How to Fight Falling Full-Serve Profits

By: Anthony Analetto
Originally Published in AutoLaundry Magazine

Interview with Jim Gorant,
Owner of Prestige Auto Wash

Lower labor costs. Increase profits. Reduce stress. Jim Gorant, owner of Prestige Auto Wash, recites these three rather compelling reasons when asked why he chose to add an express-exterior lane to his full-serve wash.

 

Occupying only half an acre on a busy street in South Florida, Jim’s business grew in both volume and profit for 16 years straight before slowing, and then shrinking. Watching his profits begin to fall, Jim decided to reinvent his car wash without ever closing his doors for renovation.

 

Having made the modification just over a year ago, Jim was kind enough to share some of his experiences with the rest of us. Below are some excerpts from his ideas to successfully add an express-exterior lane to a full-serve location.

 

ANALETTO: What led you to make the investment to add an express-exterior lane?

 

JIM GORANT, OWNER, PRESTIGE AUTO WASH:  I’ve owned the location for 19 years. For the first 16 years straight, both volume and net profit grew every year. In year 17, volume was stagnant and net profit started to drop in response to rising costs, predominantly labor. In year 18, both volume and net profit dropped – I had to do something.

 

There’s a lot written now about adding an express lane to a full serve, and I expect you’re going to be seeing a lot more. The funny thing is that about 5 years ago, just when express-exterior free vacuum sites were really taking off, I took a road trip with two other full-serve operators.  We came to the conclusion that nearly any full-serve that wanted to remain profitable would eventually have to put in an express-exterior lane. The other two did so immediately and have had tremendous success. My site is only half an acre, half the size of theirs, and I chose to wait.

 

Putting in an express lane would require me to cut out half my wipe down area to make room for an exit lane. At the time, my full-serve volume was strong enough and I was using every square inch of space. Once my full-serve volume started to drop I realized I could no longer afford to wait.

 

ANALETTO: Having made the decision to add an express lane, what was the first step in remodeling the site?

 

GORANT: First and foremost, you have to be able to deliver a clean, dry, shiny car online, with no manual prep. Fortunately I have spent a lot of time refining my equipment package. My tunnel is only 80 feet with a 100 foot conveyor. When planning for the additional volume from the express lane I wanted to be able to deliver a consistent product at a peak 120 car per hour chain speed. I had already added tracking wheel blasters, extra brushes for the front grill, and online tire shine. To handle the additional volume, I installed a second wrap-around. These upgrades, along with fine tuning my wash media selection, detergent application, rinsing, and drying systems allow me to run with no manual prep for most of the year.

 

Once the equipment is running right and you’re able to process the volume you think you can achieve, you have to leverage that to eliminate any wasted motion on the full-serve side of the business. At the entrance we lengthened the vacuum hoses to reach all sides of the vehicle in a two car stack. Combined with more formal training procedures, we were able to process the same full-serve volume from two lanes, freeing the third for express exterior. Eliminating motion at the finishing end to create a safe exit lane for exterior only customers was more challenging. Again, training was crucial, but we also revamped our grid stacking procedures, supply carts, replenishment practices, and a whole host of other small details that gave us what we needed. Where there’s a will – there’s a way.

 

ANALETTO: What final preparations did you have to make before opening your express-exterior lane to the public?

 

GORANT: Once the full-serve side of the business is running right it’s relatively easy. We simply added a cash register outside that’s tied into our tunnel controller. Eventually, I plan to invest in a video kiosk and gate. Kiosks are expensive so I want to see how the volume is going to grow before I invest the money. Really, the hardest part is creating your signage and marketing. Customers want value; unfortunately it’s not enough to offer a great product at a great price. You have to communicate the benefits to your customer.

 

ANALETTO: How did you communicate with your customers the new service offering?

 

GORANT: First I created separate menu boards to differentiate the express-exterior lane and packages from the full-serve, and used painted lines and signage to direct traffic. Also, there are now only two full-serve options with the base package priced 20% above my previous full-serve wash. Customers that want full serve now pay a price where it makes sense for me to deliver the service.

 

On the exterior side, I changed the street sign to promote the $5 base price point for the express lane. The sign is designed with a flip where I can change the price to $3 for an ongoing Wacky Wednesday promotion. I also stopped advertising and discounting full serves and started to promote the exterior lane with early bird and happy hour specials. It’s working. We’re building volume and competing against gas stations and self-serves that before served a customer base we completely missed. Last Wednesday we posted a location record for the number of cars ever washed in a single day. After 19 years, never in my wildest dream would I have believed that our single best day would happen on a Wednesday, but it did, and the business is once again growing.

 

ANALETTO: What other site improvements have you made?

 

GORANT: The real difference is that the customer stays in the car. I’ve put up white plastic wallboard and more lighting to brighten the tunnel. Before, all the tunnel signs pointed to the lobby so a customer could see what services were being applied to their car. Now, I also have signs that customers can see as they ride through. A lot of time was also spent training the loader on how to properly guide customers onto the conveyor.

 

We’ve also changed the way we deliver our full-serve. In South Florida, 4-months of the year are rainy in the afternoons, and traffic is slow. In the past, every day, I had to try and determine when it no longer made sense to remain open. Now, I’ve installed vacuums under our express detail canopy. On slow days, full-serve customers still exit the vehicle, but all interior services are done in the aftercare center. This lets me cut 1-cashier, 1-supervisor, 2-vacuum, and 2-wipe-down employees. Cutting 6 people lets me stay open on marginal weather days when in the past I might have closed.

 

ANALETTO: How did your existing customer’s react?

 

GORANT: Existing customers didn’t like it at first. Our full-serve volume initially dropped 30%. Exterior volume however has climbed every month from the minute we put it in. After 1-year, exterior volume is now 60% of our business. What’s also changed is that our fully-burdened labor expense has dropped from 45% to 30%. Overall net volume has increased dramatically, and I’m back to making the same money I was 4 years ago. The most important difference is that we’re once again a growing business.

