Who has created a successful mobile wash program?

R

RenuAuto

New member
I'm interested in picking your brains over over inherent problems that arise with mobile wash programs as I try to develop one myself.



Ideally I'd like something that is largely scalable and "replicable". A system that can be used anywhere, and performed the exact same way every time. Ideally it'd be an entire business system that is "franchise-able". What I mean by this is that when a system is developed, and proven to work, it's something that a person can copy/paste into any city and it will perform the same exact way.



I also have found one mistake I've made already which is that my mobile wash customers develop a personal relationship with "me" washing their car rather than the company or brand washing their car ("Grant" washes my car and does a great job, call "him"! Instead of "Renu Auto" washes my car and does a great job, call "them"!). This also becomes a problem because they're just texting ME to wash their car whenever is convenient for them during the week. I should have been less accommodating from the start because running out whenever and wherever they want is obviously highly inefficient. They also get nervous whenever one of my employees is doing it because they trust "Grant" and not "Renu" yet.



Ideally I'd solve the problem of inefficiency by dividing the city into 5 different georgraphical sections. Monday we are in this part of town, Tues this part of town, ect, ect. Take it or leave it. Trying to make everyone happy is a loosing proposition as I find myself driving ALL over town, trying to accommodate everyone, and giving them an estimate of what time I'll be there becomes difficult since every day is so different. Does any one else have any different ideas besides dividing the town up? Obviously it's going to be impossible to make everyone happy, but it could also be a positive scarcity complex, i.e. "Renu is only here on Mondays, I better get it done now or I won't have another chance all week." What would you do to try and make a scheduling-system that worked well in the mobile-wash environment?



The other thing is customer communication. Often as a mobile washer many of my customers are a wash-when-needed type of customer so rather than having their car done once a week religiously, they either text me when they want it done, or in the morning I'll text them saying the van is out and about today and ask if they'd like their car done. Trying to do this on a large, scalable level, with employees becomes obviously difficult. One thought I had was to start a mobile-text-campaign where flyers would go out to each office building, home, ect stating something alone the lines of "Text WASH ME to 54444 to join our text list and be notified each week when a Renu Auto Mobile Wash Van is in your area!". Ideally the busy working professional would remain in their office, simply reply to our outgoing text either week and say "Yea, wash my Blue Totota Camery license plate 345-ZZY" or something. We could then charge their card each week without needing to swipe, bother them, or disrupt their work day. The problem I've run into is that those "Text "x" to 54444" programs are really designed for smoothie shops to shoot out a daily coupon to their customers and not really to have easy or efficient two-way communication with it's customers. Is it possible? Yes, but very cumbersome. Maybe use a traditional phone? Everyone grouped in the phone book by geographical location? Anyone here have experience with those text-program-providers that may point my in the right direction? I'm curious what your thoughts would be in that arena.



Does anyone have experience with a credit card merchant processor that can electronically and securely keep card info on file and then charge their card each week without a physical swipe? Square can do a manually entered card number (and yes you're gonna get dinged on the percentage a little more), but they have no way to keep the card info on file. Running around an office trying to track down customers to get their card is sometimes tricky because they end up in a meeting after you get their keys or leaving with others to lunch.



Eco-Wash options. I love the idea of environmentally friendly washes because it avoids so many problems here and in the future with city regulations. While ONR has been great in most instances, occasionally a traditional rinse-wash is a better option. Rather than a huge, cumbersome wash mat, has anyone seen any options for a wash berm that you place downgrade of the wash area and before storm drains? I've seen pictures, but haven't had success finding where we can track them down.



If anyone has read The E-Myth, you'll probably understand my hope to create a program that would be easily scalable and over come some of these problems I've been struggling with above. I know people like Justin Murphy have really had success with mobile washes and I'd like to develop a system that runs smoothly enough that it can supplement my business without becoming a huge headache.



Appreciate your thoughts and input guys!



Hope to see ya at SEMA!
 
If anyone is familiar with the "Cherry" car wash they were trying to do something along these lines, but eventually discontinued service. For those that have followed their business model what things do you think they did right vs. wrong with their company model?
 
I number of years ago I talked to a guy in Toronto who had set up a successful wash company and tried to duplicate it in Vancouver.   I don't think it worked out so well for him in that situation but he has/had multiple mobile units running around the Toronto area.  Here is an article about him and how he set it up.  Might be some info in there you can use????


http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/small-business/sb-digital/biz-categories-technology/the-car-wash-comes-to-you/article4187370/
 
I have often had similar thoughts and will be curious to hear other's responses.  


