Marketing for the masses In a world full of choices, car wash owners can let people in their area know why they need to choose their location over others in the area. In most cities there are several car washes in one city. Most gas stations and C-shops now have their own car wash, which can and can cut the traffic of your washing. But you are advertising on paper and you get a nice, well-lit sign, so where are all the new customers?
Trends in the consumer economy make it clear that it is not always so important when customers buy their car wash because they buy a car wash. Consumers will make a purchasing decision based on convenience factors that can be as simple as accepting their particular credit card or participating in a prepayment car wash club.
Find a cashless system that suits your business. There are so many non-cash payment solutions in the carwash industry that owners can easily be overwhelmed by all options. Fortunately, the overwhelming majority of systems can be reduced to those that are primarily focused on accepting credit cards and those that offer loyalty programs and tools for selling a cashless program, in addition to direct accepting credit cards. There is also a third category, and this is the basic built-in factory version, available through most new equipment. Embedded card programs from the factory will be very simple. Just like a factory radio station in your car, it will handle the very basics of the functionality and may even get you for a while. Like your factory car radio, you can remove them and replace them with any number of generic solutions to provide additional features not available at the factory settings.
Only interested in accepting credit cards? If your only goal when buying a cashless payment system is to accept credit cards, then my only offer is to hire a sign consultant such as Perry Powell and build the largest, most visible sign allowed by your city, with the words “We accept .. . ”And then the logos of each major credit card you can offer. If the customer does not know that you are accepting credit cards, they can simply proceed. Accepting credit cards is as important as accepting cash, it’s just a reasonable business sense. Major credit card companies spend billions of dollars so that every student, adult, and child with a bank account has a credit card.
Tip: Although accepting a credit card can get a new customer at the door, there is nothing loyal about building a visa. Remember? "Visa, this is wherever you want to be." A customer with Visa is as loyal as other companies in the city to Visa. Accepting credit cards is an excellent angle to attract new customers to the lot, a trick that gives them a reason to return.
Looking for a market cashless program? This is for you? The first thing that I cannot emphasize is that the greater the flexibility of your cashless system, the more likely it is to use it. Non-cash marketing programs are very similar to exercise videos. You can buy videos. You can watch the video. But if you don’t actually do the exercises on the video, you won’t win by buying one. And that is why the number one reason for the success or failure of a cashless loyalty system comes down to the participation of the owner and employee. In order to successfully implement a profitable cashless program, it requires that every level of business embraces and blesses its benefits to its customers.
How can I sell a cashless loyalty program? There is no magic reference book or wonderful software that can provide all the answers, and this article is by no means going to provide all the answers. Some non-cash products come with marketing tools. in the form of thick books that have not been updated for years, leaving you to decipher their use. Other products come with practical advice, marketing literature and marketing advice from experts. The best tools in the industry - from the washing professionals and the laundry operators themselves. It used to be that car wash operators would have the opportunity to learn about how to be successful business owners in person in car wash agreements. The Internet has been an invaluable tool in learning what works and what doesn't work. Sites such as talkcarwash and autocareforum give voice to car wash operators from around the world to ask questions and give answers to other car wash operators who may be in the same situation as themselves.
Marketing Option 1: selling face to face cards The easiest sales approach is to meet your customers face to face and explain to them the benefits of your loyalty program. Sometimes you give bonus money for laundry when customers pre-pay or charge their prepaid account. As employees meet and greet customers on a lot, it is never painful to carry along a few additional prepaid cards to distribute to customers as they finish washing their cars. This gives them an incentive to return a second time, and if they are properly presented, they will add extra value to their prepaid card. Obviously, the disadvantage of cards sold is that you are limited by how many cards you can physically distribute or sell personally.
Marketing Option 2: The goal of a local business with commercial accounts The most successful owners of detergents confirm the amazing profitability of targeting local businesses with the help of a fleet card program. A commercial fleet is a profitable and predictable amount of business that you can count on every month. Since several systems on the market can create detailed invoices at the end of the month, many car owners can bring in huge bills, including municipal vehicles, city vehicles, and local law enforcement. Car wash operators who had previously sold tokens or tokens found that their commercial business clients washed out more often when they no longer relied on getting more tokens when they ran out and no longer had to distribute tokens and tokens to various fleet drivers after how new coin tokens or markers were purchased.
Tip: In a recent survey of commercial business customers, problem number one for managers had nothing to do with the quality of washing their vehicles received. Their main concern was that each time their own employees handed out, they handed out bags of impenetrable tokens or stacks of tokens. The right cash fleet management program will give the peace of mind that business owners are looking for.