 

Initially, there was also a decline in revenue from our express-detail shop which accounts for 30% of the wash’s overall revenue. Fortunately, with strong marketing, our detail sales are back to what they were when we were 100% full serve.

 

ANALETTO: What is the most important detail in launching the express lane?

 

GORANT: Your equipment package must be able to process the volume and deliver a consistent product, but in many respects, good signage, advertising, promotions, and overall site appearance will ultimately play a bigger role in the business taking off.

 

ANALETTO: In your opinion, what is the future of the full-serve industry?

 

GORANT: In my opinion, the industry has changed more in the last 4 years than in the previous 15 that I’ve been an operator. Each day, the expenses associated with delivering a full-serve wash seem to be going up faster than many customers are willing to pay. I believe the full-serve market is out there, but it’s hard to grow your business year after year only catering to that potentially shrinking segment. Personally, I think the flex-serve model is the ultimate format to maximize income from a property but at this location, I simply didn’t have the space. For me, adding the express-exterior lane was the next best choice. It has let me grow revenue, reduce labor, and probably added years onto my life because it’s much less stressful to manage on a daily basis.  I think there are a lot of guys in my position – labor is a little easier these days, but it’s still a no-win situation.  If you’re going to continue operating your full serve like you did for the last 20 years, I think you may find yourself in trouble.

 

Uncle Joe Sundrome - Don't Let it Happen to You

By: Anthony Analetto
Originally Published in AutoLaundry Magazine

Today I listened to a story of an Express-Exterior operator having trouble. He was chasing away customers using his free vacuums without washing. I was tempted to call him. He’d obviously never heard of a terrible affliction hurting many car wash operators. I call it “Uncle Joe Syndrome”. Rather than call that one operator, I decided to take a break from writing about equipment maintenance, safety, and operations. This month, I’d like to share a lesson I learned early on, indirectly, from my Uncle Joe.

Uncle Joe and my Dad were business partners. Together they owned our family’s first car wash, a 5 bay Self-Serve with a Minuteman rollover and gas. Needless to say, my Uncle Joe, like many self-serve operators, disliked “bucket washers” for obvious reason. Like many, he would literally chase them off the property. It didn’t matter if it was pouring rain and it was the only customer of the day, he would throw them out. Nearly 30 years have passed and I still have distinct memories of yelling customers leaving the wash with soap dripping from their car.

In some ways the logic made sense. He argued that if he allowed one customer to use a bucket, pretty soon they would all use buckets, and the wash would lose money. At only 13 years of age and in charge of little more than removing the trash, it made sense to me too. Actually, having to deal with all the disgusting things people can leave at a Self-Serve every day, I practically cheered when he threw off a person who wasn’t at least paying full price to use the wash. If that hint of anger at a customer seems reasonable to you, you’re suffering from “Uncle Joe Syndrome” an expensive luxury in today’s hypercompetitive marketplace.

Let’s go back to the Express-Exterior with people using the free central vacuums without washing. Whether to offer free vacuums or not is a separate debate. For this scenario disregard the option of vending vacuums or going through the expense of using tokens. Trust that this operator is having success offering free vacuums. They only want to stop people from using them without washing. Friendly signage has deterred most from using the vacuums without paying. The pitfall to avoid is trying to chase the few remaining less honest people away.

Everyone is familiar with the 80/20 rule stating that 80 percent of your business comes from 20 percent of your customers. The problem with any attempt to restrict or control how a fringe population abuses your free vacuuming service, is that the action also presents a risk of alienating the 20 percent of your customers who provide most of your revenue. Before becoming too aggressive, stop and think who might be using the vacuums without washing. It could be a weekly regular who spilled something on their floor. Maybe it was a hurried parent who washed the day before with a screaming child in the car but returned to vacuum the next day while they were at school. If you can think of any plausible reason why one of your best customers may return to vacuum on a different day, be very careful how you try to control it. You don’t want to discover that the head of a local organization, influencing hundreds of customers, viewed being able to wash and vacuum on separate days as the competitive advantage and reason to use and recommend your wash.

So how can you approach the problem? Walk up and welcome them to your wash. Ask them if they’ve had a chance to try it.  Whether they say yes or no, offer them a free wash. When they come out, ask them how they liked it. Invite them back. Apologize that you can’t offer free vacuuming without a wash, but hope they liked the wash enough to return. When done properly, guilt can have a powerful influence on behavior. That person will now avoid your wash, recommend it to others, or become a regular customer. That short conversation may be the least expensive and effective marketing you can do. In the extremely rare case they continue to use the vacuums without washing, they have openly admitted to stealing. Some operators will continue trying to convert the customer. Others will write down the tag number of the vehicle and leave it at that. This is a difficult situation that happens seldom. How you respond will depend on the actual person and the neighborhood where you are located. Regardless, you’ve confirmed that the person is not one of your top 20 percent.

Now I’d like to go back to our family’s first self serve. A friend read the first draft of this article, laughed, and said “I can’t believe you’re using Joe’s real name”. I thought about changing it, but decided above all else, Uncle Joe was always willing to help other car wash operators succeed. He has since passed on and so has ownership of that original Self-Serve wash. The last time I checked, the rollover grew into an exterior only tunnel but little else has changed at the location. The industry on the other hand, and what it takes to become successful, has seen dramatic change over the last 40 years. Marketing, advertising, and what we must do to differentiate our business and attract customers have changed. Competition has increased both in volume and quality. Each day innovative operators, listening to consumers, are introducing new products and variations to entice prospects onto their property. Today we have Self-Serve washes offering a one price unlimited service. The Express-Exterior free vacuum format continues to gain momentum across the country. Growth is coming from offering a better value. No business today can afford to chase customers from their site, especially after having spent thousands of dollars to get them there in the first place.

