2. Do not allow your greeters to wear sunglasses on the job. A friendly, trustful presence requires eye contact.

3. Color-code your towels to increase your wash's efficiency. Because the chemicals in soaps and waxes do not necessarily mix well with window-cleaning solutions, you should separate window towels from body towels.

4. Display signs asking customers to leave ashtrays open if they want them cleaned. Otherwise, your employees may vacuum items that are not intended for disposal.

5. Have your vacuum personnel reposition seats to their original location. Follow through by having your sendoff personnel remind drivers to check seat and mirror adjustments before they pull into traffic.

6. If you offer hand-drying, train your employees to use caution when wiping down fragile rearview mirrors. Rearview mirrors have been known to snap off, forcing operators to shell out extra dough for repairs.

7. Use your camcorder to make your own training tapes. Tape one of your employees performing a job just the way you want it done, and you can use it for instructing new hires or for periodic refresher training. Just because it may be an "amateur" production doesn't mean it won't be an effective training tool.

8. Self-serve customers must have a way to claim refunds if equipment breaks down. Have a mailbox for claim slips or post a phone number where they can leave a message. This will reduce vandalism.

9. Train your cashiers to make change before they put larger bills into the register. And make sure they count back the customers' change every time to assure that all the money is there.

10. Designate one key employee to be in charge of locating work hazards. Have that employee perform periodic checks of your wash to eliminate unsafe conditions.

11. When your attendants replace car mats after vacuuming, make sure they do not place the driver's mat on top of the gas pedal. This could cause a dangerous situation.

12. A self-serve operator solved a persistent problem of bucket washers clogging up his bays by allowing his overhead booms to drip constantly.

13. Vacuum nozzles shouldn't be capable of forming a seal with a surface. This just makes the motor work harder without accomplishing any cleaning. Nozzles should have vents or be designed so air can maintain a continuous flow. Worn plastic or rubber nozzles might benefit from minor surgery.

14. Business gifts like wash coupon booklets may be tax deductible. Ask your accountant.

15. Keep towels used for wiping down door jambs and wheel wells and removing tar and bugs separate from window and body towels to prevent smudging and streaking.

16. Clean and remove grease and excess water from door jambs and door panels. This is an added cleaning detail that customers will notice.

17. Rusted-in screws that refuse to budge can often be removed by first applying the point of a hot soldering iron to the head for a few minutes. Remove the screw with a screwdriver while it is still hot.

18. Check vacuum hoses often for clogging to prevent losing business from dysfunctional equipment.

19. When light bulbs need replacement, change them immediately. Good lighting gives your customers a sense of safety and keeps burglars away.

20. Set up a mystery-shopper program using friends or relatives. You'll get good feedback often at the cost of complimentary washes.

21. Have a pair of safety goggles available for employees handling drum solutions or mixing hazardous substances.

22. When cleaning your awnings, do not use bleach; it eventually deteriorates the threads. If you use a pressure washer to clean your awnings, do not exceed 500 psi (250 psi is recommended), and keep water temperature below 105 degrees Fahrenheit to prevent damage.

23. Update your employee manual at least annually.

24. To reduce lint on your towels, avoid washing old, deteriorating towels with new ones.

25. Having your employees wear a name badge presents a professional atmosphere and adds to customer service.

26. Offering value-added items, such as litter bags or window-cleaning cloths, gives customers one more reason to come to your wash. But both inventory control and distribution management are required to make these programs cost-effective.

27. Set up an "Employee of the Month" program. Reward winners with a plaque or gift certificate to a local business to show your appreciation, and design a way to make them stand out. A special uniform, logo, button or hat worn by the employee will give them the recognition they deserve.

28. Installing lockers for employees in self-service equipment rooms will create a secure place for multiple attendants to store change banks and personal effects. Operators can also use the lockers as a place to distribute messages and paychecks.

29. The opinions and suggestions of employees should be actively sought by managers. Keeping workers, as well as customers, happy helps create a smooth and successful operation.

30. Keep and count all redeemed coupons. This will help you track the success of your marketing approach.

31. In shaded areas where persistent ice buildup challenges pedestrian or vehicle traffic, try pre-heated sand instead of a deicer. The hot sand will impregnate itself in the ice and form a rough, non-skid surface.

32. If water spotting on viewing windows in your tunnel is a problem, try a mild acid ceramic tile cleaner to remove the spots, but be especially careful of contacting aluminum window frames. Protect clean windows with water repellent.

33. Make sure your attendants are prepared to handle customer complaints and concerns. Empower them to make decisions up to a specifically defined level, such as offering the customer a free wash. Train them to move bigger problems along quickly.

34. Add one cup of white distilled vinegar to the first two towel washes and a cup once a week to remove the damp, musty smell.

35. When confronted with a lock that has been stuffed with foreign matter like match sticks or paper, the problem can frequently be solved by burning the debris with a propane torch. After burning, a small amount of graphite will free the cylinders.

