Looking for feedback from carwash owners

[The Wash Locator Guy]

Hi all! I am new here and a new participant in the space. I am currently working on something to improve online engagement with people who are actively looking to find a car wash. I am about midway through the build-out of the website/web app and hope to get some feedback on what I am doing and if some of you who own wash locations would find it a valuable tool to drive more business. My goal is to make sure my new venture effectively improves the space for everyone! I believe the way it currently works isn't very effective for either those who are searching for a wash or owners.

Anyhow, I am not ready to publicly lay out the whole thing just yet to try to keep it proprietary before launch. I am hoping to be up and running before The Car Wash Show in May in Nashville. So the big ask her is this: I am looking to have a couple of conversations with a few owners of varying types of wash locations to ask a couple of quick questions about the following:

1. Your current online presence. Where you are listed and how much engagement do you think you get?
2. Current online marketing spend? What current issues do you have with online marketing?
3. How much traffic do you actually get from online activities?

I'll then go over what I am working on and get some feedback to see if you think it would improve online engagement for your business.

I am looking for 1 or 2 owners in each of the following operating categories:

Automatic Drive Through - Spinning brush and touchless
Self-Serve
Automatic wash attached to a fuel station


Thank you, thank you, thank you in advance for anyone who can volunteer a few minutes to help me on my journey and hopefully improve the space for all!

If you are willing to help, let me know which category you operate in and I will message you to set a time that works for you to talk.

Also, any general feedback here on the topic is welcome!

-Chandler

 

[water guy]

Sounds like an info boy for the investors

 

[The Wash Locator Guy]

Sounds like an info boy for the investors

Well, that's certainly an interesting way to greet a new member. I'm just a guy chasing an idea trying to build something to solve a problem. I'm here looking to do exactly what I said. I certainly understand if you don't want to help me, but I'm not sure bashing me is in line with the purpose of this forum.

 

[MudMoney]

Long story short. My advertising is old school with means, location, location, location. Good luck in your endeavor !

 

[Blanco]

I will help you if you want. I will admit I dont have much of an online presence for my businesses. I do however own multiple locations including tunnels, self serves, and IBA's frictions and touchless.

 

[The Wash Locator Guy]

Long story short. My advertising is old school with means, location, location, location. Good luck in your endeavor !

Thanks for the insight! I've heard this sentiment from others and as a consumer, it generally makes up the primary part of the decision process. I'm actually leaning into the location as a big part of the strategy here. And, if you are saying you have stayed away from it because it isn't very effective as it exists today, I agree with you! I'm hoping to improve on it if I can on this crazy journey I am on.

 

[The Wash Locator Guy]

I will help you if you want. I will admit I dont have much of an online presence for my businesses. I do however own multiple locations including tunnels, self serves, and IBA's frictions and touchless.

Hi Blanco! Thanks for the offer and I will gladly accept your input! I think an operator's input with a diverse set of offerings like yours would be very valuable. I'll shoot you a message so we can exchange details.

 

[Earl Weiss]

if some of you who own wash locations would find it a valuable tool to drive more business.

Not me.

 

[eckert16]

Maybe I'm just old and ornery...
I've not met anyone who has said they first went to any type of social media to locate any carwarsh nearby.

I've met thousand's of people who are actively looking to find a car wash who have found a carwash by looking up "carwash near me" on their phone map app, Garmin device, car Navigation device while driving in towns... and other people that searched on a home computer mapping program in search of a carwash near them prior to visiting and becoming a customer. The only other references to the web, were from people that showed up at a carwash, and the owner may have said something to them about 'go to my website/FaceBook and become a member for a discount' type of deal'.

It is a curious question though... please let us know... besides those rare "carwash enthusiasts" that video a carwash in operation and then post the video to the internet social website for other enthusiasts/owners to view... please inform the forum of the demographic you discover. I'd be curious how internet surfers who are at home in front of their computing devices, and somehow are thinking of taking their car to a carwash nearby, and for some reason they want to go to social media site to find one near them instead of a using a mapping program.

 

[The Wash Locator Guy]

Maybe I'm just old and ornery...
I've not met anyone who has said they first went to any type of social media to locate any carwarsh nearby.

I've met thousand's of people who are actively looking to find a car wash who have found a carwash by looking up "carwash near me" on their phone map app, Garmin device, car Navigation device while driving in towns... and other people that searched on a home computer mapping program in search of a carwash near them prior to visiting and becoming a customer. The only other references to the web, were from people that showed up at a carwash, and the owner may have said something to them about 'go to my website/FaceBook and become a member for a discount' type of deal'.

It is a curious question though... please let us know... besides those rare "carwash enthusiasts" that video a carwash in operation and then post the video to the internet social website for other enthusiasts/owners to view... please inform the forum of the demographic you discover. I'd be curious how internet surfers who are at home in front of their computing devices, and somehow are thinking of taking their car to a carwash nearby, and for some reason they want to go to social media site to find one near them instead of a using a mapping program.

