Converting From Full Serve to Express Wash

[lbownole]

I've operated a full service wash for 5 years and am seriously considering converting to an express exterior. My vacs and finish area is at the end of my tunnel, not at the prep area. Therefore converting to free vacs for the customer will be easily achieved. Traffic count is 35,000 cars per day @45 between two traffic lights. The community is more Wal Mart socio economic than high end. Very few $400,000 homes in my community. Has anyone done what I'm considering? I would appreciate your comments and thoughts

 

[Earl Weiss]

Have done it for 3 locations. When I took over the first of the 3 after 2 failed operations I was aked why I thought it would succeed. I was told because the other opertions were bllomingdale operations and I was putting in a Wal MArt operation which would more likely succeed in a Wal Mart neighborhood. Prior to this my father had done the same with his place.

I do not have free vacs. We do have an after care option.

 

[Chiefs]

We tried swicthing from FS to EE in 1986 and again in 1990 albeit for only about 3-4 months before swicthing back. It failed miserably both times for some now very obvious reasons. First we continued to make the customer get out of the car, and hand it over to an employees to drive it on the conveyor and making the customer walk up the hallway to pay the cashier just like we did with FS. Secondly, we continue to towel dry when the car came out and have an employee drive it off to deliver it to the customer. The only difference was we didn't vacuum the inside or wash windows.

By 1997, our full service volume had dropped tro an all time low of 36,000+ and in those 37b years (1960-1997) we had witnessed the average income in the area take a nosedive and any employees, let alone good ones were hard to find. We had also been touchless from 1985-1997. By early 1997, the business was in an unwinnable position. Full service had to go but we had to make the transition to exterior a success this time or else. We added Lammscloth after the tocuhless equipment and turned it into a hybrid system. In June we made the swith to EE but left the customer in the car, has them pay at the entrance, added two more sets of air dryers, removed all laundry equipment, and lowered the price of the wash to $3 for the basic and $5 for the "Works". for the first 4 months then went to $4 and $5. That first year with no advertising and no vacuums we went from 36,000 to 101,000 cars. The second year we went to 105,000.

I'll continue this in the next post as the text is too long.

 

[Chiefs]

Today numerous equipment additions, building enhancements, and several price increases increases we only give customers our "Works" wash for $10. We then play off that price with several discount programs; 5 Wash Books are $35 (5 for $150) in off season and $40 in winter (5 for $175). We also have a $50/month Club Card (once a day any day) and a $35 Jr Club Card (once a day any Mon.-Thu.) A new VIP program ($275 for 52 washes and can purchase 5 wash books for $30 for 1 year), a frequent washer card (buy 10 get 11th free with a 1 year expiration date) and $2.00 of coupons on google, an online coupon site www.heybutler.com and in our community calendar. I have no synmopathy for anyone who complains that $10.00 per wash is too much with all they ways we offer them to save. With all this we average $8+ per car and still wash 86,000-90,000 cars a year - including this one. Oh and we also give every customer a imprinted litter bag and pre-moistened, disposable towel to wipe their dash and door - they love them and complain if we're ever out of them. Lastly, we hand out newsletters every Spring and Fall to educate our customers and flyers throughout the year.

Carwashing became fun again!

 

[supersuds]

How long did it take to convert the customers. What equiptment did you add? POS? I have 3 full serves and would love to convert to express. Small lots, I could have about 8-10 vac spots.

 

[Earl Weiss]

How long did it take to convert the customers. What equiptment did you add? POS? I have 3 full serves and would love to convert to express. Small lots, I could have about 8-10 vac spots.

First, I had to make sure everything was working as it should. The existing controllers were used. One Old "Cartrol" unit later upgraded to a data trax, another had an existing datatrax, one had a DRB, and one had some off changed to a DRB a couple of years later. I do not use auto cashiers. One person serves as greater, loader, cashier.

The first conversion done by my father stared with 2 pay vacs. Eventualy increased to 8. (No More room). The first I did started with 4 used pay vacs hooked up with extension cords. Over time increased to 12, with 6 state of the art combo units. The third saw a similar progression.

Some customers were not happy. But the volume increased 2-3 fold the first year. To some extent progress varied depending on overall washing climate the first year. As time progressed, a second set of wraps and addittional blowers were added.

 

[Chiefs]

The lower prices worked to grab people with a deal too good to pass up. We added two sets of blower; A second mitter and set of sides immediately after the touchless process. The next year we added 4 pay vacs, vending, 1.5 mbtu boiler and a few more radiant heaters. Since then we've added a CTA, Tire Shiner, new panelling down both sides of the tunnel, 20' of mirrors at the end of the tunnel after the last blower (customers especially love it - they can inspect their vehicles without getting out of the car), coil hoses and pumping stations at the entrance for bug off and extra wheel cleaning solutions, Landscaping, new sigange (4'X6' Monument sign and an 8' X 12' wall mounted sign with a 1' X 12' header - all lighted) and last year, a new, 150' conveyor
which has allowed us to slow our chain speed by 1/3 yet still produce 120 an hour on peak days. This is due to the closer roller spacing compared to our old conveyor. This is significant due to the extra time the cars spend in each piece of equipment. Lastly we began accepting Visa and Mastercard which at $110,000 the first year represented 16% of our gross.

As we made these improvements over the years, prices went up acordingly. As I said, we also give them perks that serve to make us different from the competition and try to educate customers every chance we get. You'd be surprised how little people know about the care of of their vehicle(s).

