How much to discount for rainy/cloudy day special?

[DivineSuccess]

I hate the days, as i'm sure you do, when its cloudy with very little chance of rain and it keeps people away. I'd like to get a windmaster fill to display $x off our top wash ($12) for a cloudy/rainy day special.

How much do you think would be enough to get folks to wash their car when rain is threatening? I don't want to give away everything just enough to get more traffic in.

Thanks for your help guys!

 

[Waxman]

$3 off is what I would do. That's a guess; my thought is that you can still profit and use the special to drive business. A $3 savings is a decent amount and makes the promotion attractive to motorists.

FYI:

I begin Senior Citizens day tomorrow at my carwash, where seniors 65+ receive $3 off my top wash ($10).

Keep you posted w/results, good, bad and mediocre!

 

[smokun]

Slippery Slope

Do you have a Clean Car Guarantee program? If the format is structured properly, it should adequately buttress your price value.

If not, reducing your price will simply further devalue your product... which is probably discounted already. Instead, make sure that you are delivering the best performance value... and keep your pricing structure intact.

Cutting price isn't the traffic builder you think it is, and devaluing your product quickly becomes a slippery slope towards mediocre overall performance.

Quick, courteous service with high quality results trumps token discounting.

 

[chadrpalmer]

100% agree with Mr. Okun's opinion on this one. give a 48 hour guarantee on your top wash or two, ive seen it greatly affect a stores rainy day volume at more than one location.

 

[Waxman]

Please elaborate on a 'rainy day guarantee' and state why it's a better driver of wash volume than a discount day.

thanks.

 

[DivineSuccess]

I would like to do a rain day guarantee but the only issue is how to logistically operate it. we are using ws2's and have a greeter but it seems like it might be tough to keep track of everything.

I understand about devaluing my product but on rainy days would it really matter? would people wait to wash their car until a rainy day?

 

[Dean Taylor]

A full service wash near me offers a 48 hour rain- rewash guarantee. After talking with the owner, he says it does get more people to wash on off days and it's a very small percentage of people who actually cash in on the rewash deal. Those that do get the low end exterior wash only. He says it's well worth it.

 

[Earl Weiss]

I would like to do a rain day guarantee but the only issue is how to logistically operate it. we are using ws2's and have a greeter but it seems like it might be tough to keep track of everything.
QUOTE]

What is a WS2?

 

[smokun]

Clean Car Guarantee

I always felt that Rain Checks were sort of foolish... because they were an argument waiting to happen. So, we developed a better way to keep customers happy many decades ago.

The Clean Car Guarantee isn't a rain check. Instead, it is a combination Quality Control Assurance tool and a Customer Retention tool.

It is a 2-part promise to the customer:

1. Assuranace to the customer that if he or she isn't pleased with the wash quality, they get an immediate re-wash until satisfied.

2. Plus, if their car gets dirty again due to rain, environmental fallout, bugs or anything else within 2 days (48-hours), they get a No-Hassle Exterior Re-Wash for FREE! Just use the printed receipt instead of payment.

The time limit is variable, depending on the marketplace. 24-hours, 48-hours, 3 days, etc. The key is to remove sales inhibitions... and eliminate hesitation about washing. It removes the risk of regrets.

The Guarantee covers everything you can imagine... and provides a warm & fuzzy security blanket that promotes retention and reinforces customer loyalty. Most customers who take advantage of the Guarantee (less than 5%) reinvest their savings on extra-services during the re-wash. The trouble with the rain check is the perception of a need to verify "rain". Some carwash operators (not the brightest bulbs on the tree) foolishly used to challenge the veracity of their customers about the weather conditions, driving them away. I created the Guarantee to build business, increase exposure and eliminate the rain-check mentality... while leveling out the peaks & valleys of the weather as well as the bogus forecasting. It's been used by me... and my clients for over 40 years with much success.

 

[Earl Weiss]

Here is a sample

 

[MEP001]

WS2 = WashSelect II, a Unitec POS unit.

 

[Earl Weiss]

WS2 = WashSelect II, a Unitec POS unit.

Not familear with this setup. Perhaps others with questions can copy one of our systems. With the DRB duplicate receipts are printed. The attendant writes the Lic. plate # on Both. Customer gets one and attendant keeps one. Since it is a 5 day guarantee we have 5 slots in the attendent's booth. With the Datatrax we have no reciept printer so a receipt book is used with same info to create dup receipts.

When a customer comes for the rewash he must give up his orgl receipt and it must match the lic # on the car. The attendant pulls the duplicate from the slot which has all receipts from that day and staples them together. The rewash is accounted for that way. On the 6th day the slot 6 days prior is emptied and used for that day.

 

[Chiefs]

Earl, The issue is how do you generate wash volume and of course revenue in the summer and fall, especially if you're losing a lot of weekends to boot. Cable, newspaper, Val-Pak, in-house coupons, web site, google etc. The answer is that during this time of the year, the only thing that will motivate people to wash their car is kind of like the same reason they wash it in the winter... Their car is dirty and the weather is good today. Business will even be better today if the forecast for towmorrow is good too.

I've tracked our numbers for years and through all of the advertising mediums. The variations in 12 years to our wash volume from April to December has been entirely weather related. (O.K. $4.00+ gas last year hurt too).

