Essential services in semi-rural 3-bay SS

[danj2]

Folks, I'm working on a revamp of my little 3-bay SS wash located in a semi-rural area in N-central Oklahoma. Pretty much a bedroom community, with some ag, oilfield, construction activity going on. Population in city limits is about 2500, trade area probably about 5000. Only local competition is a doggy 3&1 that nobody says anything good about.

I need to know what your prioritized list of essential functions are in the SS bays to maximize the sale of time.

My wash has the old standards, Wash, Rinse (non-SF), Wax, Foam Brush, and Tire Cleaner.

What would you add, up to 12 total products?

Thanks!

 

[robert roman]

“I need to know what …..functions ….in the SS ….to maximize the sale of time.”

“My wash has the old standards….. What would you add, up to 12 total products?”

I would take a different approach. Instead of the old standards and model of selling time, sell service.

Motorists come to solve their problems = clean, shine and protect their vehicles.

So, instead of selling them products, sell them solutions.

1) High quality high-pressure soap

2) Foaming soap or tri-foam cleaner/conditioner brush

3) Ph safe wheel-brite (not tire cleaner)

4) Bug solution

5) High-pressure rinse

6) Spray wax

7) Rain-X, total body protect or similar

8) Spot-free rinse

Give customers simple instructional signs on how to use products to complete service

For example, soap – foam brush – wheels, rinse, wax, spot-free

Consider ingredient co-branding to brand and image the wash

Maximizing profits begins with a proven model that focuses on the carwash customer.

Hope this helps

 

[Randy]

Are you talking about the car wash that’s on Main Street across the street from the Co-op?

 

[danj2]

Are you talking about the car wash that’s on Main Street across the street from the Co-op?

That's me!

 

[cleaning up mud]

Keep it clean and working, if someone calls send them a refund.

 

[PaulLovesJamie]

The first 2 functions I'd add to what you already have are spot free rinse and presoak, in that order. (Although PS can be added for a lot less $, so if you're budget constrained I'd do that first.)

More functions are always considered better... by the folks who have something to sell anyway . But being in a smaller rural community myself I would caution you to look at the ROI of adding too many functions too quickly. Quality operations are more important to profitability than a lot of functions. (Not implying that you intend to run a "dog," just cautioning you against over exuberance.)

 

[Buzzie8]

Air-shammee's have become very popular over the past few years. When I upgrade I will add this as an option.

 

[danj2]

Consider ingredient co-branding to brand and image the wash


Robert, what do you mean by "ingredient co-branding"?

 

[robert roman]

Dan,

By ingredient co-branding, I am referring to the practice of featuring products that are already known and trusted by a wide audience (i.e. Turtle Wax, Simoniz, Armor All, Blue Coral, etc.) to help bolster the image of your business.

For example, my wife is frugal and a coupon queen. When she buys bleach to wash clothes, she buys the cheapest available. The why is most bleach is sodium hypochlorite. In other words, there is not much you can do to bleach to differentiate from another brand – bleach is bleach.

However, when she buys laundry detergent, she always buys Tide.

The why is she trusts the brand, a brand is a promise.

Tide worked for my wife’s mom. She then handed this down to my wife who then encouraged my daughter to use Tide.

Similarly, you see this process at work in families where all or most members may buy Ford’s rather than Chevy’s.

Are there less expensive soap equivalent to Tide? Yes, of course.

However, once people establish trust with a brand, it becomes very difficult for another brand to displace.

 

[rph9168]

I think with the increase of store brands and some generics that remain that co-branding is less of an issue. I believe it is better to establish your own identity rather than rely on a recognized one since others in your area may very well be using the same nationally recognized brand as you do. Almost all of the larger retail food stores in our area are now pushing their brand of products over nationally branded ones. I maintain that people want a clean, dry vehicle done in an acceptable amount of time at a reasonable cost. If you can do that at your wash I think the brand of chemical or equipment you use almost becomes irrelevant.

 

[robert roman]

rph9168,

I’m not sure the woman who owns the In and Out hamburger chain out on the west coast (with estimated annual sales of $600 million) or any QSR would agree with your assessment on the power of brand.

For example, my favorite cereal is Post Honey Bunches of Oats with real Strawberries which is relatively expensive compared to generic.

My wife, trying to save a buck, bought a generic version of this product at the Wal-Mart neighborhood store that recently opened in our neighborhood.

Did a bowl of it fill me up like the Post product?

Yes, but the product was clearly inferior to Post’s. The generic was loaded with sugar, it didn’t taste nearly as good and the flash frozen strawberries didn’t soften up too well.

