"It's a Wonderful Day at Bubbles"

"It's a Wonderful Day at Bubbles"
Houston is home to the "Dom Perignon"of hand carwashing

By Sara Cooper

We've all seen it happen. A man and a woman are sitting in a carwash lobby waiting for their cars to be washed, rinsed and waxed. One of them strikes up a conversation--be it about the muted Rockets game on the overhead TV or the recent turn in the weather. Before long, the two are exchanging flirtatious glances, laughing and pulling out photos of their Labrador retrievers. Ding Ding Ding. Love Connection--or at least a hopeful exchange of e-mail addresses.

A local Houston news station recently rated Bubbles Car Wash one of the best places to meet single people. That being the case, it didn't seem at all odd when the carwash decided to host a singles mixer last year in collaboration with Single File magazine. Customers could come in after hours, between 6 and 8 p.m., for a free carwash, refreshments and the opportunity to mingle with other area singles. Last year, the carwash hosted two such events, one in May and the other in October. Each brought in between 30 and 40 people.

Rebecca Wheeler, marketing coordinator for Bubbles, says the event is likely to become a tradition at the wash. And why not look for love at a carwash?

"At least [the people you meet] care about their vehicles. That is one thing you do know about them," Wheeler says.

Some customers stay for the duration of the event while others come in to get their vehicles washed and leave. The Bubbles staff doesn't mind one way or another, as long as the customer leaves the wash satisfied. It's all part of the business philosophy that has made Bubbles one of the most innovative and upscale hand carwashes in the country. Owner Bill Lawrence and the rest of the Bubbles management team set out each day to do two things: reward loyal customers and under-promise and over-deliver.

There are four Bubbles Hand Car Washes in Houston and a fifth is under construction. The company also owns one soft-cloth carwash called United Car Wash. Each of the handwash tunnels is brightly lit and includes a conveyor (130 to 160 feet long and 28 to 30 feet wide), aluminum spray arches and dryers. Employees line the tunnel, using lamb's wool mitts to scrub each vehicle.

Services range from a basic handwash, consisting of interior vacuuming, glass cleaning and detailed hand drying, to a complete detail. Most items are offered a la carte, allowing customers to construct their own wash packages. Options include rainbow wax conditioner, wheel magic treatment, rust shield, tire dressing, exterior dressing, interior dressing, saddle soap and leather cleaning, and air freshener.

So how is the hand wash faring in today's fast-paced machine-dominated carwash market? Lawrence says it is meeting the needs of a unique customer base.

"I don't think it will ever become the predominant portion of the market," he says. "I feel it appeals to a certain type of customer. It is really about somebody who has a special relationship with their vehicle."

Donning the mitts

The first Bubbles carwash, built in 1990, was the result of a year and a half of planning. Lawrence visited a number of full-serve locations, attended carwash conventions and began putting together a business plan. He wanted to find a way to make the luxury carwash appeal to people who typically avoided carwashes because of damage concerns. He found his answer in the hand-carwash concept. At the time, few, if any, operators in the United States were building hand carwashes from the ground up. A few existing sites were being renovated to include hand carwashing, but for the most part, the company was moving into uncharted territories.

Lawrence also faced another challenge. His number-one competitor owned the market in his area with a full-service exterior wash for $3.95. Lawrence planned to introduce a handwash for $12.95. He had to find a way to differentiate Bubbles as a place worth visiting.

"[The competitor] had done a great job building a relationship with the customer based on price point. For us to come in and charge three times as much, we had to compete in a different paradigm," he says.

This was the beginning of the carwash chain that would become the Neiman Marcus of the Houston carwash scene. The end result was a huge success. Before the other locations were opened, customers would often drive 30 miles to have their cars washed at Bubbles.

"It wasn't just the handwash," Lawrence says. "It was all of the other things, the personalized touches that seemed to go part and parcel with what we were trying to do."

Today, Bubbles customers find the same perks as they would have years ago at that original location. Those paying a visit to the wash in the early hours will find a Wall Street Journal setting on their front seats when they reclaim their cars. All detail customers receive a bottle of "Bubbles" champagne. Lobbies include complimentary telephones, fax machines, Internet access, a cappuccino and espresso bar and shoe-shine service. The 20-to-30-minute handwash comes with a 100-percent guarantee.

Bubbles offers no coupons. Lawrence would rather use the extra profit margin to reward loyal customers with nicer facilities.

Lawrence says the most significant benefits of operating a hand carwash as opposed to a full-serve exterior wash are the price you can demand and the fact that you can develop a relationship with the customer based on service.

"I think the difference is in the customer's perception, and the value lies in the operator's ability to maximize that perceived value," he adds.

While many of Bubbles' customers come from high-income areas, Lawrence says there is no one type of customer.

"Someone who drives a Ford Focus can be just as crazy about his car as somebody who drives a BMW," he says.

Of course, every carwash method has its drawbacks. With hand carwashing, there will always be a greater level of inconsistency than at an automated wash, Lawrence says. Every car that comes through the facility is going to get a slightly different wash. It is sometimes necessary to invest more in labor in order to deliver a consistent level of customer service. There are also higher expectations on the part of the consumer. Lawrence says many people think the only difference in labor requirements between a full-serve automated wash and a handwash is two or three guys in the tunnel. This fails to account for the superior cleaning a customer expects from a hand carwash. Staff may require extra training to meet this expectation.

Claytonomics

Clayton Clark, vice president of Bubbles, started as a part-time service advisor. Years later, he became the founder of an innovative sales tactic that has changed the way Bubbles does business. The system is called Claytonomics and is based on the idea that less is more. In other words, it is not necessarily in a carwash's best interest to exceed the expected sales on a lower- or middle-priced wash package.

Whereas a lot of carwash owners would be pleased to sell one-third of their customers a $30 wash package, Bubbles only wants to sell that package to 25 to 28 percent of them.

"If that many people are buying that package, it is too easy. We really need to be taking about eight percent of those and stepping them up to the $39.95 express wax," Lawrence says.

This means training service advisors to make customers aware of the advantages of purchasing the higher-priced wash package. Since Claytonomics was implemented last spring, the carwash has been bringing in an average of $2.50 more per vehicle.

Training at Bubbles means a lot more than just shadowing a fellow employee for a few days. Before an employee ever sets foot on the sales island, he goes through about a week of classroom training. Here he will participate in role-playing activities and learn how to address a variety of customer questions and objections.

Everyone wants his vehicle to be examined by an expert, Lawrence says. Employees should exude an air of confidence so customers will take their recommendations seriously.

After the employees have completed the initial training phase, they move out to the sales islands and are given manageable sales goals. Rather than telling employees they must sell the Bubbles Ultimate Package to 33 percent of customers, managers tell them to aim to sell one every 10 minutes.

Finally, all service advisors attend weekly classes, conducted by Clark, on bettering sales performance and overall customer service. All employees are cross-trained to perform duties ranging from cashier to service advisor.

Exposure

Six years ago, Bubbles Car Wash launched www.bubblescarwash.com. At this time, carwash Web sites were a rarity, and offering options such as scheduling a detailing appointment or filling out customer-service surveys online were basically unheard of. The site was revamped in January to include playful animation and a more-thorough portrayal of the carwash's offerings. Visitors will also find detailed area maps for all six locations, job opportunities and applications and an online store for purchasing gift cards and club memberships. Lawrence hopes to make some of the carwash's more-popular lobby items available online in the near future. As of January, the revised site had received about 2,800 hits.

"You still have to wash your car in the real world. But I think what we have embraced is the ability to allow the technology to make things easier for our associates and our customers," Lawrence says.

The carwash has collected 12,000 e-mail addresses from customers and sends out information on carwash events and promotions regularly.

The carwash continues to grow in all areas. Lawrence and his team are always looking for new ways to get involved in the community, from hosting haunted carwashes around Halloween to raising funds for churches and schools.

On top of the site that is currently under construction, Lawrence has plans for two more Houston carwashes. He then plans to start expanding into other areas.

"We would really like to eventually get the company to a financial size where it would really make sense to allow the associates to become involved as owners of the company," he says.

For now, the Bubbles team continues to do what it does best: exceed expectations. This is reflected in everything from the pristine vehicles exiting the site to the friendly phone greeting uttered by all employees: "It is a wonderful day at Bubbles. How may I help you?"