May 21, 2025

Spend time with any group of car wash operators, and it won’t be long before the conversation turns to membership numbers. After all, the size of a wash’s membership is often the most significant indicator of its success. 

But it’s not the only one.

While it’s important to build a strong membership, there is another group of customers that contributes significantly to your success: Proxy Members. As the name implies, these customers are not members, but they act a lot like them in terms of loyalty and frequency, washing one or more times per month for an extended period. Even though they may never become a member, their loyalty makes them a vital piece of your revenue picture.

Why Do Proxy Members Matter?

One fact that gets overlooked in the race for the largest membership pool is that retail traffic accounts for about 50% of the typical car wash’s revenue. If you are not driving retail sales and cultivating loyal proxy members, you are missing a crucial part of your financial ecosystem.

Additionally, having a strong contingent of loyal customers gives you a fertile pipeline of potential members. While some will never join a monthly plan, proxy members are more likely to convert than your average, one-off visitor.

This pipeline is critical in helping you avoid the “treadmill of doom.” This is where any new memberships you convert are likely replacing ones that are churning out. Typically, we see this happen when plan members make up more than 70% of your volume. Maintaining steady retail traffic prevents this unenviable situation.

Understanding the Proxy Member  

Proxy members are consistent and loyal. They aren’t “wash hopping,” looking for the best price. But they do care about the experience and will go elsewhere if you can’t meet their expectations. 

Don’t make them do that! Keep in mind these preferences and needs:

• They want to feel appreciated. 
• They don’t want irrelevant sales pitches.
• They crave convenience. 
• They prefer flexibility, which is why some are reluctant to get locked into a monthly plan.

How to Retain & Attract Proxy Members

With that in mind, there are some specific things you can employ to encourage these types of retail customers.

Loyalty Program

Apps with loyalty programs work for a variety of retail businesses, from coffee shops to clothing stores. And they can work for your car wash.

Employ a mobile app to provide a point-based loyalty program where customers can earn free washes and other products and services. This can be a big differentiator that can keep proxy members from looking elsewhere.

Targeted & Personalized Promotions

Consumers today have come to expect personalized experiences through technology, and proxy customers are no exception. With their frequency of visits, they expect you to know who they are and to serve up promotions that illustrate that familiarity.

Therefore, you need a three-pronged approach to ensure you’re delivering hyper-personalized messages that drive retail optimization:

• AI-LPR that recognizes all vehicles, not just members.
• A point-of-sale/wash management system that can gather and segment this information.
• Marketing automation that can access the POS data and deliver personalized promotions based on that information.       

Remember, some of these proxy members don’t want constant membership pitches, so try mixing in other enticing offers, like promoting your loyalty program or offering a free wash if they come back within a certain timeframe.

Pay-As-You-Go

Proxy members may not want to be locked into a monthly plan, but they sure would appreciate the convenience of a membership. Consider employing a pay-as-you-go service where they can store their payment, license plate number and preferred wash. When they arrive at the wash, AI-LPR will automatically recognize them, lift the gate, activate the proper wash in the tunnel and charge their card for the service. This creates a membership-like experience without the commitment, providing both the convenience and flexibility these customers crave.

Maximize Proxy Member Revenue

Beyond cultivating and retaining proxy members, you should also make sure you are getting the most out of this revenue stream. We’re not talking about unilaterally increasing prices across the board. We recommend sourcing a pricing analysis that considers economics, statistics, data science, machine learning and behavioral economics to develop a pricing structure that leads to higher ticket averages. We have found that, on average, optimizing pricing in this way can add $2 to $3 to ticket averages. 

Enhancing Your Customer Pool with Proxy Members

Proxy members are more than just frequent visitors. Their loyalty and consistent patronage make them a significant factor in your wash’s success. By understanding their preferences and needs, you can attract and retain more of these valuable customers to complement your thriving membership pool. Consider employing an integrated solution, such as Patheon+ to make attracting and retaining proxy members as easy and seamless as possible.