Although your car wash employees are critical for your business, they can also cost you money. This is because they can cause unnecessary downtimes. To help you avoid this, we are going to explore how these downtimes happen and how to prevent them.
How Much Is Extra Downtime Costing Me?
When car wash equipment fails or breaks, it is usually because of poor maintenance. Regular maintenance should occur when your car wash employees aren’t serving customers; instead, this period often becomes downtime.
Downtime also occurs when employees should be working with customers; this hurts your immediate income and reputation. In both cases, your car wash loses thousands of dollars — and that was only two examples.
For an assessment of exactly of how much your employee downtime is costing you, use this Downtime Cost Calculator by Vision Solutions.
How Can I Minimize Downtime?
Even after you have identified how much unnecessary downtime costs, you must do more than tell your employees to work harder to successfully affect change. Here is what to do:
1. Use morale boosting tactics
People are more likely to do something if they see a reward at the end of the tunnel. Rewards don’t always have to be monetary either. Oftentimes, public kudos are all your employees need.
2. Cut out tasks that no longer matter
Although employees could be creating downtime by doing nothing, you could also be forcing them into downtime with pointless tasks. You should sniff these out and eliminate them.
Jeff Haden provides a great example of how assigned tasks can become wasteful downtime in the following scenario:
“I once started a new job and had to spend two hours a day creating reports. After a week, I did a little networking and asked the recipients what I could do to improve the reports.”
“Each person answered with some version of ‘Don’t worry about it… I don’t even look at them.’ I stopped creating the reports, no one cared, and I looked like a superstar simply because I had more time to focus on other tasks.”
3. Ask your employees what you can do to reduce downtime
Sometimes employees find downtime when they don’t know what to do next. You’d be surprised at how much you can learn by asking them how you can reduce downtime.
4. Be a leader, not a taskmaster
Employees will actively create downtime when they feel like their boss is an aloof taskmaster. Show them that you’re a part of the team by working with them, instead of constantly ordering them around.
5. Your car wash employees should be big assets, not liabilities
Without your car wash employees, your business could not run at all. That being said, you need to make sure that you are getting the most out of your investment in them by finding ways to minimize their downtime.
Bonus Tip: Invest in Modern Car Wash Systems
Could outdated car wash systems be the cause of downtime and not your employees? It’s a possibility that you should consider. Older systems can slow down the car wash process, leading to a loss of customers.
If your systems need an upgrade, modern car wash systems are a smart investment in your business. This is where Macneil Wash Systems can help. With more than 30 years experience, we know what your car wash needs to be profitable. Learn more about our car wash systems or contact us for more information.