May 17, 2018 carwash 1 Comment

Managing Social Media for your Car Wash

Where are you supposed to fit in time for managing social media for your car wash? You’re a busy car wash owner . You don’t have lots of time and small business is stressful enough, I get it. However, you simply can’t ignore that the digital age is forever changing the way we communicate with our customers and how they give us feedback regarding our products and services.

At this point, your eyes might be glazing over as you think ‘Sarah I don’t want to learn anything new’ to which I say ‘a comfort zone is a beautiful place but nothing ever grows there’. I know you want your business to grow. I’ve put together a cheat sheet for car wash owners to start you on your way to managing social media at your wash site in as little as 20 mins per week. Now in this post I am only going to talk about Facebook as I feel it’s the most relevant platform to start with for a Car Wash business.

Regularly take photos & videos

This really should take minimal effort. You (or your attendants) should have a pretty major emphasis on customer service. That means actively greeting and helping customers at your wash so make sure your phone is in your pocket. A quick before and after wash photos, videos of the equipment in action or how-to-use tutorial, pics of full wash bays, gleaming paintwork and wet dogs are all great content for your page whilst being an opportunity to interact with your customers.

Run competitions & promotions

Stay front of mind with your regular customers by running season promos and giveaways for seasonal events. Think Easter egg giveways, vouchers for Christmas or give back to the community by donating a portion of each wash back to a local charity.

Apps to make the whole process easier

Today’s phones take amazing pictures and the beauty is, even if the photo is a little sub par you can edit it easily using software already on your phone. So snap away and edit later. An average photo can become an impressive shot by adjusting the light and colour or simply throw a filter over the top of it.

Then you can take your image to the next level and add text over top to advertise your offer. There is a lot of mobile phone apps to add a text overlay, I personally prefer to Canva or Picmonkey on my desktop. I just find it easier to manage social media on a bigger screen but you do you.

Canva is great because it has predesigned themes so if you struggle to make your marketing material look pretty, it’s all done for you. Simply select the template, upload the image you want in the background, change the text and save. Canva has loads of different pre-designed themes; everything from A4 flyers, gift certificates, Facebook ads and more.

Here’s a great little tutorial on how to create a graphic in Canva to explain it better than I can.

Picmonkey is also a big favourite for me. Similar concept to Canva with templates or design your own options. I find Picmonkey better for making photo collages and designs that I want to create from scratch.

For both of these websites you can upload and store logos/images into their library and adjust the colours of the text to match the colour of your logo and business branding. You really can create something unique and professional for your business.

Here’s a Picmonkey tutorial for you to learn a little more on the amazing things it does.

Other ideas for managing social media for your car wash

Don’t think it needs to be all about clean cars. Just know your community and be relevant to them. Don’t ever underestimate the power of a cute animal video or funny quote – people love them. Share information on local events to keep your followers up to day with what is going on in their neighbourhood.

Did you know?

Flicking through your phone and see a post you think would be good to share at a later date? Save it to share later. Here’s what the SAVE button looks like – you find it in the drop down menu when you click in these 3 dots below:

Plan in out

Put aside 20 minutes per week and aim for just 2 posts per week. Don’t overwhelm yourself with any more than that when you’re starting out. You can schedule posts in advance by selecting the SCHEDULE from the right drop down menu on the PUBLISH button. This allows you to select a time and date that suits you to display the post to your followers.

I hope this gives you some clarity on managing social media for your car wash business. If you have any questions, you’re welcome to contact me to discuss!

January 28, 2018 carwash No Comments

Improving Customer Experience at your Car Wash

How owners can look at improving customer experience at your car wash.

2018 is well underway for the team at Carwash World. No doubt you’ve probably set yourself + your car wash business some new goals & milestones to achieve in the coming months. One of those goals will undoubtedly be how you can go about improving customer experience at your car wash.

Car Washing is a retail business & we’d encourage you to look at everything from your customers perspective.

Just because you know where everything is & how to operate it, doesn’t mean it’s that easy for your customers. Take a step back & do some people-watching to identify if everything is a seamless as you hope. You’ll be surprised to find that something you find very straight-forward, often confuses your end user.

