Dear Champ-

At one of my washes I’m trying to get customers to go up a level in their package purchase. I’m wondering if you have any ideas? I’ve tried couponing to get people used to using the wash and see the benefit in the higher wash package, but the numbers aren’t coming up the way I’d hoped.

-Tomas

Tomas-

Coupons can be great. According to Advertising Age, some 87 percent of consumers will use coupons.

They’re great for generating first time customers, great for getting people to come back after a hiatus, or if you want to coupon yourself to death, you can coupon constantly to keep customers coming through the door. Obviously you need to make sure the math ads up in that case.

But, it can get a little trickier when you’re trying to accomplish a specific goal like pushing a specific wash package. The coupon offer becomes crucial at that point. Simply offering a discount off the wash package you hope customers will use won’t be the magic solution you hope for.

You could try playing to the psychology of pricing, but that’s an entirely different matter.

So, while coupons certainly serve a purpose, I’d recommend trying something else: something simpler. Take the apple for example—not the California technology behemoth, the fruit.

Three years ago, many of the apples being served as part of the National School Lunch Program were ending up in the trash, virtually untouched. Largely thought to be because children simply didn’t want the fruit. But, one simple change made all the difference: serve the apples sliced, rather than whole.

That simple adjustment resulted in a 60 percent increase in consumption. So, what simple change can you make to increase use of your higher wash package?

Perhaps it’s as simple as making it the first menu option in your payment system. By making it easy for your customers to select the wash you want them to use, you eliminate one barrier for them on their path to becoming consistent customers of your higher wash package.

The smallest changes can make the biggest difference.