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High Volume Site worth Adding Membership?

T

toddmullens

Active member
Have any of you started a monthly membership wash club, etc… at an in bay site that is well established and already high volume? Is it worth it? Seems like I would be shooting myself in the foot.
 
I’d be very hesitant if you are already high volume. I have a conveyorized wash that washes a lot of cars and I have not gone to the membership model. You can’t project what the memberships will necessarily do, but it seems to me that it is more of a tool to build up customers in a new or lower volume site. Not to say that well established washes have not adopted it, but good numbers are good numbers and there will be negative impacts of the monthly plan if you already have a lot of customers paying for every wash. It also depends if you are competing with other washes that have it and you need to keep up with what is offered in your area. If you are loosing customers to other washes with memberships, it should probably be a consideration.
 
I offer it at one high volume 4/2 site and the only reason was tunnel was moving in. I implemented it a year before they opened. Tunnel gave me a little haircut but back to normal again. If you have close competition and you’re still slammin’ what’s your reason for wanting it?
 
Every time I do the math on my sites it never makes sense. Unless your site can process 80 cph, I think you are shooting yourself in the foot for more maintenance
 
If people are already waiting in line for a wash priced at retail I'm not going to make their wait longer, and a membership will do that in an IBA.

Of course there are very successful high volume membership sites but they require significant investment and the right market conditions. Car wash guy here I think has one.
 
I don't like the idea of being pressured by customers to have the car wash functioning 100% of the time. I know that is the goal in order to run a good operation and to make money, but let's face it things need maintenance and repairs. I can see myself getting very frustrated with indignant customers who insist that they be allowed access to the wash all the time because they've already paid for a membership. I would not Handle that very well, knowing myself as I do.
 
Waxman said:
I don't like the idea of being pressured by customers to have the car wash functioning 100% of the time. I know that is the goal in order to run a good operation and to make money, but let's face it things need maintenance and repairs. I can see myself getting very frustrated with indignant customers who insist that they be allowed access to the wash all the time because they've already paid for a membership. I would not Handle that very well, knowing myself as I do.
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We now have a 24/7 wash with membership and it has a lot of maintenance compared to our old machine. I'm trying to figure out the best schedule that does not impact too many members. Rainy days do not always coincide with the needs. We did state in our terms and conditions that we can shut down anytime for repairs and maintenance though.
 
If your site is already busy and you do not have competition running memberships (subscriptions), I wouldn't add it. Instead, I would look at loyalty solutions to reward your customers such as earning free vaccum time or points they can use for a free wash. Plus, I've heard a number of people offering wash bundles as an alternative. IMO, having a membership type of relationship builds a solid foundation for the future when a tunnel builds across the street. :-)
 
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