It’s easy to forget some of the little details when you’re down & out busy, but the upkeep & presentation of your car wash is paramount.

Studies show that well maintained, tidy car washes are far less likely to experience vandalism & theft. Bright, inviting lighting makes people feel secure after hours & markets to people driving past. Quality security cameras will act as a deterrent for pointless vandalism & opportunistic thieves. Remember, no car lover wants to clean their car with dirty equipment in unkempt surroundings – it’s the equivalent of not wanting to eat from a restaurant when you can clearly see the kitchen is dirty & messy. I’ll pass on the food poisoning thanks!

Contact Sarah via email: sarah@carwashworld.com.au to obtain our Site Review Checklist to help you refresh & refocus for the New Year.

You will be able to download & print this Site Review Checklist. It’s recommended you perform a regular site ‘Walk Through’ by using this list (or one similar) to identify & rectify any items not up to scratch at your car wash . The implementation of daily, weekly & monthly lists gets you & your staff into a committed routine where improving the offer & experience of your customer is front of mind.

November 15, 2017 carwash No Comments

How to Take Care of Your Car Wash Equipment

How to take care of your Car Wash Equipment

Do you know how to take care of YOUR car wash equipment? The profitability of your car wash business is determined by how well your car wash equipment and tools are working. Therefore, maintenance is downright essential to keep them functioning for longer.

Needless to say your car wash tools and equipment are the backbone of your car wash business. Your business achieves customer satisfaction and profitability as long equipment is up and running.

Sadly, elements of car wash equipment are prone to break down and damages, given that they undergo heavy use. You never know when a component ceases to work in the middle of car cleaning, causing inconvenience to both you and your customer. It prompts you to pay a hefty repair bill every now and then and not to mention a huge loss in profits due to downtime.

Therefore, it is essential to take care of your car wash equipment to ensure uninterrupted function and minimal repairs. Simple maintenance tips can keep your car wash equipment functioning for longer. Here’s how…

Clean Your Car Wash Equipment Regularly:

Car cleaning equipment is in constant contact with dirt, grime, hard water and corrosion. It not only affects their functioning, but also shortens their life expectancy over the time. Make sure your attendants are cleaning everything down frequently.

Replace Worn Out or Old Parts:

Even a single worn-down hose can bring your entire car washing machinery to a halt. So it makes sense to replace worn out, damaged or corroded parts of the machinery as soon as possible. A quality part version ensures that you can deliver a better customer experience. Don’t forget if something is hard to use, chances are your customers are not happy.

Regular servicing by car wash professionals:

When you purchase your new car wash equipment you should be allocating funds for regular, scheduled maintenance by the supplier of your equipment. These technicians are well versed in how best to maintain and run these machines and will often be able to identify an issue before it turns into a breakdown.

Treat your new equipment like you would your car. You wouldn’t buy a new car and not have it serviced by a professional so this should be no different.

Give Special Attention to Heavily Used Equipment:

As we have said earlier the most exploited equipment is most likely to be worn out sooner. Therefore, you will have to clean, repair, replace such parts more often. Don’t wait for a hose to split, replace them on a regular roster to ensure they are always in working order.

Educate Your Staff:

Considering that car washing equipment is overseen by your staff most of the time, it makes sense to educate them about maintenance of the system. Apart from that, make sure to allocate attendants the maintenance duties of each specific piece of equipment. Companies like Prowash Australia offer a Carwashing 101 course that will help site owners get staff up to speed with things such as titration, water softening and much more.

With the help of these maintenance tips, you can keep your car washing equipment in function for longer with minimal breakdowns plus you can avoid expensive repair bills and hassles in the long run.

Hopefully these tips are helpful – feel free to Contact Us with any questions.

August 10, 2017 carwash 2 Comments

Touchless Versus Brush Car Washing Equipment

Touchless versus Brush Car Washing Equipment

Trying to research touchless versus brush car washing equipment? How do you choose which equipment is right for your Car Wash business & your customer? Here’s some tips.