash working? This trip made me realize that all hopes of revenue growth, improved cash flow, or higher profit margins in the coming year boil down to one simple truth – the most productive activity of any business is to make sure their customers are recommending them to friends and family. This demands two things: First, that you deliver a great service at a great value. Second, that your marketing tells a customer about the value in a way that inspires trust. Fail to do these two things and, well, that’s where this story begins.

You’ll often see me use the phrase “customers don’t appreciate how hard it is to deliver a consistent clean, dry, shiny car.” They really don’t. What’s worse, if they have one bad experience at a car wash, they seem determined to tell as many people about it as they can. On this last holiday trip, I found myself on the receiving end of such a rant, nodded politely, and visited the wash in question. The complaint was confirmed. This car wash had a huge sign advertising a $6 exterior wash, highly discounted for the market. When I asked for the $6 wash, the greeter showed me a ready made flyer explaining how inferior the $6 wash was, told me I would be dissatisfied with it, and asked if I wanted the $9 or $15 wash which would also clean my wheels. I understood the customer’s complaint of “bait-and-switch” and their passion to tell everyone that would listen to never visit this particular wash.
 

Every aspect of your business should be part of a system to acquire and retain customers. In the hustle of trying to boost revenue or profit margins, it’s easy to overlook how customers might react to changes.  Avoid potential backlash from loyal customers and devastating negative word-of-mouth by always doing these two things. When making changes, first ask yourself “would this help my mom recommend my wash to friends and family?” Second, conduct an annual marketing audit. This is a useful tool that can help ensure you have more money in your pocket this time next year.
 

Annual Marketing Audit: Who & Why
When your car wash was first built, demographic studies were conducted and proformas created to analyze the market potential. Markets however change, people change, and technology changes every year. Has your marketing plan changed accordingly? Do you have a written plan on how you will acquire and retain customers over the upcoming year? If not, grab a pencil and start by answering the following questions.
 

Who are your customers?
Ideally, you’ll drop a couple of dollars and get the data. Some equipment manufacturers can supply a demographic report for free. But it can be as easy as writing down the different types of customers you have, how they differ from each other, what types of services they buy, when and how often they buy, and how your wash currently satisfy their needs. Once you’ve created segments of the various customers in your market, and the features and benefits they value most, it’s time to pick the one group that you feel can contribute the most to your bottom line over the next 12 months. If you pick up a book on marketing, it can make the whole process of segmenting your market and picking a target seem pretty complicated. It’s not. Picking a target in no way means that it’s the only group of people you’re selling to. Think of the Apple iPod. Their advertising is “targeted” to young, hip, twenty somethings. I am way outside the scope of any target they ever imagined, but still use both an iPhone and iPad. Selecting a target market means that you’ll be something to someone. Without a target, you’re a commodity to nobody.
 

Who are your competitors?
You know the other washes in your area.  Their pricing, services, and which customers they “target” or cater too, but that’s not all there is to analyzing your competition. When performing your competitive analysis, make sure you’re not accidentally “creating competition.” What do I mean? After writing down what each competitor does the best, and the worst, (including marketing!), you should see what holes are not being served. Convenience, consistency, pricing, quality, speed, customer experience – these represent opportunities to gain market share. If you don’t satisfy your market demand however, those opportunities represent areas where a new competitor can enter and take business, or in other words, you’re “creating competition.”
 

Why customers should choose you?
Two months ago I wrote about making your car wash the best at something. Creating a competitive advantage that sets your business apart from every car wash in the marketplace. Whether you use a strategy of community involvement, convenience, quality, or some other innovation, make sure you have a position in your market so compelling that it moves people to action.
 

