Cutting-edge technology and creating a great customer experience are the forces that drive Kevin Detrick and Sparkle Car Wash, which operates two car washes in Eastern Pennsylvania — a flex-serve site in Stroudsburg and a new express tunnel in Easton.

“Applying the latest technology enables us to deliver the repeatable wash quality that all customers have come to expect, but it also plays a big part in our ability to provide our customers with a very positive experience,” Detrick said.

At the age of 17, Detrick purchased an abandoned car wash and through the years has experimented with several business models, including self-service, express exterior, flex-service and full-service.

Then, while dealing with a common industry cash control issue a few years after opening Sparkle, he developed his own solution to integrate the tunnel controller with a point-of-sale system. Ultimately, that marked the birth of Innovative Control Systems.

Whether it’s washing cars, or developing equipment for the car wash industry, delivering an amazing customer experience is Detrick’s main goal. “Creating a positive customer experience at the wash involves a number of critical factors,” he said. For Detrick, as key factors he lists speed of service, choice and convenience, along with what the customer sees, smells and hears as they go through the car wash.

Studies show that repeat customers are more likely to spend more with your business. Not surprisingly, the more they come back, the more often they are to continue to come back. That’s why Detrick stays focused on the experience.

“With the amazing technology available today, providing an exceptionally clean car is a basic requirement for any successful car wash operation,” he said. “Consumers have a lot of choices these days and we believe they will make a repeat purchase decision, whether consciously or subconsciously, based on the wash quality that we provide and the way the car wash experience makes them feel. That is why we focus on creating a positive customer experience with wash quality being a component of that experience.”

This approach to elevating the customer experience is based, in part, on automating the wash process.

“We have deployed a cutting-edge technology known as Washnetics,” Detrick said. Washnetics is, at its core, based on autonetics (the science of the use and development of automated devices used for control and guidance).

Autonetics was ultimately developed by Boeing and Rockwell Automation and laid the groundwork for some of our country’s most important military and aerospace accomplishments.

For Detrick and Sparkle Car Wash, Washnetics is helping customize the wash experience for each car. Cars are scanned for size and shape in real time using ultrasonics to create a detailed 3-D image of the car.

“We then use that 3-D image to target the chemistry, water pressure, and the wrap material to the exact size and shape of the car to deliver a wash process that is customized to each car, using only 12 to 14 gallons of water,” Detrick said.

But, while the automated wash experience is great for getting the vehicle clean, Sparkle Car Wash’s success comes from more than that.

“We believe that you must have a certain level of personal engagement with each customer to make certain that they are raving fans,” Detrick said.

And for him, that means a focus on hiring and training employees so they are not only ready and willing, but excited to go out of their way to create a positive experience to ensure that the customer’s next car wash will be at Sparkle Car Wash.