A brand isn’t a panacea but it can be used as an effective tool to help leverage a business.

 

[rph9168]

I was talking more about self branding more than franchising or a personal favorite food. I find it hard to believe that a person would like the name Blue Coral so much that they would drive out of their way to find a wash using their products.

 

[Earl Weiss]

I was talking more about self branding more than franchising or a personal favorite food. I find it hard to believe that a person would like the name Blue Coral so much that they would drive out of their way to find a wash using their products.

I also can't help but wonder if there are certain generational or societal trends in place. Perhaps in some areas there is a strog Car Wash brand but I think they are realtively few and far between as compared to the fast food industry.

As far as attracting people based upon the brands you use at your location I think there is some name recognition, but seemingly far less than when I ws growing up vis a vis names like Blue Coral, Mothers etc. Of course, back then it was all full service. We now seem to value results and cost.

Unlike questions of Taste where some prefer McD to BK or vica versa does a clean car having been cleaned with Brand X really make a different impression than one cleaned by brand Y?

 

[rph9168]

Twenty years ago I thought that brand could make a difference and in some cases it really did. During that time most of the majors offered a lot of marketing and sales assistance to an operator that could increase revenues. While there still some of that available today it seems to be more focused on selling their products rather than increasing revenues and improving the quality of the wash. Today most operators have a pretty good handle on those aspects of the business and are not as much in need of that type of help. I believe that it is more important to establish your own brand and strive to produce consistent good results at your wash.

 

[robert roman]

How a brand is exploited depends on the individual.

Consider the Mr. Clean and NASCAR-branded carwash initiatives.

Mr. Clean, a Proctor and Gamble trademark, and NASCAR, are brands that are widely known and accepted by a broad range of consumers.

However, Mr. Clean (franchise model) and NASCAR-branded washes (licensing model) have not managed to roll out very many stores since inception date.

The why is not motorist’s not visiting stores but rather a flawed business model – neither of the initiatives has an integrated financial model to support network expansion.

Otherwise, we might expect each brand would have more stores on the ground.

Similarly, having Blue Coral is no guarantee of success if the rest of the wash sucks.

However, if you have your act together creating customer loyalty and then surround yourself with recognized brands, the value-added of the brands acts to cement the loyalty and expand on it.

It is possible to achieve results with generic but nationally known brands have already achieved the name recognition and trust thereby making the job easier.

 

[Randy]

The best thing you can do in a small town of 2500 with a limited population base to draw from is to add Spot free rinse, Credit card acceptance, keep the place bright and clean and very well maintained.

 

[danj2]

The best thing you can do in a small town of 2500 with a limited population base to draw from is to add Spot free rinse, Credit card acceptance, keep the place bright and clean and very well maintained.

Randy, that's exactly what I intend to do!

 

[mjwalsh]

The best thing you can do in a small town of 2500 with a limited population base to draw from is to add Spot free rinse, Credit card acceptance, keep the place bright and clean and very well maintained.

Dan,

Based on 23 months of actual experience, I would steer away from the "at their mercy" credit card model & go with a very secure built in the wall "paying its own way" ATM model. Spot Free plus the best in bay hand blow dry makes sense especially with Zbooms if your budget allows. It seems like triple foam soap, foaming wax, &/or brush wax should be lowest on your priority list ... in my opinion.

Since you would be starting from scratch on the ATM, I would persistently call every ATM manufacturer directly & see if any of them would do a customization of the controls to allow an option of some dollar coins being chosen for dispensing .... just in case Congress finally shapes up! You would have to talk the right person though I have seen pics on the internet of Swiss ATMs similar to what I am describing. Most Self service Retail checkouts actually give back pennies, nickels, dimes, & quarters .... not sure on the paper money back in change though. We went with the $5 cassette on our ATM.

mike walsh king koin youtube person

 

[MEP001]

I would steer away from the "at their mercy" credit card model & go with a very secure built in the wall "paying its own way" ATM model.

Do you not see how you put a negative spin on in-bay credit card acceptance and in the same sentence put a positive one on using an ATM with your quotation labeling?

It's obvious you're completely closed-minded about the benefits of in-bay credit card acceptance.

 

[Randy]

Randy, that's exactly what I intend to do!

With only a small 3 bays car wash in Middle America I wouldn’t worry about an ATM machine. I’d put in the Crytopay credit card system, 3 bays should only run around $1400 if you’ve already have Dixmor LED-7 timers. The Dixmor LED-7 timers v7.36 work the best with the Crytopay credit card system