December 15, 2023 • 33 mins
In our latest episode of the Modern Car Wash Podcast co-hosts Kevin Zalaznik and Shane Groff are joined by Zac Myers, a seasoned sales and support representative from Hoffman innovateIT Car Wash Equipment.
A true car wash journeyman, Zac has seen it all. After starting at the ground level at Hoffman Car Wash, Zac climbed the ladder to a management role before moving into his current sales and support role with Hoffman innovateIT.
Zac delves into how his hands-on experience has been crucial in understanding customer needs, the challenges operators face, and troubleshooting equipment in real-time.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Kevin Zalaznik (00:10):
Welcome back everyone to the modern car wash
podcast.
I am joined once again, my cohost Shane Groff.
Shane, how are you doing?
Good.
Good.
All right.
And our special guest is fellowinnovate it person innovator.
I don't know.
Zach Myers.
How are you?
I'll do well, Kevin.
Thanks for having me.
Zach.
Um, let's get some background oninfo on you.
(00:33):
First off, I guess, what's yourrole at InnovateIT?
You got the, you got the swagon.
So,
Zac Myers (00:37):
yep, I got the fancy InnovateIT shirt now.
So we're in the team.
Kevin Zalaznik (00:41):
Yeah.
What, uh, what exactly do you dofor InnovateIT?
Zac Myers (00:44):
So I, uh, I'm in a sales and support role.
So I do outside sales, insidesales, parts orders.
And then I also do support forour customers if they're having
any trouble with our equipmentor starting up.
So
Kevin Zalaznik (00:56):
Innov8d is certainly a growing company.
If you, um, if you're watchingthis online behind us probably
20 feet is the Innov8d space,the warehouse, um, uh, and how
many employees?
We're rated about 36 total.
36.
So of those, there's probablyvery few that are actually
(01:20):
Facing other than you and youand probably Stefan and a few of
the other people, but you, youhave somewhat become a face of
innovating.
Zac Myers (01:31):
Maybe we're so voiced now.
Yeah.
A lot of phone work.
Yeah.
But yeah, I guess we're at allthe trade shows out with
customers.
Yeah.
One of the
Kevin Zalaznik (01:38):
faces.
Yeah.
So your background, your historythough, is, uh, you started with
Hoffman carwash.
Um, so it's not like you're,you're just like, New to the car
wash industry.
This has been a long time comingfor you.
Zac Myers (01:54):
Yes, I've worked for Hoffman Car Wash for the last 17
years.
Uh, I started in 2006 at ourEast Greenbush location as a
line attendant.
Uh, it's actually funny, mybuddy was working at East
Greenbush and he was leaving andI didn't have a job at the time.
So he asked Jared, who's still amanager there, he's like, Hey,
you should hire my buddy Zach.
(02:14):
And then I filled out anapplication and I went and I
started working for Jared.
Um, and then, you know, I cutit.
Didn't expect it to be mycareer.
And here I am 17 years later,I've done all kinds of different
roles with the company.
I worked my way from lineattendant there to supervisor
there.
Um, I did that for a year or twoand then I was like, I'm gonna
(02:38):
try something different.
And I went over to our landscapedepartment.
Yeah.
Um, at that time it was anoutside business.
It was like, kind of like thefirst outside business that
Hoffman did.
Meaning
Kevin Zalaznik (02:50):
outside business, like, uh, other, uh,
businesses would hire.
More
Zac Myers (02:56):
residential than business and some businesses.
So like we would first, like allspring was taking care of all
the car washes, getting theflowers planted, uh, grass,
ground repair, all that stuff.
And then after that we would goand just like a normal landscape
company would go work in.
I primarily did hardscapebecause I'm a bigger guy.
Lift the stencil.
(03:17):
Yeah.
Yeah.
I'll just, uh.
Yeah.
The bowl in the china shop.
That's what Scott Kelly saw.
Because I just, I wasn't fragileenough for the flowers.
Yeah.
I would just grab the big stonesand throw them around.
Kevin Zalaznik (03:28):
So Scott Kelly is the, uh, he runs our
landscaping team for Hoffman CarWash.
And, uh, what's interesting isthe amount of time and effort
that we put into the landscape.
And I'm curious, um, and I thinkwe've probably touched on it on
the podcast as far as, uh, youknow, I, I remember one episode
talking about branding thingsand that's part of the Hoffman
(03:50):
Carlos brand is, uh, thelandscaping, but I'm curious
for, for you and actuallyworking in that is, was that
something maybe you didn'tnecessarily have an appreciation
for until you like got out thereand, And so what a difference
that great landscaping couldmake.
Zac Myers (04:06):
Yeah.
I mean, it's a lot of hard workthat goes into it.
I mean, flower week, I mean,back there was a week now with
all the locations, it's probablya month, but it was like all
hands on deck for 50, 60 hours.
You were just go, go, go likefive, six locations a day trying
to get all the flowers in theground.
And not only that, it's like,then you go back to the
greenhouse and then gettingready for next year.
(04:29):
So it's just like, it's a yearround processing landscape odds.
Fun in the summer, but it's it'sa it's a year round process.
How's your house look?
Landscaping.
Uh, it's good.