I 100% agree with you! I think that traditional marketing is well-suited for companies selling physical products but doesn't translate well to this business. Getting your car washed is an impulsive decision in most cases. As you indicated, your chance to grab them at the exact moment they are actively looking is the most important thing. This is the exact thing I am trying to solve for. From a consumer perspective, looking up "car wash near me" is still messy and far from perfect. This circles back to what MudMoney said above: Location is the most effective tool. I think this is because the whole thing is kind of broken at the moment. I appreciate your input as I think it validates what I am working on.

I am not ready to let the cat out of the bag fully just yet as I don't want someone or some organization better capitalized than I to get out in front of me. I'm not an ad guru or a social media ninja, I'm just a guy from an unrelated industry who keeps stubbing his toe on this dumb problem and crazily decided to try and solve it. If you were open to it, I'd love a chance to bend your ear and tell you more about what I am working on and get your feedback if you think it might address some of the concerns you mentioned. Thanks again!

 

[Earl Weiss]

I don't want someone or some organization better capitalized than I to get out in front of me.

I think it's already happened Search engines, google, Safari, etc.

 

[Roz]

I get way too many calls from Google, Yelp, and others I have never heard of about how they can drive customers to me. They claim that if I do not use them customers will not be able to find me. I just block their numbers which works until they use another number.

Carwash marketing is fairly simple. Good curb appeal, keep the place clean and in good working order, and give your customers more value than they expect for the cost of the wash. Most importantly, answer the phone if they call and try to address any issue or concern.

They will then be the best marketing agents for your wash. Online is a waste of money (for carwashes) as there is no accountability as to what works.

You are not the first (nor the last) who believes they can build a better mousetrap for the carwash industry. Even carwashes that have dedicated social media people for their online presence are finding the online approach to have little impact on their bottom line - and I know people who post new content daily.

Good luck with your endeavors, I always enjoy reading or hearing about a successful entrepreneur!

 

[Axxlrod]

I use my friends and family as test subjects.

I ask them what car washes they use.

The answer is always "the one next to Target" or "the car wash on the corner on the way to Home Depot".

They rarely know what the actual name of the car wash is.

So my marketing dollars are spent in acquiring good locations, building a good looking building that women would feel comfortable going to at night (good lighting), keeping the property clean, and building good signage.

That's it. That's what I do for marketing.

 

[The Wash Locator Guy]

Good luck with your endeavors, I always enjoy reading or hearing about a successful entrepreneur!

Thanks Roz for the encouragement! I certainly recognize that it seems kind of crazy to tackle this. I appreciate your insight and you are echoing about what I was expecting to hear. I operated a restaurant business some years ago and even then the calls from Yelp and the like were exhausting. I think the general sentiment is that the way it is now, online is not terribly useful in most markets to actually drive any business. And as far as mousetraps go, I figure that the worst-case scenario is I fail terribly and everyone keeps doing exactly what they currently do, the best-case scenario is I succeed and it's all just a bit better for everyone.

 

[The Wash Locator Guy]

I use my friends and family as test subjects.

I ask them what car washes they use.

The answer is always "the one next to Target" or "the car wash on the corner on the way to Home Depot".

They rarely know what the actual name of the car wash is.

So my marketing dollars are spent in acquiring good locations, building a good looking building that women would feel comfortable going to at night (good lighting), keeping the property clean, and building good signage.

That's it. That's what I do for marketing.

I've been using friends and family as test subjects too. It's actually what led me here. And 100% agree, people are creatures of familiar habit and "the one next to target" is where they always go because that's the one they know. And my 80 year old aunt who was frustrated about finding a car wash online is one of my inspirations here.

Believe it or not, all of these responses are exactly what I was looking for. It seems like a resounding agreement that location is easily on the top of the list followed by quality and condition of the facility and good service. And so far, not a ton of votes of confidence for the current structure of things like google, yelp, facebook, and maybe groupon etc.

Thanks again all!

 

[Dan kamsickas]

I think it's already happened Search engines, google, Safari, etc.

I can tap the little button on my steering wheel, say "Car Wash" and my built in navigation system on my Dodge Ram will have them pop up.

 

[sjb]

Forgive the deviation, as I think it all flows together…..

In honor of St Patrick’s day, I have a 27 year old tradition of bringing goodies to my local police department, and to the fire station that is located next door….

Location certainly matters, also build the community outreach…

Good luck to all!

 

[sjb]

Did I mention that I have an aol address… Oy!

 

[soapy]

My marketing was learned years ago. Location Location Location. I bought premium properties on busy roads. I feel at 50 percent of carwash buys are impulse buys when people drive by. I have found over they years when other car washes advertise on radio, tv etc. my bisiness goes up.