It’s easier than you think..
Here are a few more recommendations and facts that support business-building ideas. As a marketing and communications professional, I love to make things look pretty, but at the core of what really matters are the numbers – the facts.
We’ve already covered Part I and Part II of How to Make Your Wash More Competitive.
Here are more successful, battle-tested marketing tools to keep you competitive.
FACT THREE: Point-of-Sale Signs Create More Profitable Sales
There is a lot of signage required in a car wash
It’s a fact. Car washes have signage. And a lot of it. Especially in unattended bays.
You have to assist customers in the use of your system; how to wash a car! Plus there’s all the typical instructional signage, no bucket washing, no dumping, what each rotary selection is…etc.
And that’s where the “conversation” usually ends.
But your entire bay is a billboard where you can have a much bigger conversation with your customers.
A good sign is your 24/7 salesperson
Without any ongoing cost once you hang it up. A good sign provides your customers with a clear, consistent message of your offers and services, and has a call for action! Download now, scan here, and invite your friend!
If you owned a bunch of billboards on a highway leading to your wash, you would never leave them blank! When you think about your wash, you probably have 400 square feet of billboard space in each bay. You can put whatever you want on it.
So…How are you using it?
- An operator who gained 1,120 customers in 14 months did so because of signage added to the bays in his wash.
- Another car wash operator saw over 500 new customers in 6 months after putting up his signage.
- Our customers are seeing a 78% App User Increase with in-bay signage.
Multiplicity
This is consistent across all of our customers who put up signage. Without the added signage, our customers see 10-20 new customers per month, sometimes less. With simple point-of-sale displays, they’re seeing 50-100 new customers – per month. Studies show that even the most simple point-of-sale displays can increase sales by up to 27%. So new customers are coming in, and they’re spending 27% more.
And the signage we’re putting up in our customers bays isn’t flashy, it isn’t neon. It’s informative, yet simple, engaging, and fun. It’s like a children’s book, but on the walls of a car wash.
Good signage makes a huge difference. And the bottom line here is this: based on our reporting operator results, in a year you can either have 120 new app customers or put up simple point-of-sale signage and have 1,200 new app customers, spending more.
In my next post I’ll be discussing the power of referrals! Stay tuned!
_____________________________
At WashCard Systems, we specialize in serving independent self-serve and in-bay automatic car wash owners and operators. We help you compete against big chain competition, tunnel washes, and other competitors. We’ve been in business for 34 years, pushing the technology envelope in the car wash industry – focusing on payments, mobile apps, loyalty, and marketing.
Amy Olson
Consumer Marketing Expert
WashCard Systems
_____________________________