When I talk with car wash operators, their first question is: What’s the trick to selling more Unlimited Memberships. It always makes me smile because that’s a tricky question to answer. It’s like asking a doctor or personal trainer, what’s the trick to losing weight.

There are no magic marketing pills, there is no magic marketing trick. To see results you must put in the work. It takes lots of little efforts combined to make an impact and it doesn’t happen overnight. Although we all wish it did! How many of you have jumped on the scale after that first workout in a while and wondered why the scale doesn’t bless you with an immediate weight loss. Or you decided to skip the last beer and can’t figure out why your pants still feel snug the next day.

Think of your Marketing Professional as your doctor or personal trainer. Pair up with professionals that have expertise in the area you want to improve. If you break your foot, I’d like to think you’re not going to make an appointment with a dentist. Ever hear the saying “Jack of all trades, master of none?” Expertise in marketing doesn’t necessarily mean expertise in carwash marketing or customer marketing. Work with professionals that specialize in car wash and have car wash experience. Not only will they have more experience of the industry, but chances are also they’ll have the passion for the customer and know the nuances of the business.

Next, quality over quantity. Your time is valuable. Each marketing tactic should be executed properly and put in place as a simple step towards your goal. 10 good sit-ups will get you to your 6-pack goal faster than 20 sloppy ones. No magic marketing pills required. 

Lastly, it’s not about you, it’s about them. The customer and their experience. Don’t confuse this with your customer service, they aren’t the same.

People are willing to spend more for a better experience. Carwashes that implement a focused customer experience strategy generally achieve increased revenues, reduced churn, higher satisfaction, and you guessed it – higher loyalty and memberships.

Win-win, right? You bet.

Search carwash near me on your phone. Does your wash pop up? If it does, great. Your customers are off to a great start customer experience – they can find your wash. If it doesn’t, you have work to do with your “FIND ME” searches.

Go on Google and notice the ads being delivered to you. The ads should be of companies near you, or services related to topics and products you’ve been considering. These companies are doing a good job with their digital ads. Your wash can be this good with digital ad placement too.

Marketing professionals know how to place digital ads properly when customers are considering washing their car. The kicker, I can’t tell you how many times we look at a client’s ad setup only to find they are marketing to people 1,500 miles away from their wash. Google is global, your wash is not. Sure, these are people considering a car wash. However, most will not drive 1,500 miles for a wash. We can all agree poor digital ad placement not properly geo-targeted is a waste of time and money and a bad customer experience.

Here are some other common customer experience efforts to consider: improving the purchase process at the pay station, clearly communicating membership options, having signs that make people look and are easy to understand. All these quick experiences increase conversion when done properly.

And finally, the after effect. You know, drinking water after a workout. The same holds true for responding to customer feedback on social media (good and bad) or sending a text message to thank customers for their visit. Do it timely, do it right. These small dopamine hits to your customer’s brain feel good. Small positive experiences that make them want to come back.

When we look at marketing, there are a lot of metrics and analytics that provide great direction and guide us in our decisions. Honest marketers know it’s impossible to say which of these end-to-end customer journey tactics led to a customer signing up for a membership plan. What a marketer can say is the details that created this pleasant experience within the set budget, converted an engaged prospect into an unlimited member. Goal … achieved and no magic marketing pills involved either.

Finally, word of mouth travels fast and there’s no better (or worse) marketing than that done by your customers. A customer experience that is nurtured and cared for will positively impact word of mouth quickly and directly.

Going back to the beginning, the trick is the combined interactions your customers have with your wash. And the best marketing doesn’t feel like marketing. No matter what, you’ve got to hustle for that muscle and it’s not one exercise that will you get you there or magic marketing pills either.