Promoting Wash and Where
Operators give insight on how to successfully promote their car washes
By Mark Warren

"Would you like a car wash?"
That simple phrase, whether displayed at the pump or spoken at the cash register, is "the first leg of marketing your car washes," said Bob Dubinsky, president of Waterway Gas & Wash, St. Louis. With 15 locations in the St. Louis, Kansas City, Kan. and Mo., and Denver markets, he noted, "We've learned that the first step is to upsell your existing customers who are already coming onto your sites."

According to Michael Willkomm, co-owner of Willkomm Mobil of Kenosha, Wis., "The key is getting your sales associates to ask customers about getting a car wash. One-third to one-half of our car wash sales were unplanned by the customer." Willkomm operates two sites with car washes and observed, "If the sun in shining, between 30 and 50 percent of customers will buy a wash if our cashiers will simply ask."

A proactive approach is essential in selling, not only same-day purchases, "but also for selling discounted car wash packages," explained John Wagner, president of Wagner Oil, Antigo, Wis. At the company's seven rural and small-market car wash sites, he said, "Most of our car wash purchases are sold at the pump and in the store. You've already got the customer on your property, so that's when they're most likely to be receptive to thinking about buying a package deal."

Car washes can be winners for retailers because they offer healthy margins, and "that's especially true when you're able to upsell your customers on added services and higher-priced washes," pointed out Michael Tooley, vice president of Tooley Oil Company, which supplies or operates 17 car wash sites in metropolitan Sacramento, Calif. "If you're trying to position yourself above just a basic car wash, you have to train your employees and give them incentives to sell the benefits to your customers."

CONVERTING FREE TO PAID
Tooley Oil supplies 23 Shell-branded locations, of which eight are owned and operated by the company. Properties are mostly sited on interstates and feature Shell Food Marts with 1,000 to 3,000 square feet of store space. Car washes are all automated rollover units with 50-foot tunnels and offer friction washes. "I'm a big believer in friction," Tooley said, "because I don't think touchless systems get cars as clean as friction washes."

Nevertheless, Tooley admitted his penchant for friction systems requires his company to do some consumer education. "Customers worry about the brushes leaving marks on their cars," he conceded, "and so we keep samples of brushes at the cashier, so people can feel the material. The quality of car washes and the brushes has improved, and we want people to know that."

Though Tooley Oil has operated car washes at some sites since the late 1980s, only in the past seven years has the company committed to having car washes at all of its newly constructed store locations. As such, car wash facilities are now in detached buildings placed upfront on its properties "where they have more visibility," Tooley said. "At our older sites, the car washes are at the back of the property and, over the years, we've tried different configurations. But to be competitive today, you have to be committed to making sure your car wash gets noticed."

To sell car washes in Sacramento, retailers must overcome an interesting challenge. "Up until about four years ago, the standard in this market was to offer free car washes," Tooley recalled. "It was a service, like free air to pump your tires. Two years ago we started charging between $1 and $2 for a wash. Since then we've been slowly bringing our customers along by adding -- and charging for -- new features and services."

Today Tooley Oil fuel customers who purchase at least eight gallons can choose between $2, $4 and $6 washes. Those who purchase a wash without buying gasoline pay $4, $6 and $8. Thus, consumers enjoy a $2 discount when they gas and wash at the same time.

Promotional mailings are an important piece of the marketing puzzle for some car wash owners.

Some high-end competitors, Tooley noted, charge between $10.99 and $20.99 for a full-service car wash. "Our strategy is to position ourselves just below the full-service operations, by providing a high-quality car wash at a competitive price. The major difference between us and the full-service facilities is that we don't do interiors, though we provide self-serve vacuums."

Upselling its existing customers makes great sense when Tooley Oil already generates significant site traffic through its interstate locations and its market leadership in cigarette pricing. Each store employee is trained to ask customers to consider a car wash, and for selling either of the top two washes is paid a bonus of 25 cents -- in effect, a commission of approximately 3 percent to 6 percent.

Participants in the Tooley Oil car wash club earn a free top-of-the-line wash after they purchase five washes. "The club concept has worked well and we have a lot of loyal members," Tooley said. "Another onsite promotion that has worked for us is giving away related product, like an Armor-All or Rain-X package, when customers buy our premium car wash."

