For some car and truck wash facilities, business is not that great. Many of you have spoken with me about this and are wondering how best to get things turned around; as much as we are able to turn things around. They notice fewer vehicles on the streets as well. We may speculate some of this to be people working from home instead of driving to and from work.

When less people are washing at our facilities - for whatever reason - we need to ensure we’re doing all we can to get the people who are out driving around to patronize our facility. This takes us back to good old-fashioned business principles.

Why should they come to my business? 

Is it easy to get to your site as well as onto your site? 

Are they able to navigate around your property and get in and out of the bays without incident? 

Is the property well lit at night and are the bays clean and bright at all times?

Is there garbage around the vacuums, garbage cans, or in the bays?

Does it look like someone cares about
the business? Are there items needing obvious repairs on the lot? 

Going into the bays. Is it easy for your customers to see how to use your vehicle wash and can they walk around the bays without walking in a lot of mud, standing water, and/or grease?

Are you offering all the different features
at your car wash which your competitors are offering?

For the features you do offer. Are they all working the best they can or are they substandard?

What if there is a problem? Do you have a sign in a prominent location offering
them a number with which to leave a message or get hold of someone to report the problem? This is one we are very familiar with here at PELCO as we receive calls weekly saying they are having a problem of some kind at our wash, when in fact, we don’t own the wash facility and
mostly don’t know from which city they
are calling.

There is a phrase I like to use when car wash owners ask me about how they should update they’re car or truck wash. First, I suggest “KEEP YOUR PROMISE”. What I mean by that is, when a person drives into our bay, they expect to be able to use your offerings without incident and in a satisfactory way. In a way which results in their being happy they came to your wash and not your competitor’s.

If you only offer a minimum of features; they can still be satisfied if each of those items works in a way in which they are happy with the result they get. That means they shouldn’t leave believing they were short-changed some how with what they received. Everything you offer needs to work to today’s standards.

As more and more wash facilities have
up-dated they’re offerings people have come to expect more from all the car and truck washes they frequent. So, if you’re looking around at your business, also look to see what your customers are able to use at other car washes.