Advice on increasing CPD on Petit

[soonermajic]

I have a GREAT lookin touchless Petit, directly in front of WalMart. After 9 mos, I switched chems, & now clean cars like a champ.

Issue: i wash 18cpd!! I do not wanna do membetships or an App... yet.

Town of 67,000 with 7 tunnels. 4 are super busy, 3 are not busy at all.

 

[soonermajic]

Also, there are 3 old D&S 5000, not busy, & 1 new WW Double Barrel & it's not busy at all.

 

[AnalyticWash]

I know you don't want to do it yet but memberships are the ideal solution to your situation. Standalone IBA.

Have you done any marketing?
How are you priced against your competition?
Do you have vacs?

 

[Roz]

Washbooks. Memberships are usually a money loser for IBAs because we are always open and have a limited wash capacity.

Talk about over building. Sounds like there are going to be some tunnels for sale soon (cheap) unless they already sold the real estate and kept a sweetheart lease which is the current trend.

Make the wash visually pop with something.

Advertise in a local free magazine promoting the petit and touch free.

 

[Kostas]

You have the best equipment of them all. I had 2 short bay pdq 4000s that I upgraded to Petit 360s and started selling memberships. Check out the new Dencar pay stations. I was not a fan originally of the idea. But after a bunch of research, I retrofitted my hamiltons with these and they paid for them selves. I have done no marketing and have over 500 memberships servicing 600 vehicles. I went from 25K cars a year with the old to 65k a year with the new. The memberships are definitely worth it.

 

[ShinePro]

You have the best equipment of them all. I had 2 short bay pdq 4000s that I upgraded to Petit 360s and started selling memberships. Check out the new Dencar pay stations. I was not a fan originally of the idea. But after a bunch of research, I retrofitted my hamiltons with these and they paid for them selves. I have done no marketing and have over 500 memberships servicing 600 vehicles. I went from 25K cars a year with the old to 65k a year with the new. The memberships are definitely worth it.

Welcome to the forum!

So I m curious
If I can ask. How many of the 65k washes a year are members washes vs non member regular pay washes ?

 

[Kostas]

Welcome to the forum!

So I m curious
If I can ask. How many of the 65k washes a year are members washes vs non member regular pay washes ?

About 38%

 

[GoBuckeyes]

I have done no marketing and have over 500 memberships servicing 600 vehicles. I went from 25K cars a year with the old to 65k a year with the new. The memberships are definitely worth it.

Curious how the membership model affected your margin. What was your avg ticket when washing 25k versus now. Was the 25k/yr with the PDQ’s or the Petit/Hamilton combo pre-membership? 65,000/12/600 is an average of 9 visits per member per month. I wouldn’t be making any money if that math is correct.

 

[Kostas]

PDQ/Hamilton were 25k washes per year no membership.
About 38% of the 65k are total membership washes per year is with the Petit/Dencar. Monthly average on membership is closer to 4-5 visits a month. I was skeptical about it, but I am surrounded by tunnel washes with memberships and I really had no choice. The recurrent revenue stream has made it worth while as well as the customer loyalty. They activity on site draws more activity as well. That’s just my opinion and personal experience.

 

[Eric H]

I don’t want to kick you while you’re down but…the chemical issues you had for the first 9 months really shot yourself in the foot. Customers that came in once or twice and didn’t get a quality wash won’t be returning without some kind of significant incentive. For this I’d recommend giving away free washes for at least a week or longer.
You’ve told us there are 67,000 residents. What’s the car count on the road in front of the wash? Do customers have direct access from the road or do they need to use an access road or enter into a plaza to get to the wash? (Can we see a Google satellite image?).
What was the average car count the first month?
can you partner with any other business adjacent to the wash to help promote your wash? Is that a quick lube I can see on the left side in your 2nd photo? Would they give away free wash passes with a quick lube for a month?
I don’t put much weight into google reviews but what is the rating on this site? If you have low ratings, what are the reviewers criticizing?
I’m not trying to beat you up over the car count but we need to ask some tough questions to discover the issue. You are going to have to work twice as hard to slowly build revenue. This is probably going to take close to 2 years to get where you need to be.

 

[Keno]

I don’t want to kick you while you’re down but…the chemical issues you had for the first 9 months really shot yourself in the foot. Customers that came in once or twice and didn’t get a quality wash won’t be returning without some kind of significant incentive...

