My name is Stephen Boone. I am a Business & Personal Computer Consultant and am currently on a long term assignment with Van Brook of Lexington, Inc. I have a Diploma in Business Administration and an Associates Degree in Computer Science Van Brook of Lexington, Inc. vanbrook@iglou.com

In 1965, Van Brook pioneered the first use of Car Wash Tokens. The trademarked QST© (Quarter Substitute Token) was the First-Ever Car Wash Token, struck in Bronze, or more commonly known as "Red Brass" High-Copper Alloy.

Today, Tokens are widely used in Car Washes all over the World and remain one of the best ways to do business with Customers. Why is this so? Tokens provide the Car Wash Owner with three important advantages: Security, Profit, and Promotion.

Tokens give the Car Wash Owner more security. As many Operators in the Car Wash Industry know, theft and vandalism of Bill Changers at Self-Serve and Automatic Car Washes is a very disheartening, not to mention costly experience. One type of theft involving bill changers is commonly known as "stringing". A thief will use tape, adhesive, & a thin monofilament line (usually hi-test fishing line) to affix to a 1,5, or 10-dollar bill and repeatedly put it in and pull it out of the bill acceptor until ALL of the change is emptied out of the machine. This type of crime is often costing Car Wash Owners across the country $2000+ PER HIT! One way to avoid losing valuable profits is to switch from using coins to using Tokens. Tokens make you less appealing to thieves. Tokens have no cash value. If thieves string your Changer and you are using Tokens, it will not take long for them to realize that your Car Wash is not the key to their financial gain. They will look elsewhere for machines that will produce what they are looking for, Cash!

Profits increase when a Car Wash switches to Token Operation. It seems to be a universal quirk of human nature to think of tokens as NON-MONEY.

Customers spend Tokens more freely. One of the "Best Kept Secrets" of Carwash Token Operations is the "Walk-Away Factor". Frequently, customers inadvertently "walk-away" after washing their cars with Tokens left over in their pockets or purses, some have stated that they lose 2% per week.

One of our customers reports an average walk-away loss of over 400 "One-Dollar Value" Tokens per week out of his total Token Bank of 20,000. The 400 average is a net number, and takes into account that a number of walk-aways come back in and are added back into the token supply. If a Token costs the owner 12¢, is sold to a customer for $1 and "walks" away, the result is 88¢ of Pure Profit. At 400 Tokens a week, that adds up to $352 per week & over $18,000 annually in Pure Profits.

Tokens can be used as a promotional tool. Advertising costs money, and the results are sometimes difficult to measure. With Token Promotions, however, you can get your Customers to pay the advertising costs for you, and you can measure the results. You can generate handsome profits immediately. Advertising Profits.

Security, Profit, and Promotion are three key elements of any successful business. For the Car Wash Owner, Tokens provide these three elements. We have supplied Car Wash Tokens for over 30 years and are providing Quality Tokens.

There are many Stock Tokens available and the ability to custom design attractive tokens, Check out the concept.

What operators say on the Forum about Tokens:

Adding tokens to Changer,

token pricing for touchless automatics

TOKEN QUESTION

By going to the Forum and using Tokens as the keyword in Search you will find many more subjects on tokens