Double-Talk
A Conscious Decision To Misinform?

Unfortunately, due to the politics of business and self-serving agendas, many carwash operators who genuinely need help in their daily fight to improve their bottom line are likely being duped by a politically well-positioned self-serving few.

Case In Point: FLEX-SERVE.

Although the distinctions of the FLEX-SERVE "Total-Service" operating platform significantly differ from the lesser traditional "off-line" full service, a few influential critics continue to misrepresent and confuse the issue… possibly for their own benefit. Yet, their agenda of mislabeling and confounding good information is compromising many who simply seek to improve their individual business.

Magazine Ushers In Progress

First to publish the idea, Professional Carwashing & Detailing magazine ran the exclusive groundbreaking article introducing the concept in 1999. Modern Car Care was soon to follow. Since then, a continuous stream of articles that highlighted important differences between the two methodologies ensued. Nevertheless, and for reasons unknown, a few influential well-connected consultants and association easy-riders continue to muddy the water by saying the two concepts are alike. Clearly, they are not… and the distinctions are many.

Off-Line Not New

Off-line full-service is a 1970's adaptation that combines exterior washing with a full-service option located at the end of the drying process and away from the conveyor. The same activities that happen in a traditional full service carwash take place at the end of the wash, allowing exterior-only customers to exit unabated by the vacuuming and window-cleaning activities. It is a vast improvement when compared with the traditional full service carwash in that it enables exterior-only customers a much quicker wash.

When developing the FLEX-SERVE strategy, the "off-line" full-service model was carefully scrutinized and evaluated but found to be significantly deficient because of these fundamental drawbacks:

1. Using the term "full-service" brings too much old baggage with it, meaning the consumers' well-established frame of reference of specific full-service expectations pertaining to inside & outside cleaning. The associated perception bears too many negatives.

2. A critically important part of that "old baggage" is a traditional full-service pricing format that has proven woefully inadequate and functionally inadequate. Full-service has long been understood to be a combination of outside washing and inside dusting, vacuuming & window cleaning for a fixed price that unfortunately is increasingly more deficient in compensating the operator's actual overhead.

Upgraded Designation: "TOTAL-SERVICE"

Since off-line full-service is so embedded in traditional full service carwashing, to simply relocate the labor component to the exit end of the carwash remains a limiting alternative. The full-service association perpetuates the linkage to full service pricing and outdated expectations. This concept is so plagued with counterproductive components, it's much more sensible to completely abandon the "off-line" designation and upgrade to the FLEX-SERVE designation of "TOTAL-SERVICE".

In contrast, FLEX-SERVE offers genuine value, time saving convenience, consistent quality and the needed flexibility that allows customers to fashion their purchasing to their individual needs.

Technological advances constantly change the operational landscape of the automatic carwashing industry, and essential to that task is upgrading to this new footprint. Within the FLEX-SERVE operational blueprint is the ingenuity to consistently operate a prudently effective labor-sensitive process with unmatched precision while also providing extraordinary customer care.

Accordingly, the Flex-Serve paradigm enables customers to quickly wash their vehicles without leaving the comfort and safety of their personal space. Quick and convenient washing, and without the impediment of having to leave their vehicle… and valuables, while others process the vehicle.

When customers choose to have interior cleaning… or any of the myriad of other labor-intensive detailing services offered, they proceed to the EXPRESS AFTER-CARE area upon completing their wash.

How FLEX-SERVE Works…

The suggested design configuration for the Flex-Serve process essentially requires three key activity areas. Basic to the entire concept is the effective separation of "WASHING" from everything else.

A: The ULTRA-WASH -

ULTRA-WASHING is an independently separate washing and drying process for the exterior of the vehicle featuring a full complement of innovative push-button extra-services. There is no exit-end wiping, minimal labor, and absolute satisfaction, guaranteed.

The time-sensitive freestanding washing service is marketed on its own value-added merit of quality, speed, and convenience.

B: EXPRESS AFTER-CARE -

A comprehensive blend of rapid-delivery "hands-on" DETAILING services is available in TWO basic time formats:

EXPRESS: Tasks which take 15-minutes or less.
EXPRESS-PLUS: Tasks which take more than 15-minutes…
but always less than 45-minutes.

If it takes a pair of trained hands, it happens exclusively in EXPRESS AFTER-CARE. And, by design, it happens very, very quickly! Accordingly, all staff is cross-trained and paired in 2-person teams, resulting in more effective balance of labor resource… even when workers are occasionally absent. All work is performed in ergonomically-enhanced production cells for greater performance.

C: SELF-SERVE ACCOMMODATION

Self-Serve accommodations pertain to coin-op vending provisions available for customer purchase and use on a 365/24/7 basis. This area specifically relates to self-serve vacuums, air fresheners, towels, and other vendible items.

Although the FLEX-SERVE design does not incorporate coin-op-washing facilities, they are acceptable if their addition can be achieved without risking compromise to unobstructed traffic flow continuity.

Why FLEX-SERVE Simply Makes More Sense

In the complex ever-changing world of business, there remain two irrefutable ways to make more money:

1. Increase Sales
2. Decrease Costs

In the carwash and detailing businesses, the positive effects of improving either of those actions will be felt immediately. Do both and the impact on revenues is significant.