An aspect of car wash promotion that retailers can't forget, Tooley added, is whether the facilities sell themselves. "If your tunnel and your brushes look dirty, customers will remember that and avoid you the next time," he pointed out. "So we have our car washes cleaned once a month -- and not just by our own staff, but professionally cleaned."

Though upselling existing customers is the foundation of Tooley's car wash marketing, the company also seeks to expand its customer base through periodic mailings. Twice a year Tooley buys space in a coupon-pack mailing, and also works with Shell in mailing car wash coupons to Shell credit card holders. Mailing lists can be selected according to customer histories and whether individual card holders are classified as "loyal," "frequent" or "switcher."

"I tell Shell what I want, they pre-approve the content of the mailing, and then they do the mailing for us," Tooley said. "Though we pay for the mailing, Shell does have some co-op advertising dollars available to help us."

Indeed, Tooley believed that credit cards will play a big part in the future of car wash marketing. "There are only a few locations in our market where customers can use a credit card to buy a car wash," he observed. "This is something our company wants to start doing, where our car wash customers can pay by swiping a proprietary club card, or can even buy prepaid cards to use at the car wash."

A GIFT FOR PROMOTION
Willkomm Mobil also believes in providing employee incentives for selling car washes. Sales associates earn 5 percent commissions on every wash they sell, a bonus that can add up especially when employees sell prepaid packages for multiple washes.

"We look at gift seasons such as Christmas, Father's Day and Mother's Day as opportunities to sell prepackaged gift certificates," confirmed Michael Willkomm. He recalled that a single store sold more than $14,000 in car wash packages during a recent holiday promotion. Whether selling a one-time car wash or a package deal, he added, "All it takes is just one question: 'Would you like a wash?' We've already got traffic coming onsite for our gasoline and c-stores. Having our sales associates ask if customers want a car wash is what makes our car wash operation work."

Willkomm Mobil is the Mobil distributor for southeastern Wisconsin and supplies 19 dealer locations along with its three company-owned sites. One is a travel center, while the other two feature the Mobil gasoline and c-store concept. Both of the latter locations have offered car wash service since the late 1980s, though in the mid-1990s Willkomm converted from rollover units to lengthier 90-foot automated tunnel washes. The facilities are stand-alone buildings placed at the side of the properties.

"We believe in car washes," Willkomm emphasized, "because it's about the only thing left in our business that still has any margin left." He is also a proponent of friction washes because, he suggested, "you have to touch the car in order to get it clean." That's important, Willkomm advised, because the facilities are unattended. "People don't buy car washes when it's raining," he explained, "and it would be hard for me to schedule attendants depending on the weather."

Customers can choose between a $5 Express Wash, $6 Super Wash and $7 Ultimate Wash. Those who also purchase gasoline receive a $1 discount. Gift packages include three Ultimate Washes for $10, and five Ultimate Washes for $15. "We position ourselves in the middle of the market," Willkomm reported. "We're a step above the $3 and $4 washes. But neither are we a full-service car wash, though we do have self-service vacuums."

Though Willkomm Mobil does little offsite advertising -- primarily through periodic coupon-pack mailings -- such promotions always focus on its car wash offerings. "As a Mobil distributor, we can't promote our gas prices," Willkomm said, "and Mobil already promotes its branded c-stores. So when we do any promotions on our own, we promote our car washes."

Since Willkomm's car washes were installed in the early to mid-1990s, he said, the company will soon need to upgrade or replace its facilities. "In the future I think we'll need to look more in appearance like a full-service car wash," he believed, "and we'll need to offer more choices. Though I believe in friction washes, consumers still worry that friction hurts their cars. So maybe we'll have to offer friction and touchless systems side-by-side, and then let our customer choose."

ONSITE ENHANCEMENTS
Like Willkomm, fellow Wisconsinite Wagner Oil is a wholesale supplier (of Shell products) to 46 sites in a regional dealer network. In addition to these 46 sites the company operates nine locations of its own, seven with car washes. Wagner also charges $5, $6, and $7 for washes -- plus $10 for a Salt Buster (in winter) or Bug Buster (in summer) wash service -- and offers a $1 discount with the purchase of fuel (at least eight gallons).

