Menus

[Earl Weiss]

Who are smarter marketers. McDonalds, Wendy's White Castle, etc. or Mr. Tunnel or IBA wash?

I ask because the big guys have their menu packages as #1, #2, etc. , and seems that most wash packages have names like Bronze, Silver Gold, Good, Better, best etc.

An equip guy who used to manage several locations pointed this out to me and I am thinking he's right.

 

[Whale of a Wash]

Could they all be right?? I copied more after disney and made mine more colorful like the Dolphin-- The Whale--and The Super Whale.
To label after the Olympic medals seems fine also. I probably would much rather use 123 than good -better-Best.

 

[rph9168]

Years ago I visited an exterior wash in New England that had Wash 1 or Wash 2. Wash 1 was a basic and Wash 2 had all they had in the form of on line services. I think the pricing was $5 and $8. The person that guided the cars on and prepped when necessary would ask the customer a simple question "Wash 1 or 2?" They sold 75% of wash 2. Sometimes we make things way too complicated. A customer should be able to tell the difference among the packages by naming them appropriately.

I have also seen menu boards that did not even list the basic wash do very well. Operators used to tell me that they already bought at least that when they drove on the lot so why take up a lot of space on the menu board with it?

The exception to this would be a lower volume wash that needed higher revenue per car and greeters that had the time to explain the services and packages.

 

[mac]

This is a good topic. I'm of the opinion that the menus should be kept as simple as possible. I come across menus at c stores for their inbays that confuse me. Do I want the wax or the protective sealant, or the trifoam conditioner? Most people never read the things anyway. If you don't believe me, put a small addition to the bottom of the menu board that says you get a free $20 just fore asking the attendant. You'll be there all day with no asking.

 

[buda]

Menu packages

A marketing firm for the transmission giant, AAMCO did a costly study on how they should present their different transmission repair packages and found the following:

a. Offer multiple packages and customer will get confused and impatient and choose the least expensive one.

b. Offer two packages and a great percentage will choose the least expensive one again.

c. However, offer 3 packages and you will get a greater percentage buying up to the middle package. The conclusion was they could understand the lowest price; the highest price and many decided they want something "a little better," as a result their percentage of middle and higher priced packages went up.

For example, a great exterior car wash menu might be:

Basic Wash $ 5.00
Wash & Triple Foam POLISH 'n WAX 8.00
The WORKS 12.00
+Wash
+Polish 'n Wax
+Undercarriage Wash
+Tire Shine

My experience showed at least 30% to 35% purchase one of the higher packages.

Just some well intentioned thoughts on the subject.

Regards
Bud Abraham

 

[rph9168]

With three well designed packages my experience has shown that the lowest package should get between 30-35% the middle package between 15-20 % and the highest package between 45-50%. A lot depends on how well the packages are put together and the price differential. In an IBA/Express there should be no more than 2-3$ between the packages. The difference in a Full/Flex service depends on the amount and type of services offered. I have seen as much as a 30% increase in sales where a menu has been properly redesigned. The key to to select the services most desired for the better packages. One phrase on a menu that is relatively useless is "You Save" people are more interested in value and services rather than savings when coming to a wash.

 

[robert roman]

Marketing experts define “find-ability” as a persons' ability to locate specific products on a menu or shelf and product differentiation as a persons’ understanding of which product to purchase for a specific need and why one product is more expensive than another.

Consequently, when I help someone develop a marketing plan for a carwash business, we begin by assuming that customers know they want a carwash, detail service, oil change, etc. but not the type of product. There are a number of techniques that can be used to help them decided such as color scheme, visual continuity and packaging.

With packaging, I always encourage carwash operators to avoid traditional naming conventions because the names are too typical.

Consider the typical scheme of basic, good, better or best. What do these names say about the specific features or benefits of the carwash product and are they descriptive enough to help customers understand product differences enough to trade-up to the higher end wash?

Some carwash owners may scoff at these notions as trivial but I have found they can be used to increase average revenue by as much as several dollars.