36. Keep a journal of the things that work and don't work for you. Your wash will become more efficient when you take advantage of good ideas and avoid making the same mistakes over again.

37. If you contract out your snow removal for the winter, it's a good idea to make arrangements with more than one contractor. This could prevent a problem if one snowplower can't make it to your wash on time.

38. If you're building or renovating a self serve, consider installing a restroom in the equipment room.

39. Hand-held radios can help managers communicate with one another and reposition employees to areas in need of assistance during busy times.

40. When offering coupons, always give dollars instead of a percent off a service. Customers want to know immediately what they will be saving. Also, don't skimp on the offer.

41. To avoid damage to spray nozzles, always use a cleaning implement that is softer than the nozzle itself. Bristle brushes and wooden or plastic probes are superior to paper clips or nails.

42. With high-speed motors and high-velocity air dryers and vacuums, noise levels can be high. Often, simple baffles erected at little cost will have a dramatic effect on decibel reduction.

43. Have a box of spill pads or socks for spills, leaks and drips. This will reduce the chance of an employee using a towel for the wrong purpose.

44. Thoroughly inspect all vacuum filter bags weekly for tears, cleanliness and proper seating to prevent equipment malfunction.

45. Cross-promotions between your wash and another local business may boost your sales. A local radio station is among the best places to begin such a program.

46. When creating signs, spacing between letters should be 20 to 40 percent of letter height, or approximately half the width of the letter "O." This will increase the readability of the same height letter by 25 percent.

47. Never let your employees use chemicals from an unlabeled container of any sort. It is unsafe and could also be illegal.

48. Controlling towel inventory is difficult enough without allowing your customers to be part of the problem. Position towels away from customer traffic.

49. Check the operation of each vacuum station every morning. This will ensure a smooth-running business day, as well as equipment longevity.

50. Remind employees that areas around child safety seats are prone to cracker crumbs and other debris. Tell them to pay attention to those areas, but not to unhook or reposition the seats without the customer's permission.

51. Prep personnel will be most effective if they can rotate tasks periodically. Switching from prep guns to brushes allows them to use different muscle groups and stay fresher over a long shift.

52. Use damp towels when wiping off cars to keep lint from coming off the towels. A damp towel also absorbs more water than a stiff, dry towel.

53. When designing coupons, make your offer the largest part of the design. Don't overload the coupon. Just state your offer, name of wash, address, phone number and expiration date.

54. Because windows are the first thing that most customers see when they get into their car, it's a good idea to assign windows to only the most proven people on your crew. When a new employee is assigned to windows, their work should be closely monitored by an assistant manager or crew chief.

55. Put trash containers at both ends of each self-serve bay. Make it as easy as possible for your customers to help you keep your carwash clean.

56. Because much of the car cleaning process involves the removal of oils and particulate soils, the temperature of your water and solutions must be high enough to do a fast and effective job. Be careful not to let the temperature get too hot. Decals, paint and plastic moldings can be melted off a vehicle if the water temperature exceeds 150 degrees Fahrenheit.

57. When designing an effective direct mail package, use teaser copy on the outside of the envelope to encourage your customers to open and read your package.

58. When communicating with your customers by mail, always include your signature. If it's an obvious form letter, sign with a different color ink. If the piece isn't important enough for you to sign, your customer won't think it's important either.

59. The most important part of the employment application is the work history section. Recent jobs are usually good predictors of future performance.

60. Make your wash as easy to locate and identify as you can. Give people an intersection, a landmark or a symbol to remember, like "the carwash on the circle" or "the wash with the flags."

61. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce states that 80 percent of sales come from within a three- to five-mile radius of a typical business. Keep this in mind when distributing coupons or fliers.

62. Always clean and flush any hydraulic gear box or oil system that contains metal shavings to prevent further contamination of the system.

63. Church bulletins can be very effective, inexpensive advertising media.

64. A simple way to boost security or manage pedestrian traffic is to plant prickly shrubs and plants under windows and around walkways. It's Mother Nature's way of saying, "Keep out."

65. Spring is the best time for hydraulic oil changes because oil works hardest in the hot summer months.

66. Your greeter should always remind customers of the extra services offered at your wash.

67 Don't put spray nozzles too close to breakable surfaces, such as headlight covers or turn signals. The pressure at the edge of the nozzle is much greater than 12 inches from the tip. Remember to spray from a reasonable distance.

68. Put on a happy face. Have greeters at your exterior-only draw smiley faces on the windshield/windows as they mark the car for the appropriate package when there are kids in the car. The extra happy face will give the kids something else to watch as they head through the tunnel.

69. Don't leave food products rotting in your trash containers. Odors and insects are only two of the problems you'll avoid.

70. When hiring greeters, take a look at their car. If the greeter has a well-kept, spotless car, it's likely their enthusiasm to keep their own vehicle in tip-top condition can be passed on to customers.

71. If you employ high school students, reward them for good grades. Students with A's or B's get bonuses -- students with lower grades get limited work hours until their grades come up.

