Price on Street Marque

Just wondering everyones opinion on puttin your price on the street marque. When I bought my wash it had the price on the marque. When we changed the sign with new inserts we left the price out and raised our price for our basic wash service. I compete with a express exterior $2 wash about a 1/4 of a mile away. My lowest price is $4 and we pre prep every vehicle and hand dry everyone. I have had several customers comment on not having the price on the sign. I feel if I put the price out there the customer will just judge on the price not he great service we provide over the $2 guys. By not putting it out there it forces the customer to come in get in line and by then they usually have to get a wash. Is my thinking flawed or should I be advertising my price out there? I advertise my free vacuums and free dash wipes out there. It's not like McCdonald's has there price out on the sign.

Shannon,

Your thinking is not flawed. We don't put our price on the sign we have. By letting them come get in line you get there attention. Can they see your employees prepping the cars and hand drying them? If so I think they would be glad to pay for the little extra's that you provide over the $ 2 no prep no hand dry guys!!! Hope this helps, have a good day.

FWIW I think this is one of those things where if you ask 3 operators the question you will get 4 opinions.

I suggest that for every comment you get, there are at least 10 you don't get. Now, the issue is, of those that commented were they upset that they were sort of stuck ..."get in line and by then they usually have to get a wash"..... paying more than they expected?

I would certainly make sure it was not difficult for them to leave once they learned what the price was.

A negative Buzz is 10 times more pwerful than a positive buzz.

In my 40+ years in the business I can tell you that PRICE is a factor in getting people into the car wash, at least once.

In the Portland market we are $5.00 for a quality exterior wash. No prepping and no hand drying. They sell Value not Perfection and the people love it.

Those washes who tried to charge more by hand drying found that they were not as successful as the operators who turned out a quality wash for $5.00

As for prepping, if you have the right equipment you do not need to prep. It might cost a bit more, but you are probably paying for the equipmennt in prepping labor and lost business because of the lines you create because of the time it takes to prep.

Recently have consulted with a number of operators who wanted to increase revenues. Their bigglest problem was they were full service with a high full service price. They offered an exterior option but it was too high, plus the customers who did not come into the wash did not know they had a lower priced exterior.

They did nothing but put out a large A-Frame sign stating $5.00 Exterior Wash and they increased their volume by 30%.

The loyal, good customer knows what you get for $2.00 and it is not much of a wash, from what I understand.

Just some well intentioned thoughts.

Bud Abraham

You don't get much from the $2 wash. Basically they collect your money and send you through. I have been able to take a lot of customers from them because of the fact we prep and hand dry. I look at it this way the $2 wash is like McCdonalds I am Outback Steak House and the Full Service Washes are typically like a fine steak house. Different types of market segmants to serve different needs. I can only assume the comments I get from a few customers about not having the price on the sign is because they are use to seeing the giant $2 on the others marquee. I am a strong beleiver that quality is the most important at a fair price and most customer can respect that and will return for future wash services. At the $2 wash the customer is a commodity and that should never be the case when it comes to customer service. Just wanted to get some of the senior members opinions.

I wouldn't put sign just because the $2 wash competitor. With or without them, I would put price for your wash. As you mentioned, we have different customer base for SS, express, and full service. I think one easy way for express car wash to distinguish itself from full service is by having that bit "$5 wash" sign. I personally don't like it, but that is what seems to work. You'd be surprised how many people can't tell express wash from full service wash just by looking at it. Also, you have lots of people who come to your carwash not more than once or twice a year. I bet more than half of your customers do not come more than twice a year. At least that's the industry stat according to DRB's random survey across nation. So you really need to step up the game and get those people's attention. And don't worry about people comparing you to the $2 wash. Trust me, people don't think that seriously. And when a casual lookers see both of you, he will decide $2 wash or $5 wash? You may have more people go $2 wash because it is cheaper, but you will have good portion of them coming to you because they figure there's gotta be something less for $2 wash. So, continue doing what you do for higher price as it is justified by you doing some extra stuff. But definitely get a big price sign. Make the price bigger than your car wash sign. It's a brutal truth, but very few people care what your carwash's name is more than they care about knowing that you are a car wash. I think if you are an express car wash and your main attraction is "affordability", then it's only natural that you let the whole world know what your price is.

