Hello all, my new single IBA construction is in full swing. This site will have a Washworld HV and a vacuum shelter with three vacuums. My wife and I are thinking of hiring an attendant for this new site. Do any of you have an attendant for a IBA? Would you pay him an hourly rate, a percentage of sales for each day, or work on tips only. What are your thoughts?
Attendant at new IBA site
- Thread starter APW
- Start date
Waxman
Super Moderator
yes; make them a regular hourly employee if sales warrant it.
A breathing human is always preferred by your customers, at least for the first few days or weeks. Work out the pay as best you can. Every site is different. I once had my wife and her sister, both six foot blonds nice to look at, at a place for a few days and it certainly helped.
washnshine
Well-known member
robert roman
Bob Roman
“…if sales warrant it…”
Good advice because of the math.
Generally speaking, one in-bay requires 1,800 washes to cover labor burden for one part-time employee and 3,600 washes for one full-time person.
If site is producing 12,000 washes, it would need to produce 13,800 with part-time and 15,800 with full-time or profit would decrease.
If attendant’s presence increases volume from 12,000 to 18,000 and average sales from $8.50 to $10.00, it would add $35,000 to NOI.
$35,000 increase in NOI would increase business-only value by roughly $100,000.
So, $23,000 plus investment can make financial sense if labor is maximally productive.
However, it takes more than warm body to increase sales by 6,000 cars (50 percent increase) and $1.50 increase in average sales.
Nice looking six foot blonds on site 40 hours might work but this isn’t practical.
So, what actions will attendant take that would lead to increase in attraction rate, loyalty rate and/or average sales?
Like adding detail to self-service wash, this is when most operators fall down.
For example, I’ve seen several c-store and gas operations attempt to add labor to in-bay to bolster customer service and increase financial performance.
Each attempt failed because the attendants were simply not productive enough.
So, if the attendant isn’t going to be consistently involved with income generating activities, I would focus on maximizing the use of technology and marketing techniques.
Good advice because of the math.
Generally speaking, one in-bay requires 1,800 washes to cover labor burden for one part-time employee and 3,600 washes for one full-time person.
If site is producing 12,000 washes, it would need to produce 13,800 with part-time and 15,800 with full-time or profit would decrease.
If attendant’s presence increases volume from 12,000 to 18,000 and average sales from $8.50 to $10.00, it would add $35,000 to NOI.
$35,000 increase in NOI would increase business-only value by roughly $100,000.
So, $23,000 plus investment can make financial sense if labor is maximally productive.
However, it takes more than warm body to increase sales by 6,000 cars (50 percent increase) and $1.50 increase in average sales.
Nice looking six foot blonds on site 40 hours might work but this isn’t practical.
So, what actions will attendant take that would lead to increase in attraction rate, loyalty rate and/or average sales?
Like adding detail to self-service wash, this is when most operators fall down.
For example, I’ve seen several c-store and gas operations attempt to add labor to in-bay to bolster customer service and increase financial performance.
Each attempt failed because the attendants were simply not productive enough.
So, if the attendant isn’t going to be consistently involved with income generating activities, I would focus on maximizing the use of technology and marketing techniques.