In retrospect I wonder what would have happened if instead of chasing away the bucket washers, we embraced them. We could have had a “Bring Your Own Bucket” on rainy days and even discounted the wash. Maybe we could have sold a brightly colored bucket with our logo on it that was valid to use any rainy days. Would it have worked? I don’t know. The point is we never asked, we never listened, and we never tried to innovate a better value for the customer and create a reason to wash more. What I do know is that too much effort and money is spent on marketing, signage, and advertising, to ever forgo an opportunity to sell to a person who ventures onto a car wash property. The fact that they are there means that they have enough money to drive a car and value our service. Uncle Joe would have recognized the change in the market and found a way to get them to pay for the service and thank you for it. I think he would have been happy if avoiding “Uncle Joe Syndrome” helps even one operator reading this article become more successful.

Cutting Cost - Five Steps to Reduce Labor Expense

By: Anthony Analetto
Originally Published in AutoLaundry Magazine

Having visited literally thousands of car washes I’ve come to realize that car wash operators are some of the most creative people when it comes to cutting the cost of doing business. I’ve seen some amazing ideas, often simple changes that could benefit nearly any car wash. Over the coming months I’ll try to share many of the real world marketing ideas, maintenance tips, and management practices that I’ve seen or used myself to successfully improve the bottom line.

There are many costs that have escalated for car washers recently, but none stand out more prominently than the rising cost of labor. It is an issue that has inspired tremendous innovation in equipment and altered the way many operators approach car washing. Every situation is unique and cutting labor expense without hurting customer service, lowering wash quality, or decreasing safety can be tricky. Below I will outline five steps I have seen used successfully to lower labor expense. There is no such thing as a risk free quick-fix, but I hope you find some ideas you can incorporate into your own wash.

Step 1: Start your work week on Thursday

The custom of starting the work week on Monday does not work well at a car wash. For almost every Full Serve location, Saturday is by far the busiest day. The problem is that unexpected surges and no-shows on Saturday can leave operators rushing to add staff. Finding people quickly often forces managers to ask employees who have already finished their work week to come back in. This results in overtime pay that quickly destroys all of your efforts to reduce labor expense.

One of the most effective methods to eliminate this dilemma is to start the work week on Thursday. Shifting your work week to start when you are busiest provides added flexibility. Now when you need to quickly bring extra people in on Saturday, you can draw from all staff, all at regular pay. The problem of finding more manpower still exists. What is important is that it has been delayed. Hopefully when your shortage occurs on Tuesday or Wednesday, you will have had time to hire more labor or make other arrangements without resorting to overtime pay.

Step 2: Recruit talent on an ongoing basis

Good help is hard to find – so as car wash operators we sometimes have to search harder. Many operators try to keep a constant list of potential employees to call as positions open. Have you ever received great service from an employee at a restaurant or store and thought “I wished they worked for me?” Although not for everyone, I have seen some operators pre-print cards with something to the effect of “You’ve been spotted offering great customer service” with a telephone number to call if they are interested in employment. It can be a very effective recruitment tool. It can of course backfire, especially in smaller markets. You never want to discover that some of your best customers are the managers of the people you recruited.

Step 3: Stagger your schedule

Staggering staff is simple in concept. Shifts of employees start every hour staggered for the first several hours growing as volume increases. As volume decreases, early shifts go home, reducing your labor expense smoothly as volume drops. Although simple in concept, the goal of having no idle employees is more complicated to achieve in practice. The real world seems to disrupt things with weather changes, illness, and many other factors that can be difficult to predict. The guiding principle is to meticulously plan and try for small continuous improvement.

Ironically the method for refining your staff plan is similar in theory to how weather predictions are made. Look at historical information, adjust for present conditions, and make your best guess. If you’re not already doing it, and your computer system doesn’t do it for you, you should be tracking how many cars you wash at what point of each day. Once you have your historical values plotted, adjust for weather, and develop a staffing plan that overlaps your labor during anticipated peaks. Although more predictable, if we look to the fast food model, staffing is often done in fifteen minute increments with three daily peaks. I mention this to help keep in focus that shaving 15 minutes of labor from just one employee per day at $8 per hour can save up to $730 per year. Multiply that number by 10 and the payoff for the somewhat tedious task of planning and staggering your schedule can really start to pay off.

Step 4: Reduce your prep and finishing work

When approaching this most fundamental step of reducing labor expense the best advice is to start small. Pick the slowest time on your slowest day. Begin by planning how you could produce a perfectly clean, shiny, dry car at that moment with no prep work. Depending on your equipment, the elimination of prep during the slowest times is often easily attained. If none of the ideas I outline below are enough to get you to that level, you may want to consider contacting your equipment and detergent suppliers. The benefits of having even 1 hour where you can run without prep provides invaluable flexibility in staggering staff schedules and reducing labor expense.  

FIRST: Match your conveyor speed to carwash volume. Slowing down conveyor speed during slow volume hours will boost the dwell time detergents have to loosen dirt from the vehicle. Additionally it maximizes the friction contact time of mitters and side brushes for better cleaning. Drip space before drying also increases, resulting in cleaner, shinier, drier cars with less prep and finishing. Changing your conveyor speed several times a day is not uncommon at a busy location and setting the proper speed continuously is imperative in a slow to medium volume location.

SECOND: Check or adjust detergent application. Even the best equipment cannot clean a car without proper detergent application. It is hopeless to think about eliminating prep labor at any conveyor speed without a complete and even coating of detergent on all vehicle surfaces. Begin with the nozzles. The accuracy of a nozzle deteriorates with every car that is washed. Worn spray tips are difficult to visually diagnose but often the culprit for inconsistent application. Every car wash should have an established replacement interval for nozzles based on the nozzle material, detergent used, and the number of cars processed. Once you are confident of the integrity of your nozzles check how they are pointing. Many application arches have a single row of nozzles on one manifold perpendicular to the vehicle surface. This configuration presents difficulty getting full coverage of front and rear surfaces. One possibility to address this situation is angling some nozzles towards the front and rear of vehicles for increased coverage. Additional options exist to add a tee and convert one nozzle port into two nozzles aimed at the front and back of the vehicle. Be aware that increasing the number of nozzles may require reducing nozzle size depending on pump capacity. No matter what you do to get complete detergent application, it is fundamental to eliminating prep labor expense.

