Product Spot Light: Shine On!

Armor All Extreme Shine Wax™ is the newest way to boost revenue on your in-bay automatic. Formulated with advanced polymers and carnauba wax, it produces a shine that your customers will definitely notice! Featuring a vibrant purple color, luxurious foam and a superior rinse, this product gives your customers a show they will not forget.

Your revenues will shine, too! An average increase of $1 per car at 15,000 cars per year can yield $15,000 of top line revenue! Leverage the power of the Armor All® brand, a product that consumers already trust.

Additional merchandising products are available. Contact your Harrell's representative to learn more about this business-boosting blockbuster!

Suds N Sundry: The Fab Five

While many of you may already be familiar with this information, we think it's important to review what we refer to as "The Five Factors of Cleaning." It's a thought process that can make all the difference in your daily pursuit of new and existing sales.

The Five Factors of Cleaning is a process that you use to determine may things — from what product to use in a wash to why a specific area of a wash is not performing as it should be. The Five Factors of Cleaning are:

• Time
• Temperature
• Mechanical Action
• Chemical Action
• Procedures

1. Time

Time can mean several things:

• Soil Exposure: Type soil and how long vehicle has been exposed
• Chemical Exposure: Cleaning process touch-free (high pressure) or friction (low pressure)
• Dwell Time: Allowing chemical to soak increases the cleaning ability. There is a point of diminishing return, however. Soil and oil redeposit on the surface when chemical remains on too long. Optimum dwell time for presoaks is 30-45 seconds. For bug remover, 1-2 minutes.

2. Temperature

There are three types of temperature or heat energy to consider in a car wash.

• Ambient Temperature: Temperature of the air the vehicle is being washed in
• Vehicle Temperature: Temperature of the vehicle itself
• Chemistry Temperature: Temperature of the chemical/water mix used to wash vehicle

You will not have control over the ambient and vehicle temperature; however, you can control the temperature of the cleaning solutions applied to the vehicle surface.

Temperature = Activity. Best use guidelines are:

• 110°-120° F on vehicle surfaces
• 110° F or lower is best in warm weather (above 75°F)
• 120° F is best in cold weather (below 75°F)
• Do not exceed 130° F - many detergents break down in temperatures exceeding 130° F

3. Mechanical Action

Mechanical action is broken down into two types:

Friction
Friction is the scrubbing action by the cloth seen in any automatic friction wash
Friction types: Brushes-curtains-chamois
Material type: cloth-bristle-foam (neo-glide) - lamb's wool

Touch Free
Touch free is the water pressure (psi) used to rinse detergent chemistry off the vehicle
Touch free utilizes water volume and impingement (impingement is the mechanical action of pressured water forced through spray jets during the touch-free washing process)
Speed of Cycle - Slower cycle times provide for longer impingement and resulting cleaning action

4. Chemical Action

Chemical action works to:

• Reduce static charge on vehicle and release soils
• Break down physical bonds of soils to the vehicle surface
• Dissolve and suspend soils for complete removal

5. Procedures

Procedures are different for each of the types of washes available in the industry.

• Self Serve: Procedures automated and consumer has control over washing process
• In-Bay Automatic: Wash operation pre-set and procedures typically not a factor. Cleaning dependent on other four factors.
• Conveyor: Vacuum, prep, staging, final detailing, windows and laundry. The human factor in conveyor washing determines the quality of product provided based on the above stations that require human interaction.

When looking at the Five Factors of Cleaning, it is easy to see that they all add up to 100%, with each factor playing a role in the cleaning process. You can use this concept to aid in determining many things, from the ideal product selection to troubleshooting why a wash is not cleaning up to normal standards.

Facility Focus: Are You Making It Harder for People to Get In?

Is your current cashier system a barrier to entry and more revenue? Give your customers the ability to take advantage of current technology and its easy upgrades with PDQ's Access Wash Activation System.

Access was the first to offer dollar bill dispensing, and still offers the industry's most secure vault. Access continues to innovate and provide customers with simple solutions for the age-old question of "How do I generate more revenue at my carwash?" With Access, you can utilize these easy-to-implement features to boost your earnings:

Ad Screens (cross-marketing)

Sell advertising space to local businesses and create custom templates on the Access unit's full color LCD screen for your customers waiting in line.

PAP Codes

Interface your car wash to your gas pumps and sell car washes directly through your pumps with a POS interface. Increase revenue by using the wash to drive fuel sales with a discount on fuel when a wash is purchased or on the wash if fuel is purchased.

Buy Up

When a customer selects a lower-priced wash package, upsell that customer to a higher package with on-screen prompts outlining additional services and benefits. Increase profits by boosting your average wash price per vehicle.

Discount Codes

Create discount codes for special promotions and then use the Access reporting capabilities to track how many times that discount was redeemed. Increase revenue by driving traffic to your site with advertised discounts.

Time/Day Based Pricing

Create promotions built around slow times or days by offering discounts. These promos can be configured in the Access unit to automatically turn on and off at specified times and/or expire on a preprogrammed date. Increase revenue by attracting business with pre-programmed time specials.

Loyalty Program

With the optional Wash Access Loyalty System (WALS), maximize the revenue-generating capabilities of the Access. WALS provides operators the ability to run and manage each of the following types of programs to further increase traffic to your site:

• Loyalty
• Fleet
• Fundraiser
• Promotional Giveaways
• Subscription
• Gift Accounts

PDQ's Access entry station can be customized with distinctive decals, screen graphics and sign toppers to display your company's brand and image. Whether you have an idea that you want to see come to life, or you want our team to create one for you, we can help you promote your site with our experienced marketing team and our advanced marketing packages.

Get in touch with your Harrell's representative to find out more and move from yesterday to the future!