 

[pitzerwm]

My experience was with pricing $4, $5, $6 with good signage, my average was $5.65. I think that I used Basic, Better and Best. I do agree keep it simple!!!

Personally, I hate it when I'm trying to decide something and I have a lot of options to work my way thru. When I bought my original Honda van, they had 3 models and the extra were set for each model, so you had 3 choices and that was it.

 

[Boogie]

Who are smarter marketers. McDonalds, Wendy's White Castle, etc. or Mr. Tunnel or IBA wash?

I ask because the big guys have their menu packages as #1, #2, etc. , and seems that most wash packages have names like Bronze, Silver Gold, Good, Better, best etc.

An equip guy who used to manage several locations pointed this out to me and I am thinking he's right.

We actually have both at our full service locations. We've always internally called them by their numbers, so we added the 1-6 at our locations. I'll update everyone when we have some data.

 

[Chiefs]

Why not 5 packages? You could call them;

Mediocre Wash
Basic Wash
Good Wash
Better Wash
Best Wash

You're selling a car wash, not feeding people

 

[smokun]

How Do You Handle CHANGE?

In keeping with the spirit of the topic, how many operators change their packages with upgrades or new product offerings? I've seen many carwash operations that like the "set-it-and-forget it" concept of leaving a package fixed and alone... while others routinely upgrade with supplemental improvements in product name or value-added benefits.

Have you found the 'if it ain't broke, don't fix it" concept more effective than changing or augmenting with updates every year or so?

Following that, how do you introduce and integrate new products or service into your merchandising theme?

 

[Earl Weiss]

In keeping with the spirit of the topic, how many operators change their packages with upgrades or new product offerings? I've seen many carwash operations that like the "set-it-and-forget it" concept of leaving a package fixed and alone... while others routinely upgrade with supplemental improvements in product name or value-added benefits.

Have you found the 'if it ain't broke, don't fix it" concept more effective than changing or augmenting with updates every year or so?

Following that, how do you introduce and integrate new products or service into your merchandising theme?

Up until the last few years there was nothing to really ad. We had one package which included Sealer, Chassis bath, Triple Foam Polish, Rust inhibitor. when Rain X came along we did not add it since in and of itself it was hard to differentiate it from what we had. Then Tire Shine came along so we added both items for a second package.

I have seen a trend where add ons or addittional packages simply offer better cleaning / drying or more sizzle like "Wheel Deal", Triple foam soap, and Wheel Deal extra HP wheel cleaning, and perhaps heated drying. I have not moved in that direction.

 

[Boogie]

Why not 5 packages? You could call them;

Mediocre Wash
Basic Wash
Good Wash
Better Wash
Best Wash

You're selling a car wash, not feeding people

I don't know about you, but we don't offer a "Mediocre Wash".

 

[smokun]

ASSUMPTIONS Or Good Information?

I've noticed that some carwash operators assume that customers actually know about their products' features, advantages and benefits... even though they've NEVER explained anything about their products. Instead, they simply put up signage that includes product names and force their customers to either self-educate, assume or judge by the amount of the price.

This is especially true with exterior washes that seldom communicate with their customers.

For those do-little operators to lament over their inability to generate healthy sales revenue seems a bit ironical. A comprehensive menu is the most sensible way to educate customers and in doing so, lift their sales and strengthen customer retention. An educated consumer is still the best customer.

 

[packerscw]

I notice keeping your signs simple and easy no body gets confused. Keep it simple.

 

[Reds]

"Who are smarter marketers. McDonalds, Wendy's White Castle, etc. or Mr. Tunnel or IBA wash?
I ask because the big guys have their menu packages as #1, #2, etc. , and seems that most wash packages have names like Bronze, Silver Gold, Good, Better, best etc."

