My family has been in the car wash business for over 50 years, we still own one of the oldest car washes in America. But this article isn’t about Car Washing, its about being Less… During the first 40 years of washing our locations were about full service, interior exterior cleaning, shampoos, shoe shines, barber shops and oil changes. My father knew all the customer names, he tracked them by their tag numbers. He was so detailed about knowing his customers, tracking their frequency he was written about in USA Today International and many other publications. Everyday he greeted and spoke to his customers, he kissed hands and shook babies (or something like that…) A few years ago my father helped pioneer a new concept in car washing, the Express Exterior.
Its all about doing Less…
* The customer remains in their car as it proceeds down the tunnel conveyor, then they vacuum their car themselves. Saves labor, no lobby etc.
* Automated the cashier, now customers pay a machine instead of a person. Employee thefts dropped.
* Because he is doing less he charges less. The average price per car from $22 to $6 but his volume skyrocketed (5x).
* He went from 50 employees to just 6 so his labor and workmen’s comp dropped and the hassles of day to day employee hassles left.
* Because his employees didn’t touch the car the complaints virtually stopped.
My father’s whole philosophy changed, he went from SERVICE IS KING to a Low Price Value Car Wash. He is a true testament to keeping a business flexible, nimble and easily adaptable and now, being less. He still provides a great car wash now with less stress.
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