PC&D MAGAZINE
Database marketing: 101
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From Volume 25, Issue 2 - February 2001
Feature
Develop the right program for your carwash.

Bill Sartor, owner of two full-service operations and a lube shop in San Antonio, is a strong advocate of database marketing. Although his initial attempts to implement a database marketing program were unsuccessful, he has spent the past eight years fine-tuning a plan that works.

"Before you even begin putting together a database, you need to define what it is you want to accomplish from your database marketing program," he says.

For instance, Sartor says he learned that all of the following can be accomplished with a database marketing system:

· Increased customer frequency

· Customer loyalty

· Attracting new customers

· Increased revenues.

Gathering information

To start developing a database marketing program, figure out what data is needed, and what you want to do with it.

The first decision you must make is where you will get the information needed to implement a targeted marketing strategy. You can track license plates, ask customers to fill out an information card or purchase a mailing list from a local company.

Once you decide how you are going to get your data, determine how it will be entered into the system. This can be done by cashiers on slow days, by a data entry specialist or by customers themselves.

"The majority of owners, in two to five years, will be having customers enter in the information," says Sartor. "Once you design the whole system, this is the whole world of database marketing."

Sartor's program requires customers to fill out forms asking who they are, where they live, what they bought and what types of vehicles they drive. Sartor also has added a questions requesting the e-mail addresses of his existing customers.

Through e-mail, operators can deliver special offers to their customers.

Sartor believes e-mail will revolutionize database marketing in the carwash and oil-change industries. However, Sartor advises operators to be cautious when using e-mail in a database marketing program.

"You must have the compliance statement in the e-mail saying they can be removed from the list by just sending it back," says Sartor. "Also, remember not to send them unsolicited mail they don't want, otherwise known as spamming."

Selecting a product

When selecting database management products, explain to the database vendor what your goals are and find out what the vendor's current software is capable of. Remember, the cost is not as important as what the software will deliver. Also, get a list of references so you can discuss with other operators their experiences with the vendor.

There are different programs available with varied options. For instance, an access query allows operators to pull up all the customers with birthdays occurring during a particular month for the purpose of sending those customers a free wash coupon. Furthermore, operators can pull up a log of customers who have not been to the wash in four or five months and send them a reminder that they haven't been in. Be sure to include a good discount in the reminder as well. Sartor began a program for his express detailing services, sending out reminders to all his customers. The detail shop sent reminders out at 90, 120 and 150 days, and has seen as high as a 40 percent return rate as a result of the program.

"It has increased our express detail revenues tremendously," says Sartor. "The business no longer sees anything less than 20 percent," he says.

From the International Carwash Association convention 1999
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