Hey guys! I’m Mike Berlin with Slam Carwash Marketing. Every few weeks, I’m going to bring you some new ideas to consider when marketing your carwash operation. I call it the Slam Six.

This week we’re talking about reducing attrition rates and the unlimited clubs. Customer attrition can result from a lack of proper engagement. We have them but how do we keep them? Here’s six ideas to consider when deciding how to reduce attrition rates and keep your customers coming back for more.

1. Give Them Something to Talk About

Take your wash club lists and email them a refer a friend promotion. It’s a chance for your customer to give their friend a free car wash. They can click the link and go to the landing page where they fill out their email address and their friends’ email. We send their friend a wash code for a free car wash given to them by their buddy. Now you have two guys sitting around at a party talking about your car wash. Not to mention, we have more email addresses to use in our evil marketing plan.

2. Remind Them That it’s Good

Send out a quarterly email and thank them for being a member. Tell them about all the good you’re doing in the community. Say you’re sponsoring the Boy Scouts or the little league baseball team, or maybe it’s about the water you reclaim. Make them feel good about buying your brand and belonging to your club.

3. Treat Them Like Royalty

Create a branded members lane at your wash—just like the airline’s do when they board the plane. My brother is a gold platinum member. Whenever he walks on this side of the rope, he loves for everybody to see him on the fancy side of the rope. Give them a special lane or vacuum bay. Treat them like royalty.

4. Offer an Exclusive Deal

I know many of you guys in the Midwest see numbers drop off in the spring and summer because the snow season is over. Well maybe in April, hand them a “thank you” card with a promo code that gives them half off this month.

5. Go Talk to Them

With the Express model, we’re so set on not interacting with our customers. Sometimes you just got to go old-school! You need to have your crew smile and talk to your customers. Grab some lollipops or some doggie treats and go walk the vacuum area. Look for windshield tags and regulars and go shake their hands. Thank them for being a loyal member.

6. Make it Fun

I recently saw that Marcus Cottrell, a longtime carwash veteran with Mark One Car Wash in Alabama, is doing car wash karaoke contests on Facebook! Another one of my buddies, Glenn from Ohio with Cardinal Auto Wash, he’s doing a Facebook live Queen of Hearts game. He does a live drawing each week and it’s like its own little lottery with his customers. Both are great out-of-the-box ideas. This is a way to stay engaged with your customer base and keep them in the club.

That’s your Slam Six for this week on reducing a limited wash club attrition rates. I hope this gets you fired up about marketing your carwash. If you need some help, give us a shout at SLAM. I’d like to give a big thanks to the folks at Sonny’s the Car Wash Factory who sponsors this video series! they are the best in the business, and they can help you win in the car wash business.

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