Virtually FREE marketing ideas

[docopp]

A lot of $$ can be spent promoting your car wash,
In my experience of owning several businesses, marketers tell us how well their marketing works, and almost always it isn't cost effective for us, just profitable to the person who sells it to us.
The best marketing is:
#1 keep your existing customers happy !!!
they will spread word of mouth,
#2 we want to attract customers to our location with minimal cost

Our car wash colors are yellow with purple trim,
not dull faded blue like most car washes that blends in with the sky color
We stand out bright and bold
Paint doesn't cost a lot, and if you need to repaint anyway, go bold

I added free air 6 months ago and it gets a lot of use,
I put a sign "Free Air" on our street to promote it's use
No one has stolen any part of it and I would say maybe 10 to 15 cars use it per day.
I look at it as great, virtually free to me, marketing.
It gets people to our car wash to see how clean and well run we are.

I also eliminated tokens a few months ago, best idea ever !!!
I never hear "I don't want tokens.. I don't live near here... can you trade them for quarters... etc "
We also don't spend time sorting tokens/quarters to make a bank deposit...
If a few people each month change dollar bills for quarters and leave, they have at least seen and experienced our car wash
back to great virtually free marketing

As people are washing their cars, we greet them and show them pointers, like what the product choices do and best sequence to use them,
If they have bugs, we lend them a bug removal sponge.... I have never had one stolen
another free marketing idea

ed

 

[pgrzes]

I dont understand how eliminating Tokens is a great move?? If you have $1 tokens you are making approx .75 for every non used token. So they are a profit center. If you are vending quarters or tokens there is a cost to do so. On quarters you make nothing, but have to maintain machines. Tokens reduce vandalism, it has been discussed for years. If your changers have signs about what you are vending there should be no complaints. If you vend quarters how many are being purchased for other places, or business's coming in to take them? IMHO, I think you are making a mistake getting rid of tokens.

 

[Earl Weiss]

I dont understand how eliminating Tokens is a great move??.

Seems he gave his reasons: "
I never hear "I don't want tokens.. I don't live near here... can you trade them for quarters... etc
We also don't spend time sorting tokens/quarters to make a bank deposit...
If a few people each month change dollar bills for quarters and leave, they have at least seen and experienced our car wash
back to great virtually free marketing"

 

[CarWashBoy]

I dont understand how eliminating Tokens is a great move?? If you have $1 tokens you are making approx .75 for every non used token. So they are a profit center. If you are vending quarters or tokens there is a cost to do so. On quarters you make nothing, but have to maintain machines. Tokens reduce vandalism, it has been discussed for years. If your changers have signs about what you are vending there should be no complaints. If you vend quarters how many are being purchased for other places, or business's coming in to take them? IMHO, I think you are making a mistake getting rid of tokens.

I got rid of Tokens and Quarters over two years ago.. we have CryptoPay and Bill acceptors on all 9 vacs and all bays.. we have a bill breaker in lieu of a quarter machine.. people love it.. it also quicker and more convenient for the customer.. easy to collect money.. and higher revenue per customer.. we run about 68% credit card.. No Tokens or Quarters are the way to GO! .. we are $4 - 4 minutes, each additional dollar adds 1 minute.. sweet... vacs are $3 - 5 minutes.. hope this helps..
Doug..
P.S. I should be $5 - 5 minutes on bays, I want to snag that $5 Bill..

 

[Ric]

I got rid of Tokens and Quarters over two years ago.. we have CryptoPay and Bill acceptors on all 9 vacs and all bays.. we have a bill breaker in lieu of a quarter machine.. people love it.. it also quicker and more convenient for the customer.. easy to collect money.. and higher revenue per customer.. we run about 68% credit card.. No Tokens or Quarters are the way to GO! .. we are $4 - 4 minutes, each additional dollar adds 1 minute.. sweet... vacs are $3 - 5 minutes.. hope this helps..
Doug..
P.S. I should be $5 - 5 minutes on bays, I want to snag that $5 Bill..

Where are you located?

 

[CarWashBoy]

Where are you located?

Hi.. Located in Rainy Portland, Oregon area.. 20 miles South

Doug

 

[mac]

I like carwash boy's ideas. One of my customers got a bill breaker and it did around $70,000 the first two years. This is at a 6 bay self serve only. He then bought another breaker.

 

[mac]

docopp also mentions that word of mouth will do the trick if you run a good place. I think that depends on a lot of factors. I like direct mailings if you have something nice to offer. For instance, I ran a wash for some absentee owners once. It was on a very busy street. When built the city made them plant stuff between the wash and the road. Well after 10 years the wash was invisible. When we cut the stuff down a lot of people said they never knew the place was there.

 

[docopp]

Thanks for the comments,
Car Wash Boy reminded me that I added CC acceptors on every bay and every vacuum 4 months ago.
The CC use has grown every month, now it accounts for 1/2 of our sales.
The vacuum use keeps growing, as we try to have clean strong vacuums.
Funny Mac mentioned planted stuff in front of his car wash, probably cute at first..... then it grows
The small strip center next to me is invisible because of this.
I just added 18 inch tall led letters "CAR WASH" on each side of the roof over our bays.
You can see them easily as you drive by our car wash.