Attendant

[Bubbles Galore]

I am finally taking the plunge and getting an attendant for my wash. I haven't had the ability to maintain the place aesthetically as well as I would like to and this is going to help with that tremendously. Here's what we've agreed upon:

• $25 per day
• Spray down bays
• Sweep Parking Lot
• Maintain a Daily Checklist of checking bay functions and vacuums
• Customer relations and/or refunds
• Minimum of 2 visits a day - one a.m. and one p.m.
• Rain days at my discretion

Is there anything I am missing? Any thoughts, suggestions, comments? This gentlemen lives behind the car wash in the apartments, is retired and looking for some extra spending money. He won't have access to our equipment room directly as I will have a deck box with his "tools" set up in our dog wash. Any and all input is appreciated.

John

 

[Kirb]

Bubbles,

I did everything my self for years and then got someone to help out. It is the best thing I have done. Here is a few things I have him do.


Daily
• Clean Parking Lot
• Clean Self Serve/ Automatic Bays of debris
• Wash Down Self Serve Bays and Auto Bays
• Dump Trash
• Hang Vacuum and Self Serve Hoses
• Check for Debris in Vacuum nozzles
• As needed Wipe down faces of Self Serves
• Close any bay with cone that has a problem and make me aware of it.

Every other Week
• Clean out Vacuums
• Wipe down Vacuums and Stainless Trash lids

 

[Eric H]

be sure to use check off sheets to make the attendant accountable.
I would also add some PM stuff: oil pump wicks, drain compressor, check soap levels, etc

 

[robert roman]

$25 X 312 days = $7,800 / 4-hrs X 312 days = $6.07 per hour

This gets you “….gentlemen lives behind the car wash in the apartments, is retired and looking for some extra spending money.”

What comes first, car wash or retired guy hooking up with his old buddies for a baseball game, cigars and beer or doctor’s appointment or illness or hurt his back, etc?

How much customer relations and business reputation do you entrust to a $6.00 an hour employee? How much loyalty could you expect from this person?

Moreover, you are adding a line item in the P&L that doesn’t produce any income.

Why not more hours, more pay and get someone who actually wants to be involved in selling, managing and marketing so business earns more income and generates more profit?

 

[MEP001]

Moreover, you are adding a line item in the P&L that doesn’t produce any income.

A good attendant absolutely will produce more income.

 

[Greg Pack]

Good suggestions alredy. I would request weekly vac cleanouts to keep him on schedule, and also possibly wash down the vac area afterwards.

I would request he wash down "every bay, every day whether it needs it or not". Cleanliness will slip after a few months if you leave it to his discretion.

Unless you are still planning on daily visits I think having someone you trust enough to get access to your equipment room is important. If a hose or float valve fails, how will you know? I would require attendants to at least look inside the pump room at every visit for that reason.

 

[MEP001]

I would request he wash down "every bay, every day whether it needs it or not". Cleanliness will slip after a few months if you leave it to his discretion.

It's been my routine for over 20 years to wash them down using coins, all of them every day whether they need it or not. Only way to catch leaks, coin jams or potential problems with bay equipment as early as possible.

 

[tdlconceptsllc]

$25 is what I pay my guy lives within site of wash very very good help knows all the customers and helps my site pick up trash mow grass wash bays ect..ect.. so I can be doing something somewhere else making money as many of you know the carwash bussiness is not your only Job.

 

[JMMUSTANG]

I spray painted (red) $50-100 worth of quarters for my attendant to use to wash down the bays, for refunds and to make sure the coin slots weren't jammed.
This way I just recycled the quarters weekly.

 

[JustClean]

This is what I've set up for my guys:

When you come in: Open the change machine and stir the coins that they can drop down to prevent machine from running out of coins.

Clean the following with Jiff, bucket and moist cloth thoroughly:
Self serve selection panels, instruction signs, hoses, guns and foam brushes
Shampoo & fragrance machine hoses and brush
Vacuum nozzles

Clean both autocashiers & signs with soap and a moist cloth

Check several times a day if the following is clean and operational without any leaks:
dog wash,
self serve bay hoses, guns & foam brushes
vacuum hoses & handles
shampoo brush & fragrance gun incl. all hoses


Check & fill up the following machines:
SS equipment
Salt in water softener
Softfoam Automatic
Touchless Automatic
Shampoo / Fragrance machine
Dog wash
Vending machine

Wash down automatics and Self serve bay walls with high pressure water

Watch a car being washed in both automatics and see if it works normally (water, dryer, foam, noises, leaks, etc.)

Enter plant room and watch/listen for any abnormal issues

Blow yard with blower, if need to be several times a day. Yard has to look clean

Pick up all rubbish on site & empty bins

Empty office rubbish bin

Visually inspect automatic machine for mice and rats existence within the machine and check on rat bait

Hose down both vacuum areas and if necessary yard

Clean glass on Vending machine & entrance door

In touchless: Wipe down entry light, height bar, office window and program light.

Clean vacuum waste bags & shake filter bags (in case of dust use our gas mask)

Clean dogwash fence

Clean stainless steel with WD-40 on the following machines:
Vacuums
Shampoo & fragrance machine
Dogwash


During low car volume (rainy days, etc.):

Clean bay after bay with Algae killer on concrete. Do not let the chemical get on the steel walls as they will rust. Let it soak in for at least 1/2 hour in each bay.
Please use at least 4 cones to ensure the close-down is highly visible and wear protective gear.

Clean all self serve bay walls thoroughly with mixture 1x Klean-Wall : 5x Water. Do not let the chemical sit on the wall longer than 2 minutes as it will etch and start from the bottom up.
Please wear protective gear and see video http://www.apchemical.com/kleanwall.html

Clean automatic, walls and windows inside auto bay with mixture 1x Klean-Wall : 5x Water. Please wear protective gear and see video http://www.apchemical.com/kleanwall.html

Clean vacuum waste container of vacuum NO XXX only, remove vacuum filter bags of this vacuum and replace them with spares from the plant room.
Then rinse the dirty bags in the bay and hang them up inside plant-room to dry.

Vacuum office & waiting room.

Grease & wipe down touchless automatic

Titrate touchless automatic

Clean camera lenses

Use Round-up to spray all weeds in the garden

Spray spider & bug killer spray around the building, on the mezzanine floor and areas where insects build (i.e. around cameras)

Hope that helps

 

[robert roman]

“A good attendant absolutely will produce more income.”

Yes, benchmarks suggest attended sites do produce more sales revenue per SF of store than unattended sites.

However, this is assumption is biased because attended sites have a greater proportion of in-bays than unattended sites.

To produce more income, attendant must contribute to value-added.

Ask the guys on shark tank who can produce more income, the server at a restaurant or the night time janitor?

Expecting a self-serve wash to sell itself doesn’t flush anymore.

Otherwise, 22 percent of all self-serve washes wouldn’t have closed up and its share of industry wash revenues dropped by 70 percent.

Yes, places with cleaner toilets usually do better than places with dirty toilets.

However, value-added comes from offering customers “extra-features” not housekeeping and maintenance activities. This is expected.

For example, most self-serve washes don’t even have a toilet for customers.

The more involved an attendant is in marketing (selling, promotion) and providing services and customer service, the more likely the wash will generate additional income and profit.

 

[MEP001]

However, value-added comes from offering customers “extra-features” not housekeeping and maintenance activities. This is expected.

Sorry, but you're just plain wrong, and you're arguing semantics. I was never referring to someone who is selling extra services, I'm talking strictly about pure revenue. Keeping the place neat as a pin appeals to customers vs. (for example) having someone come in twice a week and clean up after them. Customers like when they see someone they can come to if there's a problem, they will gravitate to a wash with a regular attendant vs. one without one, and they will feel more comfortable and will stay longer and spend more if they feel safe. That is "more income." It can't be measured in the way you describe if the attendant isn't there to increase the average ticket price.

 

[robert roman]

“I'm talking strictly about pure revenue. Keeping the place neat as a pin….”

As neat as a pin, is difference between average and below average profit.

“Customers….will gravitate to a wash with a regular attendant vs. one without one, and they will feel more comfortable and will stay longer and spend more if they feel safe.”

This is another difference between average and below average profit.

Above average can only come from value-added or zero competition.

If what you said is true, then the self-serve segment wouldn’t be such a wreck.

 

[Reds]

I am seriously considering an attendant. I have always done everything myself but now I have health issues that prevent me from doing it. I intend to have "him" keep the place clean, chemicals full, minor repairs, keep in touch with me. I will pull all the money. I will have to find someone honest enough to give him access to bay meters and IBA entry machines to clear coin jams, etc. Or have him put up a cone if the bay meter is jammed. Finding the right person will be difficult. I was thinking of $10 an hour, full or part time. I have 2 sons that help me after work - in the evening but keeping up with it, for them, is dificult. They work long hours at their regular jobs and of course they have personal lives to live.

 

[MEP001]

As neat as a pin, is difference between average and below average profit.

You are missing the point, you're still arguing semantics, and you obviously know little to nothing about operating a self-serve car washes.