THIRD: Check detergent type and dilution. Having a good detergent supplier is like having an extra assistant manager. One that comes frequently and understands your business is vital to producing a clean car with less prep. Above I mentioned matching conveyor speed to car wash volume. It goes without saying that changing conveyor speed effects the required detergent concentration to achieve the same cleaning performance. Check with your detergent manufacturer to pre-determine correct concentrations as you change variables in your car wash. Producing a clean dry shiny car demands a complete understanding of the marriage between wash equipment, materials, and detergents. Mastering this relationship is critical to getting cleaner cars without relying on manual labor.

Step 5: Change finish area stacking

The most obvious step to reducing your labor expense is by getting greater productivity from each employee. Not to discount the value of training and motivational exercises, production can also be enhanced by changing loading and exit end traffic flow. One of the greatest opportunities exists by stacking cars efficiently in the Full Service finishing area. Based on what your property allows, you should layout a grid to the maximum width and necessary depth to accommodate the highest anticipated volume. Every car should come off the conveyor into an assigned spot, not to be moved until the owner drives away the finished product.  An organized grid system maintains all cars headed in the same direction. On a moderate day one team can work the entire grid. Cars are finished in order before the team returns to the first spot. As volume increases more finishing teams can be added with one team per row. As long is there is a car in the grid the drive off attendant must complete the grid. For a grid to work effectively it must always be adhered to regardless of volume or employee count. Good habits breed efficiency which is what reducing labor expense is all about.

Summary

Reducing your labor expense demands a careful plan and a lot of work. There is no one quick fix and success often comes in small increments. Eliminating labor is about increasing efficiency. In streamlining your wash process you will tackle issues related to equipment, detergent, and management. My biggest suggestion is to start with your slowest day, set a clear goal for staff reduction, and to try new ideas until you attain your goal. Once you have something working well, apply it to other days and take another step forward towards reducing your labor expense.

Self Serve, Touch-Free,Express, & In-Bay - Finding Profitability in changing marketplace

By Anthony Analetto
Originally Published in AutoLaundry Magazine

Interview with Tim Jones,
Owner of Champion Car Wash

 Go to your local bookstore and you’ll find no shortage of business and motivational books instructing people and organizations to continuously reinvent themselves and their businesses to find success.  Good advice, but often the real trick is to implement change that complements and elevates existing parts of your business that are already successful. Basically, change is best when it doesn’t fix what’s not broken or throw out the proverbial baby with the dirty bath water.

 

Talk to Tim Jones, owner of Champion Car Wash, for just a few minutes and you’ll leave the conversation with a feeling that reinventing a company’s operating model is easy. Entering the car wash business in 1993, Tim was a co-founder of one of our industry’s largest self-serve chains before starting Champion. Today, Champion Car Wash consists of four locations offering a mix of self-serve, in-bay automatic, and most recently conveyorized tunnel wash services. Completing a renovation of one of his sites less than two weeks ago, Tim was kind enough to share some of his insights on where the market is going and how he’s planning to adapt for continued growth. So what happens when you replace a touch-free in-bay automatic at a 6-bay self-serve wash with a mini-friction express tunnel? I’ve included a few excerpts from the conversation below.

 

ANALETTO: What changes led you to convert a touch-free in-bay automatic at your 6-bay self-serve wash to a mini-friction express tunnel?

 

JONES, OWNER – CHAMPION CAR WASHES: Competition has changed, our customers have changed, and the area surrounding our business has changed. We built this wash back in 1995 as a 6-and-1 during what I like to call the good-old days. “Build it and they will come” was true back then and this has always been a good location for us. It’s on a main road and over the last 13 years, daily traffic has grown dramatically. Some new residential has been built, and a lot of older houses have been revitalized. The wash is now surrounded by fast-food and other major retailers and the location sits between a wealthier community and an up-and-coming residential area, drawing customers from both.

 

Two things really led me to make this investment. First, I had a busy touch-free automatic that was worn out and needed replacement. Second, I had a threat of competition when an express-exterior franchise looked to build a new wash across the street from me but ran into some zoning problems. This has been a busy automatic for us, but replacing it with a new in-bay would still limit me to 8 to 10 cars per hour. I’ve had some experience with conveyors and knew I could increase my volume with an extreme express tunnel. I also wanted to eliminate the threat of one opening up near me. Tunnels and conveyors have changed a lot over the years. They’re safer now and can deliver a good clean car. To me the conversion seemed the best choice I could make at this site.

 

ANALETTO: What staffing changes have you had to make?

 

JONES: The self-serve is still open 24 hours, but we’ve always staffed it with a single attendant for 8 hours a day to keep traffic flowing and the site maintained. Right now I have the tunnel open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. and am staffing the location with one person Monday through Thursday, and two people Friday through Sunday. One person is always available to guide customers onto the conveyor for safety. When volume picks up during the week I’m calling in a second. We’ve been open less than two weeks and one person has been able to handle things. There hasn’t been a big line up of cars yet, but as the wash matures I expect to have two people on staff all the time. I’m also planning to send my managers to outsourced courses for the training on the maintenance, repair, and management of the tunnel. I have to be able to deliver a consistent product and service time for the express tunnel to work, and have to train adequately for that to happen.  

 

ANALETTO: How have customers reacted to the change? Is it what you were expecting?

 

JONES: I’ve had very good responses and not one negative comment from my customers. The cars leave cleaner in less time and, I can offer extra services I wasn’t able to before. In less than 3 minutes a customer is through the tunnel and can choose to get a tire shine, triple foam, and even a total body and glass protectant. It’s not just extra revenue, it offers customers better quality and more choices. I haven’t had a single person leave that was looking for the touch-free in-bay automatic. Although we just opened the tunnel, the self-serve remained open during the entire renovation and revenue has remained constant. We did a complete facelift on the whole property. Everything is clean and bright and we added more options to our bays including credit card acceptance and dryers. After only a week and a half it’s too early to predict exactly what will happen but I’ve already begun renovating my next location where I’m replacing two touch-free in-bay automatics with a slightly longer tunnel.

