The amount of car washes that have a Facebook page continues to grow every day. Take a look at some of these pages such as Delta Sonic, Mike's Car Washes, Splash Car Wash, Terrible Herbst, Bubbles, Scrub a Dub, Autobell, Quick Quack, Brown Bear and Carpool to see how important this social media has become to our industry.
Many of these Facebook pages have a lot of "Posts" back and forth between the wash and its "Fans". The two-way communication is fun, spontaneous and the washes make a lot of effort to draw their "Fans" into communication and, most importantly, to the car wash property. Videos of Extra Services being applied, contests for free washes and limited time offers create excitement and a sense of urgency to get to the wash.
Kenneth Peebles, owner of Hank's Express Car Wash in Broken Arrow, OK, explains it like this: "Our Facebook page has less than a 1,000 friends that are extremely loyal and active at our wash. That's more valuable to us than 10,000 fans that don't engage our business where it matters the most…..on our property."
How do they "engage" their customers with their Facebook page? First and foremost is a dedicated "Administrator" whose everyday job is to post on the page and communicate with the customers. Kenneth decided he would give this job to one of tech savvy employees instead of hire it out to a company that wasn't familiar with his business or how it operated. Armed with the Facebook Administrator App on his iPhone and iPad, the administrator is notified immediately when a "Fan" posts. The wash goes out of its way to connect individually with their customers. If someone posts a negative experience, they don't delete it, they try to resolve it. If we get a compliment, we personally thank them.
On some days, they post that they will give away one free wash to a random customer during a certain hour. In that hour, they often average 15 more cars than usual. Doing this 5 times a week costs them 5 free washes, but they also gain 75 paid washes. At an $8.50 average, they gain $33,000 in sales per year. Car washes can also engage their customers by posting a list of "Today's Winners of Free Washes Everyday!" Others pose questions to their customers. On April Fool's Day, they may ask customers to post their favorite April fool's pranks or ask for Halloween costume pictures.
The multiplier effect of one person "Liking" your car wash broadcasts it to all their friends, which persuades others to "like" your wash, broadcast to their friends, and so on and so forth. Every week Kenneth has at least one first-time customer tell him the wash was recommended by one of their Facebook friends.
It's beneficial to take a look at how other washes are drawing their "Fans" in with their Facebook pages. Make the decision to appoint an Administrator to create and update your page every day. You too can experience the viral effect of social media and its positive impact on your sales every day.
From the Lustra Team – Keep Shining
For more information go to LustraBear.com.
