Considering a F/T attendant - What are your thoughts/experiences?

[Car_Wash_Guy]

I'm considering adding a attendant at my 4/2/Dog Wash from say 9-5 daily.

I was just wondering how many of you have a F/T attendant versus someone who checks on the place 1,2,3 times a day? What have your experiences been - has it helped the business, not made much difference, etc?

Thanks

 

[mjwalsh]

What I try to do with my 2 (formerly 3 or 4 employees) ... is make it so at least one of us is there ... available by a 2 way intercom door bell when we are working in one of the back rooms or in the upstairs room. When not there at the facility ourselves ... we have 2 phone #'s posted which we make an extra effort to make sure there are no gaps in us being at minimum on standby at all times for quick response. How far away the owner or employees live from the facility also comes into the picture IMHO.

There are times when it can be more of a challenge ... especially since weekends tend to be the busiest. This is for a 32 washing machine, 6 bay SS car wash, & with 2 SS dog wash stalls. If you have a facility in a tough neighborhood for whatever reasons temporary or permanent ... during the time of increased unnecessary & unwanted loitering ... it can be extra rough & tumble. The employees may require "combat duty pay" & play the role of on site law enforcement much more than the owner or the employees would prefer.

 

[Randy]

We go to our car wash 3 times a week at 05:30, refill the vending, pull the coin vaults and do any heavy maintenance that needs to be done etc. We have a clean up guy who goes to the car wash the 4 days a week we don't go, he gets there at around 0600 and is there about an hour or so. All he does is clean up, hose out the bays, sweep the lot and dump the garbage. If something needs attention he'll call. It works for us.

 

[Randy]

No one around here has an attendant at there car washes.

 

[mjwalsh]

No one around here has an attendant at there car washes.

We do not guarantee that we have someone there every moment but the more an owner is there or has someone there the more the need is actually seen. I can see in Randy's area where the 10% ??? gross receipts tax ... plus the forced % ??? for merchant fees ... it could be a possible no go to have attendants for a more comprehensive amount of time. I suppose minimum wage for the area could come into play too IMHO.

Car_Wash_Guy, Could this possibly sometimes apply .... Out of mind out of sight bliss???

 

[MEP001]

I've been an attendant and I've managed mostly unattended washes in the past. IMO an attendant will help business for a number of reasons. I believe customers are more comfortable when they know someone is there to help them if they have a problem or just need change. Women feel safer, staying longer and spending more. I've operated a small business out of an empty auto bay as well as fully took care of the wash and saw its income double in about 18 months. The business barely made enough to pay my salary, but I was basically a free attendant for the wash. The unattended wash I managed had its best day by a wide margin one Saturday when I stayed on site from 7 am to 10 PM that day.

All the most successful washes I've seen have attendants. Even one I was at yesterday has a useless bozo looking after it, it's in a bad neighborhood, no amenities, but it stays busy all day every day.

 

[MudMoney]

I have a 3 bay ss in a town of 9500,county pop is 16000.My competition is a run down 4 bay 3 miles away & a wash that has gone from being a 5 bay ss reduced to one outside bay and one inside bay.Last week a 3 bay 5 blocks from me got leveled for an office. I have an office in my wash to operate my other business not related to the wash.I'm amazed @ how many people come to office needing change for large bills,have questions about wash,tourist traveling thru can't find an inbay so need help with self serve. I'm busy all the time and when I'm not there one of my employees is there during peak times.Point is I wouldn't be without one ,place is kept clean and my prices are $ 3.00 for 4 minutes versus the others @ $1.50.

 

[MudMoney]

I might add that I close down @ nite from 10 pm till 6 am.

 

[robert roman]

Surveys show attended washes perform better than unattended ones. The caveat is the attendant has to actually do something to increase value added. If not, then you have to worry about covering average cost of about $24,000.

Best I’ve seen from monetizing attendant (more like a site manager) is about $60,000 in sales. So, it can be beneficial.

Full-time attendant also means full-time relationship.

Once you step aside, attendant’s bond with customers will become greater than yours. After this, you become dependant on attendant.

 

[seattleguy]

I'm starting to have an attendant. Had to raise prices but customers seem happy with it.

 

[Car_Wash_Guy]

We do not guarantee that we have someone there every moment but the more an owner is there or has someone there the more the need is actually seen. I can see in Randy's area where the 10% ??? gross receipts tax ... plus the forced % ??? for merchant fees ... it could be a possible no go to have attendants for a more comprehensive amount of time. I suppose minimum wage for the area could come into play too IMHO.

Car_Wash_Guy, Could this possibly sometimes apply .... Out of mind out of sight bliss???

Ha, it could be.

I'm considering it for a few reasons. I'd like to increase my IBA counts, and having someone there greeting and doing a light prep on cars would be nice. Then of course I'd like to have a constant oversight / eye of the place. Checking chems, checking systems, cleaning ( especially the dog room), etc. I'm away from my wash more than I'm there, and I would like a more consistent oversight of the place.

Thanks everyone for the feedback.

 

[I.B. Washincars]

I would think twice about the prepping. I think that once you start doing that it would be very hard to put those worms back in the can if you decided you wanted to stop. I have the trash cans with the windshield scrubber/squeegee compartment that the customer can use themselves. I see many that scrub their windshield before entering and a few that use it to scrub bugs off their front bumpers.

 

[soonermajic]

Just recently bought 2 washes, 5SS ; 5SS/1IBA. My IBA does about 50cpd & has fulltime prepper. The community loves him, & he does a good job! 2 of u guys r correct: he is more closely associated with the biz than I am, & it will be hard to put these worms back in the box. He also gets $9/hr, .50/car + tips. I bet he makes over $45k, & is worth every penny!

 

[OurTown]

I think that once you start doing that it would be very hard to put those worms back in the can if you decided you wanted to stop.

This statement could be true for anything new you might want to try out to give your customers something extra.

 

[MEP001]

I'm considering it for a few reasons. I'd like to increase my IBA counts, and having someone there greeting and doing a light prep on cars would be nice.

I can tell you from experience that it helps. I used to keep a deck sprayer of tire cleaner handy and would hit the wheels and tires of every car that entered. I did it for years from the start of a new wash to help it grow. FWIW I would never do any "friction" prep on a touchless auto for liability reasons.

I would think twice about the prepping. I think that once you start doing that it would be very hard to put those worms back in the can if you decided you wanted to stop.

I agree that if it didn't help and you stop, it might cost you a few customers, but if it does help noticeably then why stop? There's a double Laser in Seguin Texas who has been offering levels of prep (I don't know if it's a la carte or built into the wash prices), and there's always a line. They've been doing it since at least the late 80's.