No Reason Not to Do It

20 degrees out and I'm getting gas at 6:40 AM before a business trip. I'm freezing as I gas up my car. I go through the motions at the pump and - as always - I trip over the car wash question. You know what I'm talking about - the mid-purchase 'Car Wash Yes/No' prompt.

Now in warmer weather, I like the option. It's nice to be asked. Give the car a quick wash. It's a fun impulse buy that makes you feel good about yourself. But when it's butt cold and you're trying to gas and get back in the car ASAP this prompt becomes the source of much aggravation. I'm by no means any kind of technical genius but it seems that it wouldn't be hard to throw in a quick customer-centric feature of a thermometer in each pump. Not rocket science, right? Then the thing only asks you if you want a car wash if it's 45 degrees or warmer.

There's two schools of thought on this. If you go by the numbers, there's no reason to have this. There's no direct contribution that it's making to the bottom line. It's an added expense. Thus there's no reason to do it. Or there's the other way to look at it. This is a great little customer centric feature that adds to your customer's experience. It's a nice little comfort that comes with doing business with you and, over time, adds to customer retention and brand loyalty. There's no reason not to do it. Which person are you ...?