I have no doubt whatsoever that your biz will grow considerably once you post the sign. IT IS A MUST!!!

-tom

I am sick and tired of those who say, "as far as prepping goes, if you had the right equipment and chemicals you wouldn't need to prep." BULL&^#%&^!
Vehicles come into our wash every day that either haven't been washed in 3 months; have snow, ice, or mud on them, have bird crap or tree sap that's been on for a month or more. This doesn't include those vehicles with sapre tires on the back tailgate, and all the recessed areas that high pressure cannnot adeqautely address and the cloth cannot reach. Areas like recessed areas around license plates, intricate areas on the front grill and under the front bumper; tailgate handles; And, the area of the windshield between the hood and the wiper blades.

The call a spade a spade. You know what the difference is between washing 150,000 cars at $5.00 and 75,000 cars at 10 per car? Nothing! Nothing other than twice the cost of water, sewer, and chemicals, and much higher gas and electrical costs. Yes, without prepping you have an offset in less labor. But if you plan on running the conveyor unattended, you're still going to have 1-2 employees on site depending on how busy you are. And if you do plan on running unattended, then you're going to be hard pressed to wash that 150,000 cars as customers will not load themselves as closely on the conveyor as the attendant can, resulting in far lower hourly wash volumes on peak and semi-peak wash days - the day when you do the majority of your wash volume.

Bottom line is that if you as an operator are satisfied putting out cars that are 90-95% clean and your customers are willing to make that trade-off for the price of $5.00 and you don't mind the higher costs, go for it. But I am sorry, 90% clean isn't good enough for me and that's a major reason we wash 85-90K a year at $8.00 a car (no wiping).

Can prepping be substantially reduced - absolutely. For every vehicle we prep using hogs hair brushes the front, windshield and rear of every vehicle. All the areas I described above. We almost never prep any of the the top or sides of a vehicle unless it presents itself with snow, ice, mud, bird crap, bugs and tree sap, but just those specific areas that need it. We never prep the entire vehicle. Since we do not wipe down, we have no quality control at the exit end of the wash. Now getting that last 5-10% of the vehcile clean may seem obsessive-compulsive to some of you. It is your decision to make. But don't pee in my ear and tell me its raining that I wouldn't have to prep if I just had the right equipment and chemicals.

Bill, why do you prep the windshield? Is it to get that portion of the windshield below the wipers?

Alot of car washes prep. Call it a little show along with getting to those hard to reach areas behind the rear tire, heavy stuff, bugs, etc. It is hard to wean customers away from it once started. Some customers will feel they were shorted on the value of the wash or their vehicle will not be as clean.
Truthfully, I always believed it was "giving" the customer something extra, and it was used for beginning to loosen up the road soils and dirt on the vehicle - a little head start so the wash process would be a little more efficient. We used a combination high pressure and cloth.

Too often the attendant would try to "wash the car" as though it were in a self serve - costing more time, chemicals and water. Normally, we would lightly spray the car, do the hard to reach areas and heavy stuff if there is any. Other than that preping should not take a long time. We used high pressure prepping.
To wash a car well everytime without prepping is possible, but you would have to use the right chemicals, and more equipment which is expensive to buy and operate. In the end you would probably have to drift back to some prepping. I think customers appreciate a little "human touch" on the vehicle.

Here is my honoest take on prepping. Before I owned car wash, I too was one of those "typical" customers. A "typical" customer who really didn't know much about car wash and who washed maybe just few times year.

Now, when I saw people preping the car, I think it had more of a "show" effect than anything else. I didn't really care but the fact that people will actually take some time and prep my car made me feel like they cared about my car or something.

And even if you prep the car, you still won't get 100% like you would if you finished the car by hand at the end. And I think most typical customers know that and expect it. Of course you have few customers who would expect the result of the finely waxed car after just going through the car, but those are just seriously weird people in my opinion.