Yet John Wagner's experience with car washes has also led him to some different conclusions. For one thing, his company features touchless rather than friction systems. And while he agrees that "the majority of our car wash sales are at the pump and in the store" and therefore employees must be trained to upsell customers, Wagner Oil does not provide commissions or bonuses.

"Up until a few years ago we provided some incentives for employees when they sold a car wash," Wagner said, "but we did away with them because it was hard to make sure the incentives were fair. Most car wash purchases are between 7 a.m. and 7 p.m., and so the day shift employees got all of the commissions."

While sales associates are expected to upsell as part of their jobs, Wagner is enhancing other onsite approaches to boosting car wash sales. Recently the company upgraded its pumps with the ability to generate car wash coupons along with fuel purchase receipts. To use the coupons, customers must redeem them immediately after buying their gasoline. In turn, car wash entrances have been fitted with cash acceptors to start the wash cycle.

Consumers can also purchase Wagner Oil "TokeNotes" (i.e. token notes) that provide various package deals, such as one free wash after the purchase of five. Then a five-digit code on the TokeNote allows the customer to activate the car wash for the allotted number of washes.

These innovative approaches, however, are combined with attention to basics. Since the company's target demographic for car washes are women and men aged 35 and above, Wagner said, "they expect clean and safe environment. We make sure the car wash area has a lot of lighting. And we clean up the car wash itself every day, plus an acid wash of the tunnel walls once a month."

Wagner has tried limited offsite advertising but, for several reasons, has since given up on outside marketing. "For one thing, our locations are in smaller towns where you don't have advertising outlets like radio and TV," he explained. "Word of mouth is a lot more important than formal advertising."

A second reason for Wagner's reticence is that past attempts at direct mail advertising generated minimal response. Also, as a Shell-branded retailer "we can get co-op dollars to advertise our gasoline," he added, "but not our car washes." As a result, Wagner's advertising efforts are limited to occasional local newspaper ads for his stores' periodic customer appreciation days.

Wagner concurred with Willkomm that his company's future may include side-by-side bays in which customers might have a choice between touchless and friction rollover washes. He also agreed that the economics of car washes are a winning proposition. "Our c-stores are about 3,500 square feet, so they're fairly large," he noted. "We're growing slowly, maybe one new store per year. But we couldn't build any new stores at all if we didn't have car washes to generate more revenue and help us recoup our investment in the land we need for a big store."

SHOWING THE WATERWAY
Founded 30 years ago by Henry Dubinsky, St. Louis-based Waterway Gas & Wash markets its own private Waterway branded fuel and c-stores. And while the chain has sold gasoline from its inception, under son Bob Dubinsky "we continue to see ourselves as a car wash company first."

C-stores, Dubinsky noted, were added to the mix about 15 years ago "and we put a lot of money into good real estate and good facilities that are clean, well lit and attractively landscaped. We also try hard to integrate the Waterway brand into everything we do. But our identity is still primarily car washes. That's because we believe our markets need a truly professional car wash business that provides a premium experience."

Waterway's emphasis on car washing is promoted not only at the pump and in the store, but also through commissioned sales associates who work the fuel islands to personally sell car washes to customers. The company's strategy, explained Dubinsky, "is that our gasoline is very competitively priced. Then when customers come onto our sites, they get a personal solicitation from a 'service advisor.'"

The effort at upselling is enhanced, Dubinsky said, by clear and simple signage, menu boards and pump toppers. The layout and appearance of each Waterway location is also designed to differentiate the brand. "First of all, we have a large retail environment," he pointed out. Properties range from 60,000 to 80,000 square feet. Fuel islands feature between six and 10 MPDs, and offer full-service as well as self-service. And a full 10,000 square feet is devoted to the car wash operation, with tunnels up to 120 feet in length.

Car wash facilities are prominently placed on the site, relative to the fuel and c-store offerings. "When you go inside the store," Dubinsky continued, "you not only see promotional signage, you also see the car wash in operation. The car wash is adjacent to the store, with windows so you can see cars going through the wash while you're shopping inside the store."

Similarly, the car wash is positioned so that fuel customers can see other cars going in and out of the wash tunnel. At the end of the wash cycle, Waterway provides paid attendants who hand-dry each vehicle, vacuum the interior and quality-check the result -- activity which is also visible to customers at the fuel island. "When you're pumping gas," Dubinsky said, "you're also seeing all this car wash activity, plus the fact that we get fairly constant car wash traffic."

