I have never seen a worse three months for wash weather than the last three months. I would love to get my hands on Mother nature for sure.
As the old adage goes, "Depserate times call for desperate measures" I'd like to run an idea by you all.
Currently, we charge $10 for the "Works" (the only wash we offer) and we sell 5 wash books for $35 ($3.00 off per wash) 5 -5 Wash books for $150 ($4.00 off per wash) and have a $50 per month club card plan which entitles people to wash once a day for 30 days)
What I am thinking of is basically a crappy day special of $5.00 and using a 3' X 5' double sided, temporary sign to advertise it. This would be put out on rain and snow days.
I know I'm going to get some static from book wash and club customers, but I have to believe that especially in the winter, people would be so sick of looking at their cars that they would be willing to throw away $5 on these days but not willing to throw away $10.
I'm am glad that your are proactive instead of reactive. I too decided to respond to the $#&t weather we are having in Michigan as well. On days that were snowing or wet, I would have a attendant sell our express wash only for $2. It wasn't worth it! I just close from now on. It seems that customers want at least 3 days of dryness based on my conversations with them. Good Luck though!
If your regular customers (folks who buy wash books) and most loyal customers (club members) won't come in on a foul weather day, why would people on the fringe do so even with a 50% discount?
I'm sure your one-price scheme and discount program is very popular in your market because you have always professed washing good volumes and you are a great operator. However, if these programs have been in effect for sometime, I would guess that you have established a sizable customer base but are probably no longer seeing growth in the overall number of participants. If so, you might get more bang for your buck by focusing your marketing to attract more book sales and club memberships rather than trying to reward the cheapskates who might come to you only once or twice a year.
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