So, if I owned express wash and decided to prep the cars, it would solely be for the purpose of "show". Now, if you are really busy, I don't know that you can perform the "show" on every car. I guess that's the tough decision for express car owners. "To show or not to show... that is the question!"

-tom

“Just wondering everyones opinion on puttin your price on the street marque.

I compete with a express exterior $2 wash about a 1/4 of a mile away. My lowest price is $4 and we pre prep every vehicle and hand dry everyone.

Is my thinking flawed or should I be advertising my price out there? I advertise my free vacuums and free dash wipes out there.

You don't get much from the $2 wash. Basically they collect your money and send you through. I have been able to take a lot of customers from them because of the fact we prep and hand dry. …. At the $2 wash the customer is a commodity…”.

Since most motorists only have 4 or 5 seconds to see, read and understand the message on a sign and then make a decision, I would put the words,

CAR WASH

on the marquee or street sign in the biggest sized letters and boldest color combination possible, so it can be seen from a great distance.

As for “to compete or not compete” against a $2.00 wash, Buda suggests;

“In the Portland market we are $5.00 for a quality exterior wash. No prepping and no hand drying. They sell Value not Perfection and the people love it.” “They did nothing but put out a large A-Frame sign stating $5.00 Exterior Wash and they increased their volume by 30%.”

However, Buda is not competing against a $2.00 wash. Moreover, what would prevent the guy down the street from putting up his own a-frame sign?

What someone does should depend on circumstances.

For example, in Florida, people build homes and businesses by the coast line. If a hurricane comes, we get in our cars and run away.

People in the Portland area have built homes and businesses near the Cascades fault line. If an earthquake comes, there is no time to run away.

In Michigan, you may be competing against an owner, without a mortgage, who switched formats from full-service to express exterior with free vacuums.

If you have a mortgage, you simply can’t compete on the basis of low price if the guy down the street decides to sell at $2.00.

And so forth.

I do have CARWASH on my marque it is 3' tall by 10' wide and under it I have "FREE VACUUMS - FREE DASH WIPES" 1' tall and 10' wide.
We put the price out at the street over the weekend. Have to say if it makes any difference. We haven't done any direct mail marketing for the last couple of years. A new campain starts this week in the local paper that other buisness owners have told me gave them great returns.
Cross my fingers and hope something starts to work, I have tried just about everything to drum up more volume.

Shan

The good loyal carwash customer, the one on whom you build your business is not stupid. They realize what kind of was they get for $2.00?, that is why they dont often return.

And the Carwash operator offering a $2.00 Carwash is not stupid either. They can't cover costs selling a wash at $2.00. They use the $2.00 wash as a leader to generate volume and then hope to upsell to get at least an average revenue per car of $6.00.

Problem with the $2.00 wash is it creates a mentality at the wash of mediocracy and that is the kind of wash they turn out even at a higher price.

In my 40+ years in the business I have heard the argument that "things are different in my area" every week for those 40+ years. People might wash their cars more in the winter in the NE than they do in Portland, but the reason customers was their cars is the same all over the country, "a quality clean car at a reasonable price.

$20 is not a reasonable price. But, $5.00 is.

Another thought if things are so different in every part of the country how then are cookie cutter franchises so successful yet doing exactly the same thing in every part of the country and charging about the same price.

Just some well intentioned thoughts

Shannon,

Instead of,

“CARWASH”

"Free Vacuums – Free Dash Wipes"

You may want to consider something else like,

CAR WASH

Great Service

Bright yellow letters on solid black or dark blue background, back lit at night

“Cross my fingers and hope something starts to work, I have tried just about everything to drum up more volume.”

Praying for divine intervention won’t hurt but most marketing experts would suggest something more down to earth like a well thought out marketing plan and budget.

“We haven't done any direct mail marketing for the last couple of years. A new campain starts this week in the local paper that other business owners have told me gave them great returns.