 

ANALETTO: Are there specific conditions or location where you feel this format fits best?

 

JONES: You need to have a high population density, but other than that I think the whole country has been conditioned to expect better quality faster, for less money. Every business has to be ready to adapt to changing conditions. Things are changing, and changing at an accelerating pace. To keep my current customers and attract new ones, I have to deliver what they want, which is better quality, faster, with more choices, at a lower price. Having both the self-serve and tunnel on the same property lets me deliver that and appeal to a wider base of customers.

 

ANALETTO: What pricing models have you tried or are considering?

 

JONES: I’ve started with $5, $8, and $10 dollar packages for the express wash and am already averaging $8. Before, with the automatic, I had $5, $6, $7, and $8 packages and averaged $7. Again, it’s still very early, but I’m averaging a higher ticket on more cars and couldn’t be happier. I’m using a single video kiosk and gated entry which will let me refine the packages and options, but for now I’m going to stay with what I started with, it’s working.

 

ANALETTO: Do you offer free vacuums to express customers?

 

JONES: Yes, express wash customers have free push button vacuums available in a gated area. Self-serve customers still have coin-op vacuums available as well. For marketing we’re also distributing free wash coupons and heavily promoting discounted wash cards. I’m also looking at an RFID (Radio-Frequency Identification) system and starting an unlimited wash club subscription. Like I said before, build it and they will come doesn’t cut it anymore; you need to have a marketing plan. When we built the self-serve we did little in the way of marketing. Those days are gone. I miss them, but today I have to focus on promoting the wash and delivering value added services like free vacuums to attract and keep new customers.

 

ANALETTO: What type of conveyor did you select for the conversion?

 

JONES: It’s a 60 foot front wheel pull over/under conveyor with a roller fired after the rear wheel to push vehicles off the conveyor. We’re running 65 cars per hour which gives us the right balance. I originally started at 90 cars per hour but had some rinse problems removing all the soap. I can run it faster, but the 65 car per hour chain speed gives me the best product with about a 2 ½-minute wash cycle. The original plan was to install a surface conveyor that required less concrete work, but I decided to spend the extra money up front to install an over/under conveyor that loads better and improves productivity. It’s working great. With absolutely no prepping and no wipe-down, we’re putting out a clean, dry, shiny car.

 

ANALETTO: Looking back, what surprises did you have; what would you do differently next time?

 

JONES: Upgrading the electrical service from 400amps to 800amps cost $69,000 which was $24,000 more than I thought. Excavation of the ground to put in the conveyor came in at $28,000 which was also more than I planned. Other than that, I had originally budgeted $300,000 for the renovation and managed to stay on budget. I’m happy with how things went. I’ve already begun renovating my next location which will replace two automatics with a conveyor, leaving the third touch-free automatic and 3 self-serve bays on the property with the extreme express tunnel.

 

ANALETTO: What are your future plans?

 

JONES: Ask me in a couple of months. I might have an answer then, but right now, I’m happy.

Steps to Success - Five Steps to Increasing Car Through Curb Appeal

 

 

By: Anthony Analetto

Originally Published in AutoLaundry Magazine

Does you car wash look taken care of and proud to be a member of the community? Try driving to work from different approaches for a few days.  Write down everything that catches your eye. Fresh flowers, new paint, bright colors, clock towers, lighted cupolas, large glass surfaces, employee activity – if it draws your attention, write it down.

 

Curb appeal refers to a evaluating how well a business’s facilities are maintained, its architectural style, landscaping, signage, and more. How many of the things that you wrote down above are prominent at your car wash?

 

As car wash operators, we’re in the business of selling CLEAN. At minimum, everything about your wash must scream out to customers passing by at 40 M.P.H. that you sell CLEAN. At best, your curb appeal can differentiate your wash from the competition, command trust from your customers, and increase your car count.

 

There are many ways to use curb appeal to create a positive first impression and set your car wash apart. It is a quality that is not as obvious as a new coat of paint or a big sign. Improving your wash’s presence also does not necessarily mean spending a huge amount of money. Many things that build curb appeal merely require careful planning and attention to details. Below I have organized the process into five steps. I hope it provides a useful starting point for you to begin maximizing every detail of your car wash’s appearance to increase your car counts.

 

Step 1: Come up with a concept and complete plan

The first thing you should do is walk as far away from the front of your car wash as you can. Leave your driveway; go across the street and down the road. Check every approach where a customer can see your wash. Now take a really good look at it. Notice what draws your eye right away. In most cases, the conveyor exit should be the main focal point from at least one approach – preferably the one with the easiest access. If it’s not, it’s a good starting point for improvement.

 

The goal of building curb appeal is not specifically to make an attractive wash. Focus your plan based on what you want to communicate to prospective and existing customers. Basically, what’s in it for them? There are many factors, but I like to start with the big three. First - a clean dry shiny car. Second – a fast service time. Third – a solid value for their money.

 

What visual features of your car wash communicate any of the big three advantages? The purpose of this step is not to come up with a bunch of quick fixes. Whatever you do, don’t head straight back to your office and start ordering signs. If that was your first impulse, it means there is some room for improvement. Addressing the opportunity means making a complete and detailed plan. The goal is getting the greatest bang for each dollar you spend on building curb appeal.

 

Step 2: Focus on the conveyor exit

Car washes sell clean cars. Attention should be drawn to where they are produced, the conveyor exit. Nearly every realtor will tell a person planning to sell a house to paint the front door and make sure there is nothing blocking its view from the street. The advice is to make it stand out, which shows you are proud of what is inside. The same recommendation applies to the conveyor exit at a car wash.

 

Too often the end of the tunnel is just a hole in the side of the building. To build curb appeal you want to accentuate it. First look at landscaping. Do any shrubs or other movable items block its view from the street? If so, can they be removed or lowered? It is rarely a bad idea to create the most spectacular flower display your budget can afford next to the exit, provided it is easily seen by passing cars.