Waterway has adopted what Dubinsky called a "hybrid semi-touchless" car wash system. Once cars leave the tunnel they proceed to a finishing area where vehicles are hand-dried, the interiors vacuumed and the quality verified. "Our personal service advisors are great people who are nice and helpful," he said, "and so we attract customers who like this kind of service. It also helps differentiate our car washes from the competition."

This level of customer service is also necessary, Dubinsky believed, to boost Waterway's bottom line. Washes are priced at $6.99 (exterior only), $9.99 (exterior and interior), and $12.99 (full service), with various add-on services available. Because of the personal service Waterway provides, Dubinsky said it isn't unusual for customers to purchase $25 to $30 worth of services.

Not surprisingly, then, Waterway is selective in hiring service advisors and then provides them a full training program. Attendants receive a base hourly wage plus a percentage of their sales, while store cashiers are also given commission on any car wash packages they sell.

If the first step in the marketing process is to sell car washes to existing fuel and c-store customers, the second step is to convince those customers to upgrade the washes they purchase.

Waterway accomplishes the task through its Clean Car Club, whereby customers pay a one-time annual membership fee in exchange for a free car wash with every gasoline fill-up. Coupon books with varying discounts are also available for purchase.

Cultivating new car wash customers is the third step in the marketing process. This is where outside advertising comes in, explained Waterway Marketing Director Cady Scott, "and the specific marketing plan follows the dynamics of each of our markets -- St. Louis, Kansas City and Denver."

Marketing begins, said Scott, by deciding a strategy for each market and then "we take it from there by determining specific marketing activities that can achieve our strategy." In Denver, for example, Waterway stores cover the entire metropolitan area, so radio advertising makes sense. "Our target demographic is people aged 35 to 65 who have annual incomes of $75,000 or above," she noted. "These are professionals who don't have the time to wash their cars, or soccer moms who don't like washing the family cars themselves."

To reach that demographic in the Denver market, Scott reported that advertising on National Public Radio and on talk stations generates the best response. In St. Louis, however, Waterway only covers the main traffic corridor. Thus the company's target audience, said Scott, is best reached on talk, oldies and adult contemporary radio stations that are favored by older commuters. By contrast, because Waterway locations cover only one-sixth of the Kansas City market, radio advertising is not a productive option.

In all three Waterway markets, Scott added, the company employs billboard advertising "but it depends on what billboard locations are available. Consumers won't go even a mile out of their way. So billboards must be located in existing driving patterns served by our sites."

Mailings are another primary means of reaching out to new customers. Though Scott will occasionally try a coupon-pack, the mailings generally produce only about a 3 percent response. "Also, because we market our car washes as a premium service, we don't want to be known as discount couponers," she stated. "So we only do coupon-pack mailings for selected sites, usually our lower-end locations."

Waterway Gas & Wash, St. Louis, offers customers the opportunity to enroll in its Clean Car Club. Customers pay an annual membership fee in exchange for a free car wash with every gasoline fill-up.

On the other hand, Scott reported that solo mailings typically generate healthy responses from 20 to 25 percent for "hard" (higher-priced) offers and up to 35 percent for "soft" (lower-priced or free) offers. Mailing lists are rented, at $20 to $25 per thousand for one-time use, from list brokers who can ensure that the mailing lists are "clean" or contain no more than about 2 percent of bad addresses or duplications. For mailings Scott can also draw on her own in-house list of 18,000 current Car Club members and 45,000 former members.

"When we rent a mailing list, we first do test mailings to a limited portion of that list," Scott explained, "and then track the response and see what lists and what specific mail packages work. If the response is good then we may roll out and mail to an entire list." Over the years Waterway has come to favor "nicer, higher-end postcards," she said.

Marketing efforts are guided by the philosophy, Scott stated, "that we aren't competing with self-service bays and rollovers. We offer a different product." Dubinsky confirmed that approach: "There's room in the marketplace for each of the different kinds of car washes. And like other retailers, we believe in car washes because they give us another leg to stand on. That's important, especially with gasoline margins being so low today."