Annual Marketing Audit: What & How
Now that you know the Who & Why, it’s time to get down to the What & How of customer acquisition and retention. Again there are three questions to answer. This time however there’s three parts to each. Part 1: what am I doing now? Part 2: what am I doing to measure its success? Part 3: what else could I be doing and how would I measure its success? Don’t overestimate how much time this will take, or underestimate how much money it will add to your bottom line. For most, the entire job will take less than an hour and can result in thousands of dollars in additional profit (either increased revenue or decreased advertising expense). I’ll admit I’m not the biggest fan of planning either, but whether you hire somebody or do it yourself, it’s got to be done – so let’s get started.
 

What are you doing to get people driving by to try your wash?
Don’t laugh, this works, and costs nothing. Get in your car. Drive a half-mile up the road from your wash. Make a U-turn. Pull over and stop. Close your eyes. Imagine you’re driving by your wash. What do you notice first? What makes you excited to stop in for a wash? Write down your answers to both questions, and then drive back. Does your wash look like it did in your imagination? Would you be excited to get a wash? Two things can get a potential customer driving by to stop in. First is need. Second is curiosity. For the first, need, does your signage alert passing traffic that you’re a car wash, open for business, in enough time for them to enter the driveway safely? For the second, curiosity, the sky’s the limit. You can put out signs to promote fundraising events, new services, daily specials, and balloons – anything that grabs attention and helps people remember that they need to get their car washed! Make a plan of what you could be doing differently, track changes in your capture rate to measure success, and be on your way to a wash that excites your bank account.
 

What are you doing to get people nearby to try your wash?
Direct mail, radio, newspaper, pay-per-click, email, social networks, and other advertising media are great tools to get your message to potential customers, but what message will drive traffic? Couponing, discount-days, fundraising, and other tactics all have their place, but the guiding principle to never forget is that effective advertising works the first time. That means if you advertise a Whacky Wednesday discount in the newspaper and have no dramatic increase in traffic, don’t do that combination again. Let me repeat, good advertising works the first time, make sure you track what works and cancel what doesn’t.
 

How are you keeping customers coming back?
Two things keep customers coming back. First is the value of the experience you provide, or your brand. Second is the value of the wash you provide, basically how clean and at what price. Most owners focus on the second. Points-based loyalty programs, punch cards, wash books, and VIP clubs are all very straight-forward. As a customer increases the frequency they wash, their price goes down, increasing the value they get. While performing this marketing audit however, don’t forget to spend as much time thinking about the experience you provide as you do the dollar value of the wash. Everything from your site and staff appearance to how you apply detergents in the tunnel plays a valuable role in customer experience. Your target market needs to see that you share their interests. That you demonstrate concern for their values and deliver on your promises consistently and honestly. Like most things in life this doesn’t need to be so complicated. I’m sure Starbucks spends an enormous amount of time and money researching and tweaking every detail of their stores to refine customer experience. But it’s as easy as once again closing your eyes and picturing your target customer. If you’re struggling to pick a target, then picture your mom instead, and ask yourself, “would the customer experience I deliver help my mom recommend my wash to friends and family?”

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.

Be the Best at Something - Taking an Ownership Position in Your Market

By: Anthony Analetto
Originally Published in AutoLaundry Magazine

Driving to work recently, I heard a promotion on the radio to double the size of your business in twelve months. Before pitching a phone number to call for more information, author Chet Holmes asked “what if I could put all your potential buyers in a giant stadium and present to them all at once, making your company famous in a single day if you do it right?” Immediately picturing myself in the center of the local high school stadium near one of my washes, filled with every prospective client in the town, I decided to give it a shot. After fumbling around for the perfect words for my 15-second monologue to promote the car wash, I quickly realized that this wasn’t as easy as it sounds. Sure I could say “we deliver a clean car fast and affordable.” But that’s not going to excite anyone to run out and visit the wash. Sadly, customers don’t appreciate how difficult it can be to deliver a clean, dry, shiny car at an affordable price. As soon as you put up a sign saying CAR WASH, that’s the bare minimum that they expect from your business. Immediately my mind turned to discounting my commodity. Now I imagined saying “we deliver a clean car fast and affordable – see me for a coupon for a free wash to try it out.” Certainly better, but is that the best I could do? If I had the opportunity to tell every person in my town why they’d be foolish to not run out and visit my wash, and to do so regularly, what reason would get them to wash and become loyal customers? Basically, what could I say that my competitors couldn’t that would compel them to action? I sat down and started to write out a list of competitive advantages I felt were important to my customers, along with steps to own that position in my market – and here they are.