Marketing Option 3: Sell Prepaid Cards at Vending Machines or Specialty Card Dispensers The provision of prepaid loyalty cards in standard vending machines allows 24/7 sales. Several manufacturers offer specialized card distribution machines that provide prepaid customers with the opportunity to purchase a card with cash or a credit card. These machines automatically apply the loyalty bonus to prepay and issue a prepaid card loaded with the appropriate value. The greatest advantage of these machines is that it allows customers to check the value of an existing prepaid card and add additional value if the balance is low. These machines inevitably give consumers the opportunity to use their large bills that cannot be broken in the banknote changer.
Tip: Adding a specialized machine for selling and recharging provides an excellent opportunity to completely abandon coin tokens with a much more profitable cashless solution. You no longer need to sort tokens from quarters, electrical blanks from tokens and your tokens with coins of local coins or coins.
Marketing Option 4: Sell Accounts Online In the same consumer economy that allows you to buy your products on the Internet, it is not surprising that consumers will buy their car wash online. Having a web presence for your car wash gives customers the opportunity to learn more about your laundry services. Like many car wash owners offering cashless payment options, they use their website as another way to generate revenue from online sales.
Example: An example of effective non-cash marketing on the Internet can be seen by visiting the Swipe-N-Shine (swipenshine) independent car wash website. Swipe-N-Shine is located in Murray Utah and is owned and operated by Brett Pace. Brett uses his website to not only sell prepaid cards, but also gives his loyalty card customers the opportunity to register his card on his website to protect the value of the cards that are to be lost or stolen. Customers can register for free laundry on their birthday, and when customers register their prepaid card online, they can also qualify for their Swipe-N-Shine referral program. Customers who refer their friends and relatives to the loyalty program can deceive themselves and their friend $ 5 for free laundry. Finally, Brett gives all his fleet customers the ability to manage their own commercial account from his website, as well as online banking. Merchant fleet customers pay their bills online using their company's credit card, as well as prepaid customers add extra value to their prepaid bills online.
Tip: Put your website address at all. Signs, shirts, prepaid cards, even company cars! Again, if customers do not know this, they will not use it. In the case of the site, they do not visit it.
Marketing Option 5: Sell prepaid laundry through a charitable foundation School sports teams, youth groups and organizations can sell so many frozen pizzas, holiday wreaths and cookies to raise money. Contact the organization directly and sell them prepaid cards at a discount to cover your expenses and let them make a few dollars to attract many new customers to your location. In any case, the goal of a charity car wash or fundraiser is not to make a lot of cash with the initial investment. Instead, wash owners should keep two key steps in view at all times. 1) Get more visible in the community. 2) Focus on new customers that will lead to the sale of Fund Raiders. And when in doubt, you can write off everything on your taxes. This is a proven statistical fact - the more loyalty cards you have in circulation, the more repetitions you will receive on a regular basis. The owners of the laundry, who receive loyalty cards in the hands of everyone with whom they do business, have no idea what a slow month is. at the sink.
Marketing option (need) 6: advertise your program correctly! As is the case with credit cards, if customers do not know that you are offering a loyalty card program, they will not participate. In each bay there should be a sign, on the menu bar there should be a sign, and the trading area should have several signs. The most effective place to place a mark is that customers will watch while they are waiting for the customer to finish washing in front of them.
What can I do that I will not do now?
- Stock Raiders (Charity Aid)
- Launching an online marketing campaign (using the website as an anchor for marketing efforts)
- Discount erase & # 39; loyalty card / key / code user program
- Successfully sell fleets using the auto fleet management program.
- Develop business relationships with local mechanics stores, auto dealerships, supermarkets, and C-Stores to offer advertising services, deals, or discount wash packages / fleet accounts.
- How many cards / codes / keys can be obtained in the system immediately?
- How do I collect the data? Do I need to physically go to the wash?
- How often do I need to go and collect data before the memory is full and data loss occurs?
- How does the information get into my accounting software? How do i do billing?
- How does the system protect against transaction data loss? Is there a data backup system?
- Does the system allow credit cards? If so, is this batch processing or during the processing of a purchase?
- Are the cards / keys / codes rechargeable? How do they charge?
- How do customers buy cards / keys / codes? Is there a way to automate dosing?
- Does the system require an operator?
- How much are cards / keys / codes?
- How does the system handle updates and add function? Do I have to pay for these updates?
- Does the hardware work with my automatic teller or self-service timers?
- How durable are cards / keys / codes?
- Is the setting available? If so, what can I customize?
- Can I remove lost or stolen cards / keys / codes from the system and replace the new card / key / code?
- How flexible is the system in terms of offering discounts or promotions?
- Does the system provide both prepaid and credit accounts for fleets?
- How much has been done to improve the system since its launch? Will future plans continue to innovate on the product?
- Does the system offer online advertising tools? Can they be integrated into an existing website?