 


As a one man operation I find it a double edged sword when doing maintenance washes.  It keeps you busy, has a high RIO, requires little effort and is a great net for acquiring new customer for further services.  But it is often reliant upon weather and, as you have pointed out, it can be difficult to accommodate the multitude of customers with different priorities.  


 


In my case I would like to have a couple of employees for doing washes so that large numbers can be done at one time.  I would have to work with one of them, side by side, until they learned the processes, standards and nuances of each vehicle as well as becoming familiar with the owners or, more importantly, the owners becoming familiar with them and let them supervise one or two others guys.  I don't want them doing any major detailing, as that is what I should be busy doing.  


 


The biggest problem I find is that keeping up with maintenance washes makes it more difficult to schedule other, bigger detail jobs.  It's an all or nothing commitment or one end seems to interfere with the other if the manpower isn't there. 


 


As for the credit card question; there are a lot of liabilities involved with storing credit card information.  What would happen if someone stole or hacked your files?  You could be held liable for the damages, which is why Square doesn't have an option for it.  I recommend setting up a payment option on your website where the customer can make the payment after the service or charging in advance for a few washes if they want the convenience of not being interrupted for payment.  Perhaps a minor discount would entice them to take the latter option and would be justified by the time saved in collecting payment for each wash.  Record keeping would be key in either case.  


 


The problem I see with all sorts of businesses is the drop in quality when it is copied and pasted and reaches a certain size.  Quality control is something that needs to be well thought out from the beginning.
 
Besides offering a service that goes to the client, I would also consider on on-site operation. Proto-Wash is a pretty successful force in the industry: http://prontowash.com/usa/home.php


 


I knew a guy in S. Florida that did extremely well doing wash & waxes based out of parking structures. The key is getting into the right one where the demand is high. 
 
These issues are exactly why I did away with maintenance washes. It's not that someone can't make them work, it's that the majority of the time it's not worth the effort. The weather part sucked.  "Oh there's a 40% chance of rain 2 days from now I will pass this week." -WTF? So my volume deal with you to have this done every 2 weeks will get pushed back(loss of income) and your vehicle will be 3x dirtier(loss on time I can't charge for) on the next visit. No thanks man.


 


Just recently, I got interest from 2 different individuals who want maintenance washes EVERY WEEK RAIN OR SHINE on the same day at the same locations. While I now have a shop and don't love the idea of running out to work. It is work that is reliable and the fact there are about 20 cars between the two clients makes it worth my while to have someone trained to go do the work. I can set someone up with a small pickup truck, supplies and have them there the same day every week.


 


But that is the exception to typical wash programs. Most people are flaky and look out for themselves 100% and don't really care if you're making/losing money on the maintenance-wash side of things.


 


I've never been happier than after I dropped marketing maintenance washes. I don't know how many days I broke even killing myself to maintain those maintenance washes for the days I did make money(which wasn't a ton -but it was something). Now that I have a shop, I am more prone to offering a maintenance program for clients as I can fit it in a day. As things are, I only offer "maintenance" washes to very loyal clients(have dropped some nice coin) for $75 or more.


 


My point isn't that I think you should drop the service. I hope you can figure something out that will make your effort worth while. My heart goes out to you in this regard.


 


I suppose the one bit of advise I can provide is about the clients seeing your company as the service provider and not you personally. I ended up telling clients outright that I will not do all of the services. My guys are personally trained and know what I/you expect. I told them I can not do everything, period. Explaining that you are a business owner and not a laborer is part of being the owner(in this regard). Liken it to a law firm. If they contact Heartman and Heartman(or whatever) and request a legal form do they really think that Heartman will handle every single aspect of making that form? Do they believe there are 2 Heartman's and they do everything at the law firm or rather, are they there to oversee everything and ensure that it is correct? They may have hundreds of lawyers below them handling everything. They may only handle special case.


 


You must impart that you doing everything WILL NOT HAPPEN. Don't phrase it like you really don't want to do everything. Don't phrase it as though it's hard on you. It is just a fact that you will not. They can accept it or they can find some goofball company to ruin their car.
 
Jean-Claude said:
 


 


Just recently, I got interest from 2 different individuals who want maintenance washes EVERY WEEK RAIN OR SHINE on the same day at the same locations. While I now have a shop and don't love the idea of running out to work. It is work that is reliable and the fact there are about 20 cars between the two clients makes it worth my while to have someone trained to go do the work. I can set someone up with a small pickup truck, supplies and have them there the same day every week.


 


 
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When in Florida I had a few clients set up the same way...Rain or Shine. Great money and great way to keep the cars looking their very best. It certainly is climate driven and places with extreme weather tend to not be the greatest location unless you are in a fixed spot like a parking garage where the convenience plays a huge factor. 
 
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