• By offering a "flexible" service, you can efficiently deploy labor resources for consistent peak performance.
• Your wash becomes more convenient for many customers who only seek a basic exterior wash, with no delays.
• By educating the customer to "manage" his or her own vehicle, you remove a traditional full-service staffing burden.
• By logically relocating all labor-intensive services to the EXPRESS AFTER-CARE area, your cross-trained staff is marshaled more effectively.
• By offering a truly flexible service, your customers gain a clear and unhindered no-nonsense option of choice that fits their schedule.
• By keeping the customer inside their vehicle, you have a captive audience viewing your washing process from a unique perspective.
• By offering a flexible service, you avoid forcing the customer into a pre-wash tidying up of the interior.
• One of the unique qualities that customers seem to like is the peace of mind in managing "their own space" without intrusion. In essence, nobody messes with "their stuff".
• The primary transaction occurs prior to the washing process, and a secondary sales activity is available in the EXPRESS AFTER-CARE area to conveniently accommodate additional impulses.
• By segregating all labor-intensive services into one EXPRESS AFTER-CARE area, you give greater focus on extremely effective production techniques.
• The EXPRESS AFTER-CARE platform effectively replaces the prevalent understanding of full-service washing, by escalating the focus of services to the next level of intensity. Whatever is done, is done very, very well.
• The EXPRESS AFTER-CARE area is a more effective location for customer waiting combined with sundry sales.
• The FLEX-SERVE platform integrates more effectively with multiple profit centers like oil change, gasoline, c-stores, self-service and detail activities.
• By eliminating the traditional "full-service" envelope, your pricing can be more effectively matched with actual service costs.
• By offering a flexible service, the basic carwash pricing can be realistically maintained at competitive, growth-sustaining levels. Most staff is not part of the carwash staff overhead, hence the carwash pricing will not reflect any disproportionate burden.
• Because of the FLEX-SERVE inherent "flexibility", multi-level operating hours offer countless potential users more exposure. By selectively offering labor-intensive services during peak operating hours, and adding the convenience of "outside-only" washing during times when labor-intensive service isn't appropriate, FLEX-SERVE operators provide newfound adaptability to their increasingly market-sensitive operations. In addition, by establishing coin-op services in a self-serve area, the operation offers additional around-the-clock exposure to a diverse marketplace.

The Quintessential Carwash

Adaptability refers to the capability to adjust or acclimate to change. It is the quality that permits one to modify for improvement. Logic would suggest that being able to adapt requires both flexibility and versatility.

Accordingly, it is fair to say that FLEX-SERVE is more adaptable than any other carwash platform by virtue of its approach and methodology.

Unlike other formats, FLEX-SERVE is scalable to easily accommodate the largest volume demands, and run the gamut to even the very smallest trickledown operations. It enables operators to throttle their processing in direct proportion to their operational needs… and customer demands.

Historically, whether full-service or exterior-only, automatic carwash operations shared their marketplace with others that competed by taking advantage of the ever-present gap in service delivery. Numerous studies suggest that for every interior cleaning at a full-service wash, consumers supplemented their purchasing with outside-only washing of their vehicles. This research was reinforced by the growth of in-bay automatic washing activities as well as the consumer self- washing continuum. Nobody was really positioned to "do it all" in a meaningful way for the consumer.

FLEX-SERVE essentially changes all of that. It effectively positions the Total-Service operator to basically "take the customer off the market" by providing a comprehensive array of rapid-delivery, value-priced "on-request" services. And, to operator delight, its very effective format provides the most efficient use of a very small but nimble hands-on labor requirement.

No Doubletalk Here

So, as a word of caution, don't be misled by those unenlightened few who seek to confuse the issue for their own personal gain. Off-line full-service is still merely… off-line full-service. And FLEX-SERVE uniquely continues to be a significantly upgraded improvement in operational ease, customer satisfaction, labor efficiency and net profitability.

Ultimately, mindful scrutiny reveals that off-line full-service must deal with too many deficiencies and is bogged down by built-in operational limitations. While being better than the traditional full-service model, it still falls short in too many areas.

Accordingly, FLEX-SERVE, by its very sensible versatility… is the quintessential carwash & detailing model of operational ease and profitability!

Some Significant Differences Between

FLEX-SERVE vs Traditional "Off-Line" Full-Service

FLEX-SERVE

• ULTRA-WASH footprint with upgraded ambiance and enhanced merchandising
  
• Initial Sales Contact as a greeting
  
• NO traditional full-service available; No full-service reference
  
• Enhanced "Self-Inspection" dynamic for customer scrutiny from the inside of their vehicle
  
• High performance Production Cells for rapid action task completion
  
• Staffed by 2-person teams
  
• Detailing service format includes wide array of Rapid-Delivery Services
  
• 2 Rapid-Service formats: EXPRESS and EXPRESS-PLUS
  
• Ergonomically enhanced production
  
• Balanced pricing that delivers consistent profitability
  
• Centralized Labor
  
• Radio-controlled throttling of sales eliminates bottlenecks
  
• Secondary sales activity in EXPRESS AFTER-CARE
  
• Greater perception of value by consumers for "DETAILING" services
  
• Staff Self-Inspection of EXPRESS AFTER-CARE performance
  
• Multi-tier pricing
  
• More efficient production technology with full spectrum of services