 

Next, consider architectural features that focus attention and project pride about your conveyor exit. A simple painted border in an accent color can have a strong impact. Other considerations are awnings and landscape lighting. If you can imagine tall colorful landscaping on either side of your tunnel with lights illuminating an awning over the conveyor exit imprinted with the message “Clean Cars Exiting Every 30 Seconds” - you are on your way to making an exit that builds curb appeal.

 

Step 3: Maximize your driveways impact

When maximizing your driveways impact, think two things – busy and clean. As a rule, the appearance of being busy cleaning cars will always enhance your curb appeal. Full serve locations should stack cars for wiping down as close to the curb as possible. Think of your finishing area as a theater. You need to put on a show that convinces every potential customer that you take cleaning cars very seriously. Are your attendants all dressed in clean identical uniforms? Do you have visible supply carts with colorful signage equally spaced in each lane across the front of the finishing area? I’ve seen some operators go so far as to match shirt and towel colors. Another inexpensive accent that can work very well on slower days is to set out wind master signs in a bright color printed with “Estimated Wait Time Less Than 5 Minutes”. Every detail that creates a clean professional and efficient image will contribute to your curb appeal.

 

None of the tips above will work effectively to maximize your driveway’s impact if it is not clean and in good repair. If it is asphalt, it should be sharp black with bright painted lines. Concrete must be power washed regularly and you may want to explore how much it would cost to add a decorative finish. Problems with the condition of a driveway build slowly. Looking at it everyday, what you barely notice as a small weed growing out of a crack is actually an eyesore destroying the curb appeal of your wash.

 

Step 4: Get the most out of your employees

At a full serve location, one of the most important features that can build curb appeal during operating hours is the employees. Clean sharp uniforms are just the beginning. Bright colors work well. Ties and caps can also build a professional image. More important than how they are dressed, is what they are doing. During busy hours, quick activity finishing cars will project fast service time and good value to customers. Now, walk across the street again during a slow period with no traffic. Do your attendants look like they are anxiously waiting to clean the next car that comes in? You are selling CLEAN and even if there are no cars being washed, your attendants should show constant activity, constant cleaning. Have them sweep their area of the driveway. If there are any signs out front, have an attendant with a towel and a spray bottle cleaning it. Wash windows; hose down door mats. No matter what, if you are open, your attendants should be passionately cleaning something, anything, visible from the street.

 

Step 5: Make the best use of your building and landscaping

Once you have a clean driveway with an attractive and busy finishing area, turn your attention to landscaping and the building itself. Commonly, landscaping is added as an afterthought or completely absent. Remembering that a professional car wash is in the business of selling a beautiful appearance, attractive plants and shrubbery demand more attention than they often get. More and more operators are turning to landscape architects to design an attractive exterior. Just like a beautifully landscaped house, a well planned setting can demonstrate pride of ownership. This facet of curb appeal can increase customer’s confidence in the quality of the wash you deliver.

 

Next examine the building. Is it clean and freshly painted? Do you have lots of lighting and glass? Do any of the fixtures look dated? A clean modern building communicates to a customer that you will provide a clean car using modern technology. Updating fixtures and railings can be a relatively cost effective way to modernize an existing structure.  There also exist many foam architectural enhancements that can be used to give your car wash a contemporary look and feel with no major construction. Adding awnings to windows and doors as well as canopies to other areas of your wash can also have a dramatic effect on curb appeal.

 

Summary

Today’s hyper competitive economy demands more than turning out a clean, dry, shiny car. Customers will develop beliefs about the quality of a car wash, the level of service, and value provided simply by the appearance of the facility itself. Improving a sites curb appeal involves careful planning. It requires using visual cues to communicate that your wash delivers a fast quality product at a good value. My biggest suggestion is to walk away from your wash and think in terms of how your car wash’s appearance projects those qualities.  With attention to detail, improving your site’s curb appeal can have a tremendous impact on building your car count.

Car Wash Preventative Maintenance Part 2 - Weekly, Monthly, Biannual and Annual Services

By: Anthony Analetto
Originally Published in AutoLaundry Magazine

If you subscribe to the belief that “in the real world” things are too hectic to methodically carry out scheduled preventative maintenance (PM), you are potentially leaving tens of thousands of dollars in lost profit on the table. For the most part, the mysterious gremlins that cause breakdowns on busy Saturdays can almost always be traced back to a weak PM program. Car wash equipment is inherently durable. When properly maintained you should expect zero downtime and many years of trouble free service.

For those of you who carefully log each item in your wash and perform the recommended maintenance according to each manufacturer’s documentation on the exact day the service is due, stop reading and continue what you are doing. That is the ideal that everyone should strive toward. This rough overview of PM is for those of us who wait until we suspect something is about to break before servicing it. If you fall into that category and are looking to reduce repair and downtime expense with an easy to implement routine, I hope you find some helpful pointers below.

Successful PM is a Weekly Habit

In a perfect world, each and every item in your car wash would have an odometer. PM would be performed for each piece of equipment individually as directed at a pre-determined number of cars. Since this is nearly impossible, manufacturers instead recommend PM on weekly, monthly, biannual, or annual intervals. Juggling which items need to be serviced on which day can become tedious. Adding or replacing items over time quickly adds to the confusion. Needless to say it often seems less expensive to abandon the comprehensive PM program entirely. This can be a costly mistake.

The first battle to developing an effective PM routine is to eliminate the question of when the next PM is scheduled. Some form of PM should occur on the same day every week. Pick a slower day, when everyone involved is available and not too exhausted to be effective. Another method is to do PM the same night you pull time cards. This means that if your work week starts on Thursday, every Wednesday night, time cards are pulled at the end of the day. Whoever puts the time cards in the envelope is required to insert the initialed PM checklist and sign the outside of the envelope indicating that all activities were completed. Using the time cards is a great trigger to remember PM, and associating the process with paychecks often elevates the perceived importance of the task for everyone at the wash.