 

[pitzerwm]

Reading Chief's post, I'd bet that he is doing just fine in this economic time. A great example of making changes to give the customer more value than to bitch about the sky is falling and it is some political parties fault.

 

[robert roman]

You may also want to consider converting to flex-serve. This way you get to have your express exterior format to capture the economical shoppers and, if you retain a small express detail capability, you won't give the hard-core "full-service" segment of your customer base an excuse to go somewhere else for service.

I have been involved with both types of conversions; FS to EE and EE to Flex. Either can work but both require some careful thought and planning.

I believe the most difficult part of the process is developing a good marketing strategy, and the most important part is re-educating your existing customers well before you make the switch.

Hope this helps.

Bob Roman
RJR Enterprises - Carwash Consultants

 

[Chiefs]

Our first year after the switch from full service to express saw our volume increase from 36,000 to 101,000 a year. Furthermore, we acomplished it without any self serve vacs or vending and without educating our customers in advance. The price - $4 and $5 was all the education they needed. Sure a few were upset and said it would never work. 11 years later I wouldn't have done anything differently. Today our wash volume is still high at 86,000+ (1,000 under last year) yet our price is now $10 which we work off of with our many loyalty programs and incentives. Last year was our best year ever with a gross sales rising to just over $700K. I expect to see revenue the same as last year despite the economy and gas prices.

Sure flex serve is an alternative that you may want to look at. However it all depends on just how much you want to continue finding, training, keeping and supervising employees whose job it is to get in and clean out the insides of people's cars and leave people's posessions alone. The only way our carwash ever goes back to that in any form is if someone presents me with a check for at least $3 miilion. Of course, then it will be their car wash.

 

[smokun]

Some Appropriate Comic Relief

Sure flex-serve is an alternative that you may want to look at. However it all depends on just how much you want to continue finding, training, keeping and supervising employees whose job it is to get in and clean out the insides of people's cars and leave people's posessions alone. The only way our carwash ever goes back to that in any form is if someone presents me with a check for at least $3 miilion. Of course, then it will be their car wash.

Bill, you seem scarred for life. It sounds like you must have endured many out-of-control horrific experiences of theft over the years! Is that a reflection of inner-city Cleveland... or simply the level of management oversight and control?

As Bob pointed out, flex-serve offers all the benefits of hands-free express washing... as well as very, very profitable hands-on after-care. In fact, if the operator decided to convert from a hand-wash to an automatic wash, he might still be able to offer a hand-wash option in the after-care area for those customers who insisted on the benefits of manual washing. Win-Win-Win!

Each component (car-wash & after-care) is an independent profit center.

And, Bill... if you change your mind about upgrading your Cleveland operation, I suppose a combination of close scrutiny video oversight and maybe some off-duty guards from the Cuyahoga county hoosegow might make after-care an acceptable alternative in your neighborhood!

 

[lbownole]

Thanks for the replies. I am going to make the conversion to express exterior effective Jan 1, 09. My only decision now is if I'll give away or charge for the vacs. As far as flex serve goes that just keeps me as a hostage to a labor force.
The one good thing I've done is I began having my customers ride thru the tunnel back in March. That in itself was painful, but I did not waiver.
The free vac thing is bewildering.

 

[smokun]

Hostage To Labor???

While it's true that Flex-Serve requires labor for its after-care component, but that requirement is 2 people; more if you desire.

Many exterior-only express operations have found that a real-live person is required on-site anyway, so upgrading to the adaptability of Flex-Serve makes good business sense. And since each component is an independent profit center, you can set the hours of after-care for peak days and hours of operation.


(continued)

 

[smokun]

Hostage???

Many of those express operations that offer "free" vacuums regret the decision because they allowed suppliers to convince them to use the vacuums as a loss leader... when it wasn't necessary. In fact, the coin-op profit center generates healthy revenues in most sites that have the volume needed for an outside-only express facility to prosper.

So, let's see. You decided to ignore the revenues generated by 1 or 2 employees... as well as the customer-retention they can offer. And you are wondering if you should also give away the revenues of vacuuming. Are you aware of the impact of a recession on a car wash operation? You will need every revenue generator that's available to attract... and retain consumers.

The trade-off of employing a labor force of two (more, if you choose) is a sensible business decision, given the profitability of generating robust profits as well as being able to service the customers' entire need... instead of asking him to go elsewhere for supplemental service. If you choose to ignore their needs, they may go elsewhere... and take all their business with them to a new Flex-Serve location.

A staff of TWO doesn't seem like too much of a "hostage" hardship... when you scrutinize all the benefits and advantages of Flex-Serve in the marketplace.

 

[Chiefs]

We wash 80-90,000 exterior each year and vacuums and vending represent about 2% of our annual gross. Unless you have close by competition giving away free vacs then
"forgetaboutit". You've got to maintain them, pay for the electricity and maintain the trash which is problematic on busy weeks. In other words, they cost you money and make you very little in return. Be far more worried about putting out the highest possible quality exterior only wash. Given what people are paying for a car wash, they are far more concerned about quality than they are about whether or not your vacs are free. Look, you're a carwash, not a convenient store or grocery store sellling 100s or 1,000s of items where you can afford lost leaders on some items. Concentrate instead on quality and promotions like book wash sales. Labor sucks!