72. When reinstalling or adding a new conveyor, cut a piece of PVS drain pipe in half (size it so it fits in the middle of the bottom of the trench) and embed it in the concrete at the bottom of the trench. The smooth, concave surface will help carry contaminants away.

73. If you're an exterior-only wash operator, have your greeters or prep employees sell bottles of windshield wiper fluid in the winter time. While you may not have room for a full impulse-item display, you can drum up some extra income.

74. Keep a set of Go-Jacks handy. These mini-jacks on casters -- used to move vehicles around in tight areas such as automobile showrooms -- are placed under each wheel to quickly spin a locked or disabled car out of a vacuum line or self-serve bay.

75. Get your water tested -- again. Water conditions can change over time, and hard water wastes money. A water treatment professional can install a softener which could save you hundreds or thousands of dollars over time.

76. Grow a green thumb. A few hundred bucks worth of flowers planted in front of your location will make you look like a million bucks.

77. Use tokens to market your unattended self serve. They can be mailed or handed out by fellow merchants.

78. Make your coin-boxes look and feel tough. Shake and tug at them; if they feel loose or rattle, they give the impression of weakness. Bend the lock latches or use foam tape to make them fit tightly. Coin vaults are even better.

79. Vary your coin collection schedule. Don't let thieves know when you're coming.

80. Sponsor an ad on a local police car if your community offers the program. It's more community involvement than a true advertising plan, but it does portray your business positively.

81. Give free wash coupons to your local sports teams. They can use them as raffle prizes or have the student who chooses the dirtiest car in the lot as a winner.

82. Display artwork in your tunnel. Art students from local schools can supply the right stuff to brighten up your lobby.

83. Employees loading customer-driven vehicles onto a conveyor should use their entire arm to make signals. Hand signals can easily be missed or misunderstood.

84. Mat clamps normally placed on bay walls work equally well mounted on poles at outside vacuum islands. Your customers will appreciate this extra convenience.

85. A short length of PVC tubing inserted into a solution drum makes a handy conduit for the plastic tubing used to draw the solution. The PVC keeps the flimsier tubing from curling and keeps it under the surface even when the drum level gets low.

86. To save energy, switch off incandescent lights when a room will be unoccupied for more than five minutes. Switch off standard fluorescent lights if a room will be unoccupied more than 15 minutes.

87. Award certificates when employees complete a section of your training program. The certificates can then be hung on the walls of your wash to show customers that employees have completed the educational training to handle vehicles properly. Body shops hang similar certificates assuring proper installation techniques will be implemented by trained workers.

88. Record model and serial numbers of your equipment for future reference. When it comes time to replace parts, worn and dirty equipment may make labels difficult to read.

89. Post letters from satisfied customers on a bulletin board in your lobby to convey a positive message about your wash to other customers.

90. Tunnel carwashes located in seaside locations or other areas where there is sandy soil can experience excessive wear to conveyor tracks and rollers. Portions of these tracks that are not flooded by the normal wash process might benefit from a simple garden hose, perforated at intervals and installed to flush away abrasive grit and sand.

91. To ensure proper operation of your dryer's motor, maintain lubrication by greasing the motor once a year. Make sure you grease it while the motor is warm and only when the power is off.

92. Assign a key worker to perform a quality control check on every 20th completed car. Have the employee check vacuuming, window quality and exterior appearance.

93. The inexpensive paint brushes many detailers use for fine cleaning often have metal bands with sharp or rough edges. A little duct tape over the metal parts will prevent accidental scratches in paint and vinyl.

94. Increase the price any time you add a new service to your wash. If you don't place a value on improved services, you can't expect your customers to pay for them later.

95. You'll want to get your money's worth out of expensive signage, so think twice about the information you plan to post for a long time. For example, make sure any signs with prices can be easily changed.

96. When performing maintenance on electric motors, blow out interiors of open motors with clean, dry air. Air pressure should not exceed 50 psi to avoid damage to insulation.

97. Trying to touch up some window trim without getting paint on the glass? Instead of struggling with clumsy masking tape, just rub soap around the edges of the glass next to the surfaces to be painted. Any paint that lands on the soap will be easy to wipe off.

98. Be careful about playing local radio stations over your phone system during your on-hold messages. For one thing, you will owe a license fee to the musicians whose songs the radio stations play, and if your competitors know what station you play, they just might place their ads there.

99. Display a sign that says "Open" any time you are open for business. It may seem like stating the obvious, but many experienced operators believe that without such a notice, a potential impulse customer who sees no activity might drive away. Small neon signs which are relatively inexpensive and have high visibility are particularly effective.

100. The maximum number of words people can comfortably remember in a slogan is seven.

101. Fluorescent light tubes exhibiting dark spots or streaks but still bright at both ends may not necessarily be burning out. Sometimes a cold draft of air, like one from a misdirected air conditioner, can cause the mercury to condense and create this condition.