This may be part of the root cause, no direct marketing for last couple of years.

If you have been living off the fat of the land, the competition may have finally caught up with you and stolen some of your customers.

As brick and mortar store, you have to continually drive people to it. If you quit marketing, some people may forget about you if there are plenty of alternatives to chose from.

However, the newspaper may be one of the last mediums you may want to consider using to launch a new campaign because more and more people are not reading newspapers.

Buda,

“….but the reason customers was their cars is the same all over the country, "a quality clean car at a reasonable price.”

I believe the reason people all over the country wash their vehicles is because they are dirty.
“Problem with the $2.00 wash is it creates a mentality at the wash of mediocracy and that is the kind of wash they turn out even at a higher price.”

The problem with $2.00 pricing is it transforms the product into a low priced commodity and creates downward pressure on price in the marketplace.

“$20 is not a reasonable price. But, $5.00 is.”

What is unreasonable about $20? I have friends and clients that sell $20 washes all day long.

“Another thought if things are so different in every part of the country how then are cookie cutter franchises so successful yet doing exactly the same thing in every part of the country and charging about the same price.”

I not sure they are the same.

Goo Goo’s chain sells the base wash at $3 and $4. Mike’s Express chain sells the base wash for $8.00. Goo Goo’s sites are lightly sprinkled over seven states and the chain hasn’t grown very much at all over the last several years. Mike’s has established two solid regions, surrounding Indianapolis and Cincinnati.

Robert I feel you are right on with many of the points. If devine intervention worked I would be a millionar right now. I know the major mistake I have made is not to market correctly. The paper we are using is not a major regional paper but a local community paper and after talking to several buisness owners in the area that have tried all types of different direct mailing this was the one that gave them the best return on investment. We also use an email club with a monthly newsletter offering specials. I feel a solid marketing plan is a must and is something I am learning about on the fly. Marketing is not my specialty, I can build and fix just about anything. I feel you are right on the monety in reguards to the $2.00 wash. If you market yourself right you can overcome the price downward pressure. As I learn more I am finding out for the last couple of years since I bought the wash I am spinning my wheels and going no where.

When I bought the wash it was so run down that no one came here we have remodled and cleaned up the place a lot. What I have tried to do unsucessfully is take customers from the other washes in the area that are not or do not put out a great end product for the price. The root cause of the lack of sucess is failur to not market properly. It is time I put my big boy pants on and solve the problem and that is what I am currently working on.

I appreciate all the different opinions that everyone has. That is what makes this sight great and really helps out the car washing community. I always am one that listens, and then sorts through opinions and try to take away information that may work for me. If any one has any more opinions please keep them coming I am like a sponge!

Thanks
Shannon

We've found a markting tool that has gooten us a better eturn than any Val-Pak or newspaper. Its called the Town Planner Calendar and is sent out to all homeowners in the communties we choose. Each calendar is tailored to the school calendar in each community and has coupons at the bottom of each month. It costs us about $5K a year to be 4 different calendars. It has been a consistent performer for us for the last three years. We also have developed a web-site and promote it to our customers both on site and in other ads we do from time to time. We also hand out a company newsletter twice a year (Fall/Winter & Spring/Summer). This informs customers of many things they need to think about regarding their vehicle like detailing, acid rain, what makes our wash different, etc., as well as seasonsal specials like 5 wash books, our monthly club and our Jr. Club. We also give out moist, disposable towels so customers can wipe their dash. And, with our limited prepping of strategic areas, we give them an extremely high quality wash that they cannot get anywhere else in our market area - without towel drying! Newspapers have never generated a good return for us -it simply requires people to spend too much time to get the paper, look through it, hope that they find the ad and clip the coupon.

This summer we will also be institing a $3.00 off special every Tuesday and Wednesday. This $4.00+ gas price is going to be a reall killer this year as people look for ways to cutback.

Bill

I sure would put $4 and I would also put "Towel Dry". Just my two cents, but I surely wouldn't trust a consultant that has no skin in the game. If he knew what he was doing, he'd own a carwash.