Top 10 tips on how to deliver a positive customer experience

A positive customer experience brings your customers back to your car wash for the next wash. Of course, quality and price play a particularly important role, but this is closely followed in terms of importance for the customer by the positive customer experience. Accordingly, you should ensure that your customers feel comfortable at all times when they visit your car wash. Here are the ten key points that show how this works.

1.    Ensure easy access to information

Your customer wants to have their car washed after work and quickly look on the Internet to see if your car wash is still open. This information is important – it should be found along with the price list in a prominent place both on your website and on your Facebook page. Anyone who doesn't know your car wash yet and would like to try it out, will find the easy access to the information they need convenient.

2. Make sure you have good signage

When a customer comes to you for the first time, they should not accidentally drive past the entrance because they didn't spot the car wash. This can happen especially on densely built-up streets with tall houses, where the car wash is often only visible when the customer is already at the right point with their car to turn off but dense traffic no longer allows them to brake. So get permission from your local authority to put up signs on the side of the road to guide customers to your station. And signs with arrows can also be helpful on the actual premises. 

3. Intuitive operation

The best thing is when the car wash is completely self-explanatory – the customer should have no problems getting through the whole washing process on their own. For most people this is no longer a problem after their first visit. But other customers need a little more assistance. 

4. Short and simple explanations

When you drive your car into the car wash, you don't have time to read long explanations. Clear, concise instructions that contain only one or two words or symbols are most effective as quickly understandable explanations. It is instantly clear to the customer as to what they were wondering about. 

5. There should always be a contact person on site

Some people are not yet familiar with car washes and do not dare to use them without help. There should be a contact person available for them at all times. You can train this person to offer polite advice as soon as a customer starts looking around. In this way you relieve the customer of the unpleasant feeling of helplessness – they feel in good hands with you. If you operate an unmanned car wash, you should definitely provide a contact phone number – and this should be immediately visible to everyone. In this way you can give the customer a reassuring feeling, as they have the opportunity to make contact. 

6. Offer a technically flawless experience

As a car wash operator, you know that the car wash system and care chemicals need to be carefully tuned and that the system needs to be carefully maintained to run smoothly and deliver high quality results. For customers, however, this is a matter of course. So make sure that the washing process and the results are always optimal, otherwise you will fall short of the customer's expectations. This also includes the general cleanliness of the car wash and the premises. 

7. Encourage your employees to be courteous, polite and friendly

When an experienced customer takes care of the wash themselves, they only come into contact with your employees when paying if they have a question or want to make a complaint. The way employees approach customers here is associated with your car wash. Explain to your employees that respect, courtesy and friendliness are the nuts and bolts. Even if the contact is short, customers remember whether they were greeted with a smile and bid farewell with a few nice words or not.   

8. Transparency and reasonable prices are important

The information about your prices should not only be published on the Internet, but should also be clearly visible in the outside area of your car wash and at the counter. This way customers know exactly what they will pay and there are no unpleasant surprises. Also promotions with discounts for certain wash programs or periods are best announced in a clearly visible manner. This gives customers the feeling that they can always rely on you. When it comes to pricing, it is important that you are guided by the competition and do not charge much higher sums  – unless you highlight the benefits of your car wash in such a way that everyone can see and understand them. In an age of complete price transparency, it is easy for customers to compare prices, and too high prices for no apparent reason cause them to migrate to the competition. 

9. Reward for loyal customers

Customers who come to you more often can be rewarded with special discounts. This makes them feel valued and happy about how much they have saved. At the same time, this system is an incentive for other customers to also use your car wash exclusively.

10. Offer a nice surprise

There are numerous giveaways that are particularly suitable for car washes. These promotional gifts don't cost you much, but they ensure that your customers remember you. You don't always have to offer them, but especially at the beginning of the winter season an ice scraper with your name and address can be considered helpful and practical. Accordingly, you can use these small gifts strategically throughout the year to make customers smile. But train your employees on how to hand out the giveaways. Regular customers, who come to wash their car every week, are more annoyed than pleased by the tenth pen at the latest.