Spring offers a particular challenge for many car washes. While winter is generally the busiest season by percent of sales, spring often brings record-breaking days as consumers react to the warmer temperatures and clear skies by heading out to have the car washed. One day a wash may be bumper to bumper with eager customers, and the next heavy rains and cold temperatures drive them away leaving wash employees with little to do but listen to the radio.
So, for car wash operators and managers to make the most of this fickle season you should have a few different strategies and priorities in mind, including the following:
Retool your Marketing
Update traditional and digital marketing strategies with Spring Cleaning messaging, emphasizing any vacuum or detailing services you may offer.
Keep Extra Staff on Call
Make sure you have enough flexibility in your roster to handle both busy days and rainy days on-the-fly without over or under staffing. This may be especially challenging during spring break season.
Clean and Update your Property
Winter is hard on local sites, and with warmer weather it’s important to make sure things are fresh, clean, and ready for the better weather. Empty the gutters, patrol for any litter that may have blown in to your property or been buried in snow drifts, clean any external windows, power wash pavement that may be stained from oil or salt, and update any outdoor marketing materials that show signs of winter weathering.
Prep your Landscaping
Consider working with a local landscaping company to streamline landscaping tasks, or do it yourself and rake, trim up shrubs, fertilize/reseed the grass, and add fresh mulch to your plant beds.
Be Proactive With Equipment Maintenance
Always avoid downtime on clear, warm days and push any equipment or property service to slow or rainy periods, or else after close. Remember that spring weather can turn on a dime.
Tommy Car Wash Systems