Once everyone knows automatically that “tonight is PM night” and approaches it with the question “what do we have to do?” you have a solid foundation to enact a successful program. Last month I addressed Daily PM and you should have a checklist made. Now you simply have to list all of the weekly, monthly, biannual, and annual services necessary for the equipment in your wash.

The standard weekly PM

The exact activities of the weekly PM will vary depending on your wash package. One vital aspect that is universal is the need to thoroughly clean the tunnel, cloth, and all equipment. Resist the temptation to skip it under any circumstances. In addition to increasing customer satisfaction, having a clean tunnel improves the ability to spot problems during Daily PM. With that said below is a base outline to jumpstart your weekly implementation.

1. Thoroughly clean the tunnel, cloth, and all equipment.
2. Grease all rotational bearings. Make a separate task to be initialed for each equipment item that will receive service. Common items that incorporate rotational bearings include conveyors, tire brushes, mitters, top brushes, wrap-around washers, side brushes, and vacuum systems.
3. Clean or replace all filters and strainers. Treat each occurrence as a separate line item; include all pump stations, reclaim-systems, spot-free water systems, and vacuums.
4. Check all nozzles for wear and replace as necessary. Car washes have many nozzles and you will want to list each equipment item separately to avoid mistakes.
5. Check chain tension and remove chain links as necessary.
6. Closely inspect the operation of all moving components in the wash. Make sure to inspect smooth operation as well as all hose connections.
7. Spray lubricant on cylinder rod ends and clevises wherever present.
8. Wipe excess dirt and grime from the conveyor take-up slide.
9. Check that the photo eye signal level is 5 or above depending on lighting conditions.
10. Check oil level in all Filter Regulator Lubricators (FRLs).
11. Rinse down the conveyor trench.

The first weekly PM of each month

At least once a month you will need to increase the number of services performed during the standard weekly PM to include all monthly activities. Often it is easiest to designate the first PM to occur in each month for this routine. During this expanded weekly PM you will also want to include items from your biannual and annual maintenance lists. The goal here is to spread scheduled activities over the year so that no single PM is overly strenuous. Some operators will assign biannual and annual services to the standard weekly PM nights to more evenly distribute required labor. Although very effective, the practice requires more careful management to ensure nothing is forgotten. You will want to check the manuals that came with your equipment, but some common activities include:

Monthly PM services

1. Grease all pivot point bearings commonly found on tire brushes, wrap-around washers, side brushes, tire dressing applicators, and dryer arches.
2. Inspect all UHMW bearings for wear and replace if necessary.
3. Check oil levels on all pumps, gear boxes, and Filter Regulator Lubricators (FRLs).
4. Check all hardware for tightness and thoroughly clean all assemblies.
5. Remove tire dressing applicator foam pads, check spray nozzles and replace or flip pads as needed.
6. Check all drive belts for wear or damage and replace if necessary.
7. Apply spray lubricant to all vacuum access door latches.
8. Grease conveyor slide tubes on take-up section.
9. Clean sediment and dirt from all pump station storage/solution tanks.
10. Carefully inspect each conveyor roller, chain link and cotter.
11. Check spot-free water inlet pressure safety switch, by shutting off water supply.
12. Check spot-free chlorine level, PPM, and water hardness.
13. Clean conveyor trench removing all debris.

Biannual

1. Check cloth for wear or damage and replace as needed.
2. Replace air compressor air filter.
3. Change hydraulic power pack return line filters.
4. Clean reclaim tanks. This may need to be done quarterly depending on volume.

Annual

1. Have a licensed electrician check current draw on each leg of power to all electrical motors.
2. Grease all electrical motors on dryer assemblies.
3. Drain, purge and refill oil in all air compressor and high pressure pump crankcases.
4. Drain, purge and refill all hydraulic systems.
5. Drain, purge and refill oil in all gear reducers.
6. Remove chain from conveyor, flip over and reinstall.
7. Carefully inspect correlator bushings and bearings and replace if worn.
8. Replace all nozzles to prevent excessive chemical usage. Alternatively this critical aspect of wash performance can be scheduled based on cars processed and detergent used.
9. Install air compressor maintenance packs as required.

SUMMARY

Executing a comprehensive preventative maintenance program is vital to increasing the profitability of any car wash. It requires careful planning and precise documentation, but the rewards are well worth the investment of time and resources. Equipment failure and the painful losses that result from unexpected closure are completely avoidable. Often the hardest part is just getting started. I hope you found some useful information in this article to start or improve upon your PM program.  

Full-Serve Car Wash Expansion

By: Anthony Analetto
Originally Published in AutoLaundry Magazine

Interview with David Daszkal,
Owner of Motor City Car Wash

Speak with David Daszkal for just a few minutes and you’ll leave the conversation with a renewed enthusiasm for the potential and future of the full-serve car wash model. Building his first car wash in 2003 from the ground up, David went against the express-exterior trend. David has led Motor City Car Wash’s modified version of the traditional full-serve to increased volume and revenue for 5 years straight. His second wash opened in 2006 and by the time this interview prints, David’s third full-serve wash will be open to the public.

Borrowing from the flex-serve model, David designed Motor City Car Wash to deliver the high per car ticket average of a full-serve with better control of labor, quality, and customer service. Below are some excerpts from his ideas to successfully build and operate a full-serve wash in today’s market.

ANALETTO: In the last 5 years you have built 2 full-serve washes from the ground up and are about to open your third location.  What has convinced you that this is the best model?

DASZKAL; OWNER OF MOTOR CITY CAR WASH: Although an operator can choose how to operate, ultimately, the market determines what will be successful. In my opinion, certain market conditions dictate whether you should operate full-serve or exterior. The communities where I have built my washes all contain a fast growing population of middle and upper middle income families. I live in the town where I built my first. I know many of my customers socially and feel I understand their priorities. Everyone is busy, not just with work, but also with scheduling activities for our families and children that usually make a mess out of our cars’ interior. My customers want a clean car, but don’t want to burn hours of what seems like too little free time to get it done. I can deliver a full-serve wash in approximately 12 minutes and have worked hard to maintain a consistent time of service even when volume peaks. The full-serve model fits my customer’s needs.