Own Community Involvement
For some, this happens naturally. An outgoing entrepreneur decides to build a car wash in the community where they live. Everybody knows and trusts them. They’re involved in the schools, religious organizations, fundraising projects, disaster relief, and community groups. But in today’s world of fragmented communities, that rarely happens. There are thousands of special interest groups, and thousands of opportunities to become involved in your community. Start with fundraising.

First, consider the old standbys. Hosting charity wash days with a percent of the profits going to the organization can both increase traffic and present a great opportunity for media coverage. Another favorite is for kids to sell wash books and keep a part of the profit. More recent fundraising programs leverage technology to improve performance. For washes with newer gated kiosks, it will be increasingly common for these units to have the ability for a customer to enter a code to donate a portion of their payment to a favorite charity. For example, you may negotiate with the local band that every time a customer buys the top package and enters the assigned code, you’ll give the band two dollars. If you don’t have one of these hi-tech kiosks and can stomach a chaotic lack of control, this can also be accomplished with printed and even electronically distributed coupons that you allow to be duplicated. Imagine all the students and parents involved in your fundraising event sending out electronic coupons to friends and relatives across the social networking sites to buy your top package. Picture thousands of potential customers planning a trip to your wash to help the people they love. Grass roots marketing can deliver exciting results, but normally, only the first business in a community to do something new will reap the reward.

Fundraising isn’t the only path to becoming known as a business involved in the community. I’ve known car wash operators who, during a natural disaster, continued to pay their employees while they assisted with cleanup of the town, while wearing their uniforms. Why wait for a natural disaster? Actively volunteering in your community can deliver huge rewards. By simply dedicating one employee for one 8-hour shift once per month to help on a volunteer project in your community, you’re putting your staff, in uniform, alongside potentially influential people that can refer people to your wash. Imagine when someone working alongside them asks “do you work at the car wash?” When your employee replies “yes, the owner really supports volunteer work and once a month lets us work our shift helping the community,” you’re on your way to becoming the car wash that cares – a very memorable position. Don’t forget to leverage your good deeds to their maximum potential. Make sure to post your actions on your website and social networks, as well as send a short press release to the local papers.

Own Convenience
Remember Domino Pizza’s guarantee of 30-minute delivery or its free? Positioning your car wash as the most convenient, fast, and consistent product can be remarkably powerful and profitable. Be forewarned. This is by far the most demanding market position to pursue. Success relies upon automation, efficient processes, and procedures that must be documented, trained, and adhered to.

Like most things at a car wash, owning this position starts with labor, or more accurately, the absence of labor. This isn’t an article on labor reduction, so I won’t go into detail. But in order to offer convenient hours of operation, rain-or-shine, and a consistent service time, labor cannot be involved in the wash process. Owning this title isn’t only related to labor reduction. Look at your product offerings, and wherever possible, separate and simplify. If you have an express-exterior option, create a separate menu with limited choices. The same thing goes for any express detailing, professional detailing, or full-service wash options you provide. By separating each service category into a distinct menu with fewer options, customers will have a clearer understanding of what to expect, and staff will be more experienced in delivering that expectation. This practice also lets you close sections of your wash during inclement weather while remaining open on a published schedule, the foundation of convenience for any service business. Sometimes less really is more.

Now it’s time to put your money where your mouth is. Doing the legwork to offer a consistent quality service in a promised time is only one side of the equation. The other is a bit scarier – an advertised guarantee. If you’re prepared to offer a “15-minutes or its free” or similar policy, and deliver a consistent quality product, you’ll be fast on your way to owning the title as the most convenient car wash in the market.

