Winter can be a challenging time for car washes, with cold temperatures, snow, and ice all posing potential problems.
However, the experts at Reliable Plus are here for some simple steps to prepare your car wash for the winter season. Read on to find out how we can help to ensure that your business runs smoothly and efficiently all year long.
Key benefits of preparing your wash for winter:
There are a few key benefits to taking the time and extra effort to prepare your wash for winter.
Protect your equipment: Your wash’s equipment is expensive and can be easily damaged by freezing temperatures. Taking steps to insulate and protect your equipment, you can help prolong its lifespan and save money on repairs!
Reduce downtime: If your equipment freezes, you’ll need to shut down your business until it thaws out. This leads to lost revenue and inconvenience for your customers. Taking steps to prevent this helps keep your wash running, and profitable all winter long.
Improve customer satisfaction: A benefit that may not be immediately apparent. Customers appreciate it when they can rely on their wash to be open and operating, even in winter. By taking steps to prepare your business for winter demand, you can ensure your customers have a positive experience and keep coming back.
Now it’s time to go over what our Reliable Plus expert technicians recommend to ensure your wash is ready for both winter conditions and winter demands. While all of these may not apply to you, depending on how harsh winter is – implementing at least a few will go a long way.
Insulate your equipment: This includes your pipes, hoses, pumps and other water-bearing equipment. Use insulation wraps, foam pipe covers or other materials to help protect your equipment from the cold!
Drain your water lines: if possible, drain the water from your water lines at the end of each day. This will help prevent the water from freezing overnight, causing damage to your pipes and other equipment.
Add antifreeze to your water system: Especially important in a cold climate, antifreeze will help lower the freezing point of the water in your lines. Take this step if you can’t commit to draining your water lines each night!
Check your heating system: Make sure that your heating system is working properly and that it can keep your wash warm enough to prevent freezing.
Inspect your roof and gutters: They may not make up the internal workings of your wash, but they’re the some of the most important things to check, especially to see that they can handle the weight of any snow and ice.
Check your doors: before winter is in full swing, it’s a good time to check on your automatic doors to make sure they are working properly. Reliable Plus installs the best Airlift Doors on the market, that will keep you up and running.
Stock up on winter supplies: From wash supplies to basic things like shovels, salt and sand – you should have a good stockpile of these staples.
How you can profit this winter:
Winter wash demand could be good for you, but they’re also good for your competition! Make sure you set your wash apart with a few different tips and tricks from the Reliable Plus experts:
Offer winter specials: This could include things like discounts on washes, free undercarriage washes (especially important for road salt removal), or special winter loyalty programs!
Promote your winter services: Let your customers know you offer a variety of services that can help them protect their cars from winter weather, things like undercarriage washes, protectants and sealants are especially useful.
Make it easy: Consider things like extended hours, keeping your parking lot clear of snow and ice, or a heated waiting area for more customer service points.
Market to businesses: Many businesses have fleets operating 24/7. Consider offering special rates to businesses or partnering with a local one so you can bring in some extra customers.
Let Reliable Plus Help
By following these tips, you can help to ensure your car wash is well-prepared for the winter season and you’re able to profit during the cold weather!
In fact, we recommend you plan ahead with planned maintenance! This is an easy way to ensure your wash runs well all year long. With one of our planned maintenance packages, you’ll have a competitive edge, because the experts at Reliable Plus will handle the things we talked about in this blog and more! Reach out to Reliable Plus today so we can help prevent unexpected breakdowns and set you up for success this winter!