ANALETTO: Do you feel you’re missing out on maximizing your sites volume potential by concentrating on full-serve?

DASZKAL: Not at all. We offer 4 progressive full-serve wash packages which you can read about on our website at www.motorcitycarwash.com. On the first three, a customer can choose to skip the interior cleaning and save about six dollars. That means a customer can choose our basic full-serve for $11.99 or opt to have our exterior only for $5.99. Our third package includes wheel cleaner, underbody, triple-foam, and online tire shine for $17.99, but again a customer can choose to forgo interior cleaning and pay only $11.99. Even though the menu board tries to promote our exterior wash option and low price, exterior represents only about 15% of our business. In the markets I operate, customers want, and are willing to pay for a full-serve wash.

ANALETTO: What characteristics at your locations, if any, differ from a traditional full serve wash?

DASZKAL: To some degree, the sites are actually laid out according to the flex-serve model with all interior services at the tunnel exit. Regardless, I consider myself a full-serve operator for two reasons. First, all customers exit the vehicle and wait in my lobby while their car is washed. Although we really concentrate on washing and detailing cars, this is still an important part of our business that averages an additional dollar per car. Second, I have a double-stack at the entrance with a greeter recommending services instead of an automated kiosk. All locations offer both express detailing and professional detailing services which represent a significant percent of our business. I believe having a live greeter not only helps sell more detailing, but makes my business feel more a part of the community.

ANALETTO: You’ve mentioned being part of your community several times, do you think that focus has impacted your success?

DASZKAL: Absolutely. I opened my first location where I lived and truly believe an operator’s success rate will be better, especially for the first wash, when built in their own community. You know the people, have a better feel of what’s important to them, and have more opportunities to network.

Now with three locations, it’s nearly impossible for me to have that personal connection with the communities where I’ve chosen to expand. Instead, I’ve cultivated a general manager at each store, empowered them to run the business as if it were their own, and compensate them according to performance. I’ve backed them up with operational and training procedures to streamline their day, and have given them the authority to do what’s right for the customer. Training is critical, not just when you hire someone, but every day. Maintaining enthusiasm and continuously living up to the standards of the company doesn’t just happen.

ANALETTO: What are the advantages and disadvantages to performing all interior services including vacuuming at the exit end?

DASZKAL: I worked at full-serve washes for years before opening my own. Entrance vacuuming can deliver slightly better throughput during peak volume but it’s more difficult to manage. Borrowing from the flex-serve model, I can keep the bulk of my employees in one area so I have better control over quality. On busy days we have 10 spaces with 20 people finishing cars. We can process up to 65 cars per hour full-serve at 12 minutes from the greeter to the finish. When volume drops I can easily cut back to a 2-man crew which allows me to advertise that I’m open rain or shine on the same schedule every day. My customers expect the wash to be open when they pull in the driveway and we can still do a decent detailing business even when the weather is less than perfect. I also separate the full-serve area from express detailing, and have a canopied area for full detailing giving me even more flexibility to move labor around as conditions change.

ANALETTO: All three of your locations were new construction. What do you look for when selecting a property for this model?

DASZKAL: In addition to looking at ingress, egress, and traffic count, I really concentrate on the demographics and community factors I mentioned before. The other thing I weigh heavily is how other businesses in the area are doing. The bottom line is how much are people spending in the market. For proof I look at how well franchise and chain stores are doing and try to determine if they are at or above average. I obviously want to build in an area before property values peak, but not so early that there won’t be enough volume to meet my investment objectives.

ANALETTO: What aspects of construction have changed since you opened your first location 5 years ago?

DASZKAL: Mainly that construction costs have increased about 40% since I built my first wash. Other than that, I’ve tried to build each of the washes as close as possible to the design of the original location. Unfortunately, each property has different restrictions that have forced me to make minor changes to fit the site. Different set-backs and considerations for ingress and egress have to be accounted for. In reality, I’ve never yet been able to build exactly what I want, where I want to, because of restrictions.

ANALETTO: What adjustments are you making to adapt to today’s economy?

DASZKAL: I haven’t done anything yet. For the past 5 years Motor City Car Wash has been fortunate to have grown each year. Customers are definitely watching every dollar. Frequency from regular clientele has dropped off. Our average per car is also down slightly. Luckily the area is still growing, albeit more slowly than before.  The best we can do is to deliver superior quality and value. We do some couponing - direct mail, and newspaper – but we really concentrate on taking care of our customer. I believe that our focus on customer service and generating good word-of-mouth in our community is the reason we’re still growing.

To me, a business has to decide what profit margin they deserve to work on and price their service accordingly. I can’t decrease. In truth, our costs have risen but I’ve held prices steady. I suppose this would in fact be what I’m currently doing to adapt to today’s economy.

ANALETTO: What advice do you have for someone looking to get into the full-serve business?

DASZKAL: Know the community and be a member of it. Otherwise, hire managers with strong ties to the community and empower them to have a sense of ownership of the car wash. I really believe it gives you an edge as a full-serve operator.

The other recommendation I give to people looking to get into the industry is to not build on top of another operator.  I do believe car washing is a tight industry but that’s not the reason I would never open up next to another wash believing I could steal their business. Cleaning the interior of a customer’s car is a very personal service. You can build a bigger, faster, nicer looking location, but it’s impossible to create connections to the community and trust fast enough to make the investment pay off. I’ve watched new locations go in and try to cannibalize from existing operators and really struggle to build their volume. Full-serve is almost as much about personalized customer service as it is delivering a clean car.

I prefer to look for different traffic patterns or barriers such as highways and medians to give me separation from other washes in the area. It’s not because I’m being nice, I’m just not willing to make a multi-million dollar investment when there’s no way for me to measure how loyal customers are to the service and personality of an existing location.