Own Quality
The Ultimate Driving Machine. When You Care Enough to Send the Very Best. Can you think of any other products where price is an important, but secondary consideration? I won’t go into the nuts and bolts of delivering a clean, dry, shiny product – if you’re considering taking ownership of the highest quality car wash position in your market I’ll assume you’re already on top of your game. What I will say is that the relentless pursuit of perfection in delivering a quality wash is only one part of this position. You’ll want to focus equal, if not greater effort, on creating a customer experience. Start with uniforms, signage, landscaping, and everything that a customer can touch or see, but don’t stop there. Analyze staff interactions and develop standardized greetings and procedures. I’ve seen full-serves where attendants spread the drying towels on the ground so that a customer could wipe their feet before entering the car. I’ve seen express-exteriors with beautiful signage detailing their 7-step wash process to protect your car. Pursuing the position of highest quality wash can take many directions, but it starts with delivering an absolutely consistent quality product.

Wrap-up
Can you give a 15-second presentation on what sets your business apart from every competitor in the marketplace? A position so compelling that it will move people to action? If you can, you’re halfway there. Next, your employees need to live, breathe, and believe in your position. From that base, you may never find yourself in front of a stadium of customers, but supported with advertising, your customers will find you.

5 Misconceptions to Getting Consistently Clean Wheels

 By: Anthony Analetto
Originally Published in AutoLaundry Magazine

“If you think you can do a thing or think you can’t do a thing, you’re right”- Henry Ford
 

Turning out a consistently clean, sparkling wheel is often the differentiating factor between competing car washes in a market. It’s also a difficult task for a professional car washer to deliver and often the most misunderstood. Like many of the articles I write, this one was prompted by a recent conversation I had with a friend in the industry. For years, using strong acid-based wheel cleaners, this operator would periodically replace his tire brush, always in stainless-steel to hold up to the acid. Seeing an order for an aluminum tire-brush machine, I asked him if he had placed his order correctly to which he replied “I did - I’m finally off the crack.” The passion he had in explaining the process he went through to eliminate all labor, switch to easier to handle non-acid wheel cleaners, and improve the quality and consistency of his wheels made me realize there are many operators that could benefit by learning about his experience. His customers are happier, his employees are happier, and he’s happier – and it all starts by dismissing the 5 misconceptions associated with getting a consistently clean wheel.

Misconception 1: You need to wash wheels by hand
Labor in any part of the wash process, especially wheels, results in inconsistent quality, slower throughput, and unpredictable customer wait times. Consider what occurs at many washes today. The car enters the wash and wheels are sprayed with a pressure gun, cooling the wheel which reduces the reactivity of the detergent to break the bond of brake dust to the wheel. Next, an aggressive acid-based wheel cleaner, corrosive to wash equipment, is applied to the wet wheel. Whatever cleaner doesn’t drip off the already wet wheel is instantly diluted before being immediately hit with a pressure gun again. The wheel cleaner, unless highly concentrated, does not have sufficient dwell time or physical agitation to do its job effectively. And the problem gets worse. As the day progresses, employees get more tired. As volume peaks, there is less time to spray each wheel. When you need to speed up the conveyor, you need to add more labor, and wash consistency and quality drop further. But that’s just the beginning of the problem. Hoses, cars, people, spinning brushes, and strong detergents are all shuffling around in a congested area. Management andtraining requirements to ensure safe detergent handling and operating procedures are adhered to skyrocket. And when things aren’t working, you need to throw more at it. More labor. More and stronger wheel cleaners. More problems – and more reasons to keep reading this article to learn how to break the cycle!

