Working at the Car Wash Blues

Let’s face it: washing cars is not glamorous. I get that. I doubt any parent has ever said: I hope you turn out to be a doctor, an engineer, or maybe even a professional detailer! College kids aren’t listing their local car wash as a career aspiration; we don’t get the same resumes as Google or Apple (although maybe BP now); and we never make anybodies annual list of Best Jobs. It is what it is.

But what’s unfortunate, I think, is how this translates into a perception of the type of person that actually works at a car wash. It isn’t a good one. There is a stigma attached to car wash employees (and car washes in general). All you have to do is go to Yelp or Yahoo and read reviews of car washes; the negative comments follow these businesses like toilet paper stuck to their heel (except for Metro, of course). Or cast your memory back to Jim Croce’s song “Workin at the Car Wash Blues;” that one did wonders for the industry—funny, but a lot of truth there too.

Working at a car wash is a tough, labor intensive job and the pay isn’t great. The people who work at a car wash are rarely there by choice. They're there because it's a paycheck. And for the most part, it’s an industry that will overlook a lot of past baggage. In other words, it is often times a last resort.

But at our Saturday morning meeting this past week, as I was looking around at the rather engaged faces of my employees, I realized just how sad it was that our customers couldn't see this side of Metro Car Wash. I have a feeling they'd be stunned.

First, you need to know that we have meetings every Saturday morning at 6 AM. The meetings rotate between our two locations. It's mandatory only for the Location Manager and our General Manager (and me), but it’s open to any employee that wants to come (again, at 6 AM on a Saturday morning). The point of the meetings is to step away from the details of our jobs and focus on the bigger picture—what we’re doing to stay ahead of the competition, what we’re doing to create a positive work environment, what we’re doing to make ourselves better. We discuss marketing concepts, secret shopper evaluations, books, and business theories. We have homework assignments. We set up company and personal goals (that we actually go back and measure). And we review financials; we teach and learn the details of a Balance Sheet and an Income Statement.

Granted, it may not sound as exciting as a Lady Gaga concert. But here’s the interesting thing: we now have about 15 employees showing up to these meetings (a lot of them on their days off). And they’re there with note pads and questions and fresh ideas. The meetings last one hour. No one ever falls asleep. And usually, we’re cutting off a good discussion in order to get set up for the day.

It’s probably not what you would expect … from car wash employees.

Yes, there are people in these meetings with baggage. There are people with tattoos; people still learning English; people that are recovering alcoholics; people who have been in trouble with the law. There are some sad stories, for sure. But more importantly, there are some great stories. When you look around at our meetings, you see individuals who are just beginning to realize that they have something valuable to offer. You see confidence begin to grow as others listen to their ideas. You see attitudes improve as they realize that they are part of a business culture that believes they matter.

Look, I’m not saying that Metro Meetings are changing the world or the source of Dali Lama-like inspiration (they are not). But they do prove to me just how wrong stereotypes can be. We’re all guilty of ascribing to preconceived notions of what someone is like (based on their gender, or their careers, or the color of the skin). It’s a difficult thing not to do. But it also makes us miss meeting some great people (or maybe finding inspiration in an unlikely place).

So the old adage still rings true: Don’t judge a book by its cover. And the next time you’re at a car wash, shake an employee’s hand. You might be surprised to find out you just read the same great book on marketing.

Stay clean my friends.

DJ Drip Dry