Car Wash Marketing and Customer Retention: Back to Basics

November 14, 2021 0 Comments

Creating marketing and promotions that work is a huge challenge for car wash owners and operators. The fundamental problem many car washes run into is that they will never generate the level of customer loyalty they expect unless they first meet the basic needs of their customers. If the owner of a wash can identify consumer behavior, they will be in a better position to target products and services to them. 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 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 must be addressed. Understanding consumer-buyer behavior is understanding how the person interacts with your marketing message.

Keep in mind that each consumer will be influenced by their culture and word of mouth, their attitude towards washing, their ability to learn from instructions (customer education), and their perceptions of the wash facility. There are a number of NEEDS that must first be met before a consumer can move on to making a purchase decision, location choice, brand choice, and any other choices that they will inevitably make.

Customer needs

At the most basic level, a car wash operator must appeal to their customer’s basic needs before they can consider focusing on establishing customer loyalty.

The decision-making process for a car wash customer will be to first determine which car wash facilities 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 the car with soap and water, you are failing as a business that specializes in car care. 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 the washing equipment is damaged or in poor condition, this will affect whether a customer will use your facilities.

Basic need 2: Appearance

Cleanliness is considered by most car wash customers to be one of the most important factors in a car wash. Places 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. Places with poor lighting and excessive laziness will alienate customers and prevent them from returning if they did not feel safe using the laundry facility.

Basic need 4: courage

To create a loyal customer, a car wash owner must create value in the service they provide. Value will be perceived differently by each customer, and as a wash owner, you need to assess their demographics to find out what will be most important to them.

Examples of value propositions:

environmental friendly – A car wash that focuses on environmental protection, water conservation, energy conservation, sustainable chemicals and promotes this will create value for a broad demographic.

Charity Support – Car wash owners have the opportunity to get involved in their local community by supporting local charities and organizations. 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. Consumers have been trained by large retailers to be card customers, and operations that take advantage of loyalty card programs are highly competitive in their local markets.

Rain guarantees – Many full service and quick wash operations offer a rain guarantee that gives the consumer peace of mind and security in their laundry purchase.

Unlimited washing programs – Programs that allow unlimited washes in exchange for a monthly payment or annual subscription have been found to be very successful in certain markets.

Low price guarantee – There has been a huge explosion in the number of inexpensive express washes opening across the country. This model won’t work for every homeowner or even every market, but the growing trend is worth watching. Some markets are making record profits and others are struggling to make ends meet on such low margins.

Superior Customer Service – Having great services has long been one of the great selling points for going to a full service car wash. As long as you have employees on site, you have a wonderful opportunity to provide excellent customer service.

Customer loyalty

Customer loyalty is something a business earns by meeting the needs of its customers as a consumer. If you can meet basic needs, establish value in your services, and maintain consistency in your service delivery, your customers will remain regular customers.

What does success look like?

To attract the largest number of customers, your focus should be on getting back to basics. Once you can be the clean, safe, and quality car wash that offers simple value statements to your customers, you can focus on additional value-added promotions to attract return customers.

The difference between a successfully promoted company and a company 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 lowering prices and offering deep discounts will win over 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 make you and your company love. A successfully promoted car wash business will not be known as “the cheap car wash” in your community. The successful washing in the city will be known as “the charity washing”, “the fundraising washing”, “the washing driving the funny car in the local parade”, “the quick washing”, “the convenient washing” , or we can. I hope at least the wash is known as “the wash that cleans my car.” These are the value statements by which we must live within our local communities and with the customers with whom we do business.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *