K.I.S.S.
I love smart ideas. I love smart business ideas even more. I get turned on by clever twists in business models, innovative approaches to management and fancy ways to turn a profit. That said, today I was blown away by a business that has taken arguably the simplest idea and found ways to deliver it brilliantly, making it one of my new favourite destinations.
Let me preface an introduction to it first by that I can’t remember the last time I washed my own car. I feel guilty about that fact because of my upbringing – my dad is one of those men’s men who believes that a man washes his car and is proud of doing so. He’ll get up at 7 on a Saturday and wash his car until it’s spotless. And I appreciate that – he is valuing the possessions he has worked very hard to obtain. I’m different. I could care less for washing my car. I like a clean car and feel good when it is so, but would far rather pay someone to do it for me. I use ‘job creation’ as an excuse…
You might have guessed that the business I am talking about is a humble car wash. Situated on South Rd by the Shell garage (near the Rivers church complex), Morning View car wash is a simple company with a winning formula. It’s not one of those machine washers, it’s a human-only, pressure-washer-powered experience followed by intensive drying and interior cleaning that leaves your car – forgive the cliche but it’s true – good as new.
The owners of the car wash know full well it’s not the easiest business to differentiate from competitors. We have our cars washed largely based on location and convenience. I don’t know many people who are loyal to a car wash! So in order to create loyalty and a repeat customer base they’ve come up with simple ideas that make the experience painless and professional. These were some of my observations:
1. Happy staff. It’s not rocket science… Happy staff mean great service. The supervisors don’t sit back barking orders to their underlings – they get involved, give advice, participate, clean the cars themselves. The most senior people are willing to do the crappiest jobs. It means their staff are interested and motivated. Perhaps they have a scheme in place that rewards staff based on the amount of vehicles they process, I’m not sure, but whatever they’re doing works. The staff I met were professional, smart and friendly. I went upstairs for lunch at Europa and the staff there could learn a lesson from the car washers in the basement…
2. It’s freakishly clean. Car washes are supposed to be littered with manky rags, cranky old vacuums, rubbish from cars, etc. But the whole area is kept clean and tidy, probably by the staff who actually care about where they work.
3. Above and beyond. I paid R 130 – R 70 for wash, dry, interior and tyre polish and R 60 for a leather treatment. Then after the clean, which was great, I asked one of the supervisors to look at an oily stain on the door panel leather, which he then proceeded to fix for me, no extra charge. Before I climbed back in my car someone had put a little carpet outside it to prevent me treading soapy water into the car. How’s that!? Just excellent service all round. Customers don’t remember businesses who do what they expect, they remember those that exceed their expectations.
The parking area underground was packed with at least 30 freshly washed cars, with many lined up to get washed outside. The valet area (R 400 whole day clean on every part of the car) was packed too. It’s simple – do great work and business will come, regardless of how ‘ordinary’ your occupation is.