The only really effective advertising we've experienced recently was local area comunity calendars. We are now committed to coupons on the bottom of the calenday for 12 months a year. The return rate on these coupons has been great as the calendar includes the community's school calendar are beautifully done, are very useful, are free and get mailed to every resident in the city. We do 3 different calendars.

I've thought about what you're trying to do. Besdies the logistics of it, Any kind of rain guarantee is going to create some kind of argument at some point regardless of your sign. Secondly its a gimmick and will have a very limited impact. Let's say you cut you price in half on the $12, what makes you think that people will come in on a crappy day and pay $6 when they won't come in for your basic wash on that same day and pay $3?

Next, how much wash volume and dollars are you going to give away that would have come when the weather starightens out?

Try monthly passes for all your wash packages - far less headaches.

 

[Earl Weiss]

Earl, The issue is how do you generate wash volume and of course revenue.<<

Lots of good points. The pojnt of the clean car guarantee is to lessen resistance to washing or buying the top package because they are looking at the sky and thinking of postponing their decisiion to wash. With the guarantee, this impact is lessened. So far it would seem that 20% of the sales result in people using the rewash. Hard to tell if overall frequency is up with all the lovely weather we have. However, I note that many peopl have upgraded to this higher package. Would they ahve doen it without the guarantee? I do not know.
<<
I've tracked our numbers for years and through all of the advertising mediums. The variations in 12 years to our wash volume from April to December has been entirely weather related. (O.K. $4.00+ gas last year hurt too).<<<

I feel the same, except as I said, this helps promote the top package.
<<

The only really effective advertising we've experienced recently was local area comunity calendars. ....We do 3 different calendars.<<<<

Register receipt coupons are the best results for us along these lines as well.

<<
I've thought about what you're trying to do. Besdies the logistics of it, Any kind of rain guarantee is going to create some kind of argument at some point regardless of your sign...<<<

All I can say is so far no noticeable issues with time limits. Again, primary imapct is promtoing the top package, Second is lessening resistance to some potential weather concerns.

<<
Next, how much wash volume and dollars are you going to give away that would have come when the weather starightens out? <<<<<<<<<<

Based upon redemption percentages I feel little is given away. Without the guarantee I think few would wash 2 times in 5 days anyway.

 

[Earl Weiss]

<<Try monthly passes for all your wash packages - far less headaches.[/QUOTE]
<<<

Monthly passes IMNSHO require a substantial investment RFID etc. to properly monitor. Otherwise how do you prevent the greeter / cashier from saying 10 people with passes came in when there were only 8 etc. and pocketing the 2 paying customers.

 

[smokun]

Wasn't Post's Original Concern Weather?

I hate the days, as i'm sure you do, when its cloudy with very little chance of rain and it keeps people away. ....How much do you think would be enough to get folks to wash their car when rain is threatening?

If you don't know where you're going, any path will get you there.

 

[wood]

smokun is right on. don't devalue price by offering discount on slow days. go with 48 hour wash guarantee. i also agree on offering the guarantee good for any reason.

this is my second year doing this. i offer it 4/15-11/15. roughly 5% of my total volume utilizes this. i think that is a pretty good number. i have seen an uptick in business on less then desirable weather days. my volume is up above double digits this year.

finally, promoting this with a street sign or banner is key to getting it going.

wood

 

[wood]

well not up "above" double digits, but volume up in the low double digits.
heck, why don't i just say it. i am up over 14% this year.

wood

 

[Earl Weiss]

Earl,

Try monthly passes for all your wash packages - far less headaches.

OK, Bill you got me. HAd a headache this weekend, August 1. Lady came in with the receipt for the re wash on the 5 day clean car guarantee. Receipt was dated March 13. She wanted to wash again. "The guy didn't tell me it was fonly good for 5 days" "I didn't read the sign".

I didn't let her wash for free. My partner later said I may have won the battle but did I really win from a goodwill perspective? I said that if she hadn't been in for 4 1/2 months what did we lose? Then again perhaps it was a mistake?

 

[smokun]

You're BOTH Right, But He Was "Righter"!

Extending a courtesy wash as a result of a misunderstanding is a normal process of embracing customer satisfaction... pretty much like viewing customer complaints as opportunities instead of annoyances.

The time limit was way past due... but they customer came back to retrieve what she thought was a value extended to her. Had you passed on the opportunity of re-washing her car (as you say you did), you did win the battle but risked losing the war... as your partner inferred.

Nobody likes to be taken advantage of... or ripped off. And logic suggests that you were correct in focusing on the original commitment of a 5-Day Re-Wash. However, when I originally implemented the Clean Car Guarantee, it was a customer satisfaction tool of assurance to customers. It was designed to bolster the initial sale with Guaranteed Satisfaction... as well as lure the customer back for added exposure to my washes. It recognized the value of repeat business. It also was designed to create a warm & fuzzy relationship with my clientele. I truly believe that purchasing decisions are motivated by emotion, and justified by logic. Since the prime mover is emotion, I understood that the mission was to create word-of-mouth ambassadors who would endorse my business... and thus DISTINGUISH it from all others. Sometimes it's wise to allow yourself to be "taken advantage of"... and reap the continuing rewards offered by positive feelings and word-of-mouth distinction.