Misconception 2: You can get a clean wheel without a tire locator switch
A tire locator what? This function, included standard with most modern controllers, tells the computer exactly where a tire is located in the wash process. Using a combination of an entrance photo eye and a tire locator switch, information is fed back to the computer to activate wheel cleaning components accurately and for an extended duration. Getting clean wheels requires complete online application of an alkaline-based detergent, sufficient detergent dwell time with physical agitation, and high-pressure wheel cleaning for a five-foot travelling distance. The foundation of getting clean wheels every time online doesn’t start with some magical detergent or equipment component – it starts with having a computer setup to locate and track wheels throughout the wash process. I’ve been to many locations where people are still using treadles for chemical application running alongside an underutilized computer capable of tracking wheels. Without the ability to automatically adjust detergent application in relation to conveyor speed, or set high pressure washers to pivot and track wheels for prolonged contact, getting clean wheels online without labor is impossible. Once in place, a whole new world of possibility for accurate and consistent wheel cleaning opens up.

Misconception 3: You can’t wash wheels without aggressive acid-based wheel cleaners
No doubt acid-based wheel cleaners are effective. However, burdensome training and management requirements to ensure safe handling, coupled with the fact that they can reduce the lifespan of car wash equipment have caused many operators to switch to alkaline-based alternatives. When used correctly, you consistently get a cleaner wheel, eliminate labor, and prolong equipment life, all by switching to a detergent that’s easier to handle and more user-friendly. It all starts with detergent application to maximize mechanical and chemical wash synergy.

Two feet after your photo eyes, you want to have a CTA applying a non-acid foamed wheel and tire cleaner. A single CTA is sufficient for conveyor speeds up to 80 cars per hour, but if you intend on exceeding that speed, you will need to have a second CTA applying the same non-acid foamed detergent 40 inches after the first, allowing the wheel to turn upside down for full detergent application. Avoid the mistake of “flooding” the car with water which does little other than dilute the effectiveness of your chemistry! Next you will apply an alkaline presoak followed by a low-PH foamed presoak before the vehicle enters your friction wash equipment area.  Soap and mechanical wash equipment continue to agitate undiluted detergent for 8 to 10 feet or more, delivering the necessary dwell time before the high pressure wash equipment strips road grime from the wheels.

Misconception 4: You don’t need a tire and wheel brush
Today’s tire brushes aren’t just for tires. With most designs having a brush diameter of 12 or more inches, they are designed to reach into wheels to agitate detergent and loosen road soil from wheels. Failure to agitate detergent on wheels with a sufficient dwell time spanning at least 96 inches, the average length of a tire brush, will not deliver a clean wheel. Operators concerned with more aggressive designs of polypropylene or nylon brushes can consider foam brushes available from several manufacturers – just make sure you have a tire and wheel brush in your wash!

Misconception 5: You don’t need a high-pressure wheel blaster
It is impossible to clean wheels without high pressure. Not a few inconsistent seconds from an attendant with a prep-gun, but concentrated high-pressure cleaning that maintains contact with each wheel for five feet of travel through the tunnel. Provided you’ve applied sufficient undiluted foamed wheel cleaner, agitated for 96 inches of travel using a tire brush with a diameter of at least 12 inches, then five-feet of cleaning from either a pivoting or tracking high-pressure wheel cleaner is enough distance to allow the wheel to turn completely upside down to reach all angles.

Summary
Having switched to alkaline-based wheel cleaners and automated wheel cleaning so long ago, I sometimes forget the daily struggle many operators continue to have managing labor and safe detergent handling procedures. There’s no free lunch. Getting a clean wheel without labor is a challenge that will require experimentation with non-acid detergents and CTAs that work best with your water and climate conditions. You may have to invest in or upgrade your tire brush to a newer design capable of reaching into wheels. And you’ll need tracking or pivoting wheel blasters capable of maintaining contact with each wheel for five feet of travel at your fastest conveyor speed along with a tunnel controller with a tire locator switch to run them. The payoff however is huge. Labor savings and longer equipment lifespan can be easily calculated. But having happier customers and employees with fewer headaches involved with safely managing acid-based wheel cleaners can be truly priceless.