This is the main problem right here, the fact that it took 9 months to put out a good looking car. Customers may give you benefit of the doubt once, that maybe something was wrong that 1 day they washed, and that's a big maybe. Twice in a row, and almost a guaranteed lost customer, especially when they have so many other options in town to get a consistent clean car wash

 

[AnalyticWash]

Washbooks. Memberships are usually a money loser for IBAs because we are always open and have a limited wash capacity.

I see both sides of the membership argument. I think no operator truly knows how well a membership program will do until they run one at their wash. For most of us, its a sizeable investment to make it work.

That being said, consumers are not looking for washbooks...

 

[washnshine]

I have a GREAT lookin touchless Petit, directly in front of WalMart. After 9 mos, I switched chems, & now clean cars like a champ.

Issue: i wash 18cpd!! I do not wanna do membetships or an App... yet.

Town of 67,000 with 7 tunnels. 4 are super busy, 3 are not busy at all.

Wash looks great, coach. What presoak/chem did you switch to that is working well for you?

 

[washnshine]

This is the main problem right here, the fact that it took 9 months to put out a good looking car. Customers may give you benefit of the doubt once, that maybe something was wrong that 1 day they washed, and that's a big maybe. Twice in a row, and almost a guaranteed lost customer, especially when they have so many other options in town to get a consistent clean car wash

I agree and feel bad for operators who have to take an extended time to dial in their wash chemistry and performance. It is not a forgiving business by nature, and excessive competition only makes it that much harder. That being said, I’m really glad you have things set up well to successfully clean now - that will go a long way in growing the business as you move forward. You will get there, coach!

 

[Waxman]

this is another argument for using your distributors chemicals. when Autowash Maintenance finished my install, they got the chemicals dialed in perfectly and I have not touched them since, except to change drums.

I get the occasional "not clean enough" complaint, but we are all familiar with that from time to time and usually it's a car that would not have come clean in any touch free anywhere.

 

[HeyVern]

Now that you've got the chemicals right, it's just a matter of getting people to try it again. People are impressed when they use a Petit for the first time I'd do free washes for a few days to get them coming in

 

[soonermajic]

I don’t want to kick you while you’re down but…the chemical issues you had for the first 9 months really shot yourself in the foot. Customers that came in once or twice and didn’t get a quality wash won’t be returning without some kind of significant incentive. For this I’d recommend giving away free washes for at least a week or longer.
You’ve told us there are 67,000 residents. What’s the car count on the road in front of the wash? Do customers have direct access from the road or do they need to use an access road or enter into a plaza to get to the wash? (Can we see a Google satellite image?).
What was the average car count the first month?
can you partner with any other business adjacent to the wash to help promote your wash? Is that a quick lube I can see on the left side in your 2nd photo? Would they give away free wash passes with a quick lube for a month?
I don’t put much weight into google reviews but what is the rating on this site? If you have low ratings, what are the reviewers criticizing?
I’m not trying to beat you up over the car count but we need to ask some tough questions to discover the issue. You are going to have to work twice as hard to slowly build revenue. This is probably going to take close to 2 years to get where you need to be.

Can't offend me, after 33yrs of coaching HS ball. Ha
Traffic count 7500, but it's 15mph, directly in front of WalMart., & at @ Stop sign. Very easy ingree / egress.
No Vacs, & would be a MASSIVE investment to add them, or tire shiner. Building is on an incline, on side of a hill. But that also makes it easier to see. No, that's not a Quick Lube, but a Cash store. There's no business nearby to partner with, as I looked at doing that...
I may do another week of free washes. It has very slowly gotten better, but has plateaued the past90 days.
I may wind up doing membetships. Im $10, 13, 16, 18 on my pkgs. Tunnels are $10---$30 in this town, & yes, there are 3 for sale on a triple net lease. WhateverTheHel that means.

 

[soonermajic]

Anyone have success with billboards?

 

[washnshine]

I know it’s probably assumed they should be put in the higher traffic direction, but I knew an operator who put it on the same road as his wash that would face and hopefully capture the vehicles that had to make a left into the wash. What I’m saying is there are probably strategies as to where it is best to put one. I never used one.

 

[OurTown]

Although not many Google reviews at least there is only one that is negative and didn't say anything bad about the wash quality. If that one is true then I suggest you post your phone number in case there is an issue. Also, I think responding to all the Google reviews can help. It doesn't appear you have too much competition on that end of town. Your Facebook page for the other wash has quite a following but looks dormant now. Could you start posting more and add this wash to it? You can probably get the CPD up there quickly with some effort. It just depends on how much time and money you are willing to devote.