As more and more businesses and industries have moved to selling goods and services online, they are faced with new relationships with consumers, including the development of help desks for customer support.
These technological “self-service tools” have established new ways to help users get the information and services they need without ever having to talk to another person. This is sometimes frustrating. Some people would just rather pick up the phone and call someone for an answer. However, most people today, especially younger age groups prefer to control the entire “conversation” themselves by utilizing technology.
I’ve attached a link to an article on how consumers interact with technology. The article is specifically about call centers, but there is one idea in particular I was struck by that deserves some dedicated thinking.
“You may have expert and novice users of your product, but within both groups, you may have some that have a high propensity to use self-service and those that do not…divided by a mixture of skill level and desire to use self-service”
“This means understanding the issues your customers face and how they interact with your self-service tool, in other words…how good are they at washing their car????”
There are a lot of different kinds of folks showing up to wash.
- The Busy Realtor who needs a quick wash and rinse on the way to a home showing or closing
- The Auto Enthusiast who owns a vintage Corvette and insists on washing it in a self-service environment
- The Service Business Owner who needs to keep his truck or van clean to make a positive impression on customers
- The Outdoor Enthusiast who has off-road vehicles – and a muddy pickup truck – to rinse off after a weekend
- The Budget Conscious Washer who likes controlling exactly how much is spent on a wash by using a self-service bay
Acknowledging and identifying specific types of consumers who are using your wash can help guide your thinking in how to appeal to more customers, how to attract them, and, how to help ensure they have better experience.
Remember: Everyone has a different skill level when using a self-service system.
Through the use of instructional signage consumers can be given tips on how to ‘get the cleanest car’ – the best use of your self-service equipment. Your social media posts can reflect different types of folks that are showing up at your wash. This would help other prospects ‘identify into’ your operation. You could build specific advertising copy and promotions for business owners about keeping the fleet clean; outdoor enthusiasts and cleaning the mud off their toys; and specials to get the ‘wheels cleaned up for date night’.
So, not only do you have different kinds of people using your wash with different motivations, they all have different skill levels when it comes to using you wash to get their cars cleaned up. And this knowledge about your business presents lots of opportunities for business growth and more profits.
Amy Olson
Consumer Marketing