We've been conscientiously working toward rebuilding and restoring the five Mr. Pride Car Washes in Memphis, TN, since we purchased them in December 1992. Growth has been steady, but without gasoline sales, we've had to try different strategies to increase customer frequency. We needed something to make up for car owners who used to come back each time their gas gauge got low.

Among the things we decided to do was to institute our own carwash club called "Club Pride." I looked at other clubs and one of the best examples I saw was the Scrub-a-Dub Club instituted by Marshal Paisner and his sons at their carwashes in the greater Boston area.

To Charge or Not to Charge

This is a crucial question that must be answered when you design a wash club program. Operators who charge a membership fee do so because they are trying to reach their most frequent and best customers, those most likely to return and purchase extra services based on an incentive.

Most importantly, these operators don't want to fill up their databases with the names of people who will join but will only be back once or twice a year. In other words, if people pay to join the club they will be more likely to use it. I don't disagree with any of these reasons, and those who charge usually have a minimum fee for membership -- usually just enough to cover the cost of membership processing -- like $5 or $7.

However, we did not charge a fee because we were just getting back into the market and trying to rebuild a business that had all but disappeared; trying to woo back customers who had been driven off. I can assure you that, had we been a steady force in the marketplace, at least a minimum charge would have been required for membership.

What is Club Pride?

We talked to other operators and got all the information we could. Then we got with our key people and our advertising agency and laid out our program. Remember, increased frequency from our present customer base was our main goal. We also wanted to increase the services purchased by this group as well.

We decided that people had enough plastic to carry in purses and billfolds. We designed a sequentially numbered sticker that would be placed on the driver's side rear window so that it would be easy for our sales attendant to see. The individual vehicle is actually the club member. If a family has more than one vehicle, each vehicle must be registered.

Our computer system allows us to credit any wash from any of the five Mr. Pride locations to the customer's membership. Without this ability the simplicity would be lost and we probably would not have a carwash club.

Membership Benefits

Membership in our club provides four benefits:

* A free "Wash, Protect and Shine" -- our ultimate wash package -- after every 10 washes of any kind.

* Fifty percent off a wash or wash package during the month of the customer's birthday.

* $5 off the regular price of detailing or 10 percent off any detailing special.

* Senior citizens receive 10 percent off any wash, wash package or merchandise.

These items were chosen for obvious reasons, and you can also see how they are designed to help reach our two goals. Senior citizens are given several incentives to come in. Many operators in Florida do not like to give senior citizen discounts, but we learned years ago that carwash visits by people 55 years of age and up drop off dramatically. It's our aim to keep them coming back.

Furthermore, cars that are frequently washed are easier for us to clean. They never have old, ground-in dirt or baked- or frozen-on grime.

Birthday washes are very popular. For years we gave them away free. Then we stopped the free birthday wash on October 1, 1979. Would you believe that every year people called wanting to know if we still had the program? Customers loved the program so much we could charge for it as a club benefit and give it to them any time during the month of their birthday -- no more fussing about "It rained on my birthday," or "I was out of town," etc.

How Do You Join?

An attractive point-of-sale placard which holds the 4- by 9-inch information and sign-up sheets is placed on the counter next to the cashier. The cashier is the point person in the sign-up process.

The sign-up sheet is very simple, with the pertinent information summarized in three short paragraphs telling what Club Pride is, how customers will save and how they can join.

The membership information we request is the customer's name, address, phone number (optional), birthday (month/day/year), vehicle make, model, year, color, license plate number and state. Memphis is located in a tri-state area and using driver's license numbers would be very difficult and confusing. This is the reason we developed the Club Pride sticker.

We developed an incentive program and a contest to help encourage cashiers to sign up members. We found that the sign-up process doesn't need to take up much extra time. On busy days we have an extra cashier come in to move the process along.

The program is still new, but we are very pleased with its progress and acceptance so far.

Remember, the focus isn't just on signing up a lot of new members, but generating repeat business and increased income from the existing customer base.

George W. Akers is a partner in five Mr. Pride Car Washes in Memphis, TN. He also owns a carwashing consulting firm in Memphis.