Marketing is not my forte', but since I owned and operated 5 BK's I can shed a little light on some of this. They use 1,2, etc. to eliminate confusion between the customer and order taker. When they added pre order menu boards (the ones you see before you get to the order station) it cut our speed of service times considerably. Anything that is on a translite (picture prominently displayed on menu board) sold like hot cakes regardless of price. You get bombarded with P.O.P. marketing to steer you to a costlier purchase. Also take note that the menu boards have evolved to mostly "value menu" items, not nearly the individual sandwich items that used to be listed. Everyone that comes on the site already made their decision to buy our product, and a lot of money was spent to steer them to a high priced menu item. Regarding coupons and value menu items - they are designed for you to cherry pick your meal and most people spend more money after they buy a $1 sandwich, full priced fries, and a drink. Or buy a whopper get one free, and you most likely served 2 customers who usually buy drinks and fries (high margin items) separately. Stores that were in neighborhoods where there were a lot of bottom fishers get clobbered by customers buying off the value menu only.
Incidently, I think that Mac's is the better marketer and a very well managed company. Regarding operations they all need a lot of work in that department.

 

[I.B. Washincars]

I think that the pre-order boards speed up the selection process because the order boards are too confusing to begin with. There are too many selections, pictures, small-medium-large pricing, on the burger boards to make them simple and quick. They may know more about marketing than me, but IMO they need some help. I agree with the KISS principle.

 

[smokun]

Wham, Bam... Thank You Ma'am!

When I was pioneering the menu-merchandising concept in the carwash industry, the opposition was old line carwash operators who were entrenched in the "get 'em in, get 'em out" because they never sold anything else beyond a carwash. Oh, a few sold spray wax for 50-cents, but most just included it as a bonus. Nothing was sold because the assumption was that customers merely wanted a wash, and time was money.

Anyway, the motivation for the development of the menu concept was to market what I called "extra services". I felt that customers wanted options and upgrades. First was spray wax followed by hot wax. Air freshener sprayed under the front seat competed with the good old green trees. Wheel cleaning & brightening, foam-fresh carpet shampoo, undercarriage wash, foam polish (we called it crystal-glaze) and other services followed gradually, as they were developed.

The point is, my goal was to increase the "dollar-per-car", and then wash as many enhanced-dollar vehicles as possible. We achieved this by creating & training service advisors who's primary purpose was to educate and sell, one customer at a time. Engaging the customer face-to-face!

Trained service advisors engaged each customer and printed menus reinforced the story, supported by p-o-p promotional signage and illuminated tunnel lights & signage. Theatrics accompanied the product application, and we quadrupled our revenues immediately. The rest is history.

Today, unbridled thirst for volume sometimes interferes with maintaining the merchandising of the story, thus diminishing the integrity of the product's value... and ultimately blurring the objectivity of increasing the dollar-per-car while maintaining a healthy price/value equation.

Operators who simply choose to be satisfied with mediocre sales results often suffer from a trade-off of the integrity of the sales message as well as continuing buyer-retention... in favor of brisk yet underwhelming performance to an unenlightened consumer.

Unfortunately, the collective money left on the table is quite substantial, relegating the dollar-per-car as well as the perceptions of value subordinate to the old "get 'em in and get 'em out" mentality. The difference between treating a carwash purchase as a simple commodity... and elevating it to a quality-done-quickly process of merchandising efficacy is the conspicuous difference between good... and great!

Make the extra effort and the rewards will provide a strong payback with powerful retention. That means printed menus, conspicuous in-tunnel merchandising at the point of application, and service advisors that dramatically enhance your bottom-line profitability.

 

[rph9168]

I agree with much of what RB said as well as IB. While the comparisons between marketing for fast food and car washes may be a little bit of a stretch the basic premise between the two may be valid. When customers drive on to a site they have already made the decision to buy a wash. A menu should serve the purpose of making it easy for them to decide which package is the best for what they feel they need. The perception among many customers is the more they pay the cleaner their vehicle gets.

I was involved in a study of washes by a major retail company which found that customers said their number one concern after the quality of the wash was protecting their vehicle. The recommendation was to stress protection in designing packages beyond the basic wash. In today's world I would say that means in the intermediate packages you might include a protectant or sealant and in the highest a super sealant. In naming packages I agree that make it clear the difference between them like good, better, best or supreme and ultimate.