Car Wash Marketing and Customer Retention: Back to Basics
Creating marketing and promotions that work is a huge challenge for car wash owners and operators. The fundamental problem that many car washes run into is that they will never generate the level of customer loyalty that they expect unless they first meet the basic needs of their customers. If a car wash owner can identify consumer behavior, he or she will be in a better position to target products and services to you. Buyer behavior focuses on the needs of individuals, groups, and organizations.
It is important to understand the relevance of human needs to buyer behavior because marketing is about satisfying needs. Mazlow’s Hierarchy of Needs is taught in psychology classes around the world, and the theory describes the very basic human needs that must be met in order to truly experience higher emotions such as achievement, respect, and self-esteem. At the lowest level of this hierarchy are basic needs such as food, air, water, heat, and basic survival needs that must be met. You cannot move up the hierarchy unless your basic needs are met.
Consumers also have a very specific set of needs that need to be addressed. Understanding consumer buyer behavior is understanding how the person interacts with your marketing message.
Consider that each consumer will be influenced by their culture and word of mouth, their attitude toward the car wash, their ability to learn by instruction (customer education), and their perceptions of the car wash facility. There are a number of NEEDS that must first be satisfied before a consumer can move on to making a purchase decision, location choice, brand choice, and every other choice he will inevitably make.
consumer needs
At a very basic level, a car wash operator must appeal to the basic needs of its customer before it can consider focusing on building customer loyalty.
The decision-making process for a car wash customer will be to first determine which car wash facility to use, and then compare the available options against a number of other criteria.
Basic Need 1: Quality
This is where it comes down to the truth in advertising. You must provide the basics for a customer to properly wash their vehicle. If you can’t clean your car with soap and water, you’re failing as a car care business. It should come as no surprise to a car wash owner that people stop using their car wash if they don’t clean their car. The second aspect of quality is when a customer has access to equipment without problems. If your laundry equipment is damaged or in disrepair, this will affect whether a customer will use your facility.
Basic Need 2: Appearance
Most car wash customers rate cleanliness as one of the most important factors in a car wash. Locations with dirty walls, peeling instruction signs, and faded decals will see a noticeable drop in customer retention.
Basic Need 3: Security
Customers who visit car wash facilities then consider their safety when using a car wash facility. Poorly lit locations and excessive loitering will scare customers away and prevent them from returning if they did not feel safe using the wash facility.
Basic Need 4: Courage
To create a loyal customer, a car wash owner needs to create value in the service they provide. Each customer will perceive value differently, and as a car wash owner, you need to assess your demographics to find out what will be most important to them.
Examples of value propositions:
environmental friendly – A car wash that focuses on and promotes environmental stewardship, water conservation, energy conservation, sustainable chemicals will create value for a broad demographic.
Charitable Support – Car wash owners have the opportunity to get involved in their local community by supporting local organizations and charities. Car wash operations have a great opportunity to be known as the community wash business in the city.
car wash club By taking advantage of a loyalty card system, car wash operators can give customers a reason to ‘buy’ their loyalty program through incentives and promotions. Large retailers have empowered consumers to be card-carrying customers, and operations that take advantage of loyalty card programs are highly competitive in their local markets.
Rain guarantees – Many full service and express wash operations offer a rain guarantee that gives the consumer peace of mind and security in their wash purchase.
Unlimited washing programs – Programs that allow unlimited washes in exchange for a monthly payment or an annual subscription have been found to be very successful in certain markets.
Low price guaranteed – There has been a huge explosion in the number of low-cost fast washes opening up across the country. This model won’t work for all homeowners or all markets, but the growing trend is worth watching. Some markets are posting record profits and others are struggling to make ends meet with such low margins.
Top Customer Service – Having great services has long been one of the big selling points for going to a full service car wash. Any time you have employees on site, you have a wonderful opportunity to provide excellent customer service.
customer loyalty
Customer loyalty is something a company earns by satisfying the needs of its customers as a consumer. If you can meet basic needs, establish value in your services, and remain consistent in your service delivery, your customers will remain regular customers.
What does success look like?
To attract the most customers, your focus should be going back to basics. Once you can be the clean, safe, quality car wash that offers simple value statements to your customers, you can focus on additional value-added promotions to attract customers.
The difference between a successfully marketed business and a business that fails to market itself successfully is that, in the long run, your customers will remember you for what you have done for them. Too many car wash companies think that by lowering prices and offering deep discounts they will win new customers. Discounts only go so far when you’re trying to attract new customers because discounts are temporary and long-term price cuts hurt your bottom line. As long as you meet the basic needs of your customers, a successful promotion will engage your customers and the community in ways that will win over you and your business. A successfully marketed car wash business will not be known as “the cheap wash” in your community. The successful wash in town will be known as “the charity wash”, “the fundraiser wash”, “the wash driving the funny car in the local parade”, “the quick wash”, “the convenient wash”, or we can. I hope the wash will at least be known as “the wash that cleans my car.” These are the value statements we must strive for within our local communities and with the customers with whom we do business.