It's good.
Kevin Zalaznik (04:41):
Shane, what about you?
How's your green thumb?
Well, you live in Vermont, whichis the green mountain state.
So I hope it's sun green there,huh?
Yeah.
Up,
Shane Groff (04:54):
up in the canopy of the trees.
Our horses take care of most of
Kevin Zalaznik (04:59):
our grass.
I was laughing today because wehad some snow, uh, in this area,
and when we bought our house, Itold my wife that, listen, I'll
do the landscape, but I want nodecision making.
Like, it's just not, um, like,tell me where to dig and I'll
dig.
I don't want to maintain it orwhatever.
(05:19):
So she had bought three peonies,uh, that were supposed to go in
the ground.
A couple of months ago, whichare still at a pot in our
driveway.
So I'm sitting there in themorning of our bedroom.
You can overlook the driveway.
And I'm looking down at thesethree peonies pots and I'm like,
well, she told me to do it, butshe didn't tell me where to
place it.
So I'm like, am I going to getblamed for this?
(05:41):
Or so the jury's still out onthat one.
Yeah.
I'm going to do it for you.
Watches this podcast.
Yeah.
Yeah.
She was, she listensreligiously.
Let me tell you.
Um, so landscape, then you moveon.
Now you, you eventually become astore manager.
Um, and you were, uh, Amsterdam,Amsterdam is one of our
(06:05):
locations, uh, Amsterdam, NewYork, but you had an opportunity
to become the manager of a brandnew facility, uh, which we
opened December, 2020.
So we're coming out of COVID.
It's funny because the other dayI was looking at it.
When we open a store, we havethese giant flags that say,
like, now open.
(06:26):
Imagine, like, a pizzeria on theside of the road, right?
And I have a photo of yourunning through, like, the yard
of the car wash, holding thisthing, ready to go.
Uh, how is the, how is it justopening, and this is probably
something that our audience canrelate to, is opening a store.
Being a manager and opening anew store.
Uh.
You have this nice, shiny newtoy, but I'm sure there's a lot
(06:49):
of pressure that goes into it.
Zac Myers (06:50):
Yeah, there definitely is.
Um, and luckily, Route 7 was mysecond go around because I
opened Amsterdam.
Oh, you do?
Okay.
Yeah, um, Amsterdam I think wasactually easier and it was my
first time.
Um, that market was so starvedfor a car wash that it was like,
I mean, we were profitable thefirst month there.
That was like a huge success.
Much simpler building.
Yeah, much simpler, you know,didn't have all the expenses
(07:13):
that there are now.
Um, it was also 10 years ago.
So those were a little cheaper.
But yeah, Route 7 was verychallenging because we were
coming out of COVID.
There was this huge building.
It was a hundred and seventyfeet in there.
Yeah.
I mean the back room you coulddrive a Buick through.
Um, and all the latestequipment.
(07:34):
I think it was like innovated.
It's like first Like the secondgeneration of our products, like
really being showcased.
Um, and it was just a hugechallenge.
Just, you know, you haveeverybody at your store, you
have it's there, yourmarketing's there.
Um, our service guys are justfinishing up their, you know,
making sure everything's workingand like, you're just trying to
(07:55):
wash cars and do everything, butyou have all these people
around, like, so it's just superchallenging, but you know, we,
we pulled it off.
It's.
It's really in the groundworkwith getting your team ready
beforehand.
Um, most luckily that, um, wehad several people come over,
uh, like my assistant managerand a couple of my team leaders
(08:15):
already worked in the cartwash.
I didn't have any brand new teamleaders, so they already kind of
knew the paces, but it was kindof like we had to iron out like
different managers havedifferent styles.
So they've been working forother people and what they did
compared to what my expectationwas is getting everyone on the
same page.
I am.
Um, so that was verychallenging.
(08:35):
Uh, it didn't start off as fastas everybody had hoped.
Yeah.
Um, and it was like, we hadanother Hoffman car wash right
down the road.
So it was tough because we weredoing cars, but we were washing
like the other stores unlimited.
Yeah, it's actually, I thinkit's healthy reshaped how they
distribute the unlimited.
Kevin Zalaznik (08:55):
It's the, uh, for some context for, so, uh,
let's go back to, um, Amsterdam,which was the original store
that you opened that store whenit opened.
And when you look at it is avery, I don't want to call it a
box, but it's, you know, it'sfour walls and a pitched roof
and there's a clock tower andthat's it, and probably got
(09:18):
built in half the time thatroute seven, which is.
Uh, our Route 7 location has ournew building design.
It's a signature look for us.
It's, um, you know, differentpitches, different areas of the
roof.
There's bump outs and Route 7was designed to be a much larger
car wash too.
You talked about you could drivea Buick in the back room.
(09:39):
Arguably the biggest back roomin the country, right?
I met you back in 2013.
You get stationed out there inAmsterdam before the store was
really even open.
I mean, we were just puttingequipment in and you were
Shane Groff (09:53):
there every day.
You know, how does an experiencelike that really play into
Kevin Zalaznik (09:58):
what you're doing today?
It's on a road that is very,it's a commuter road.
Um, and, uh, the people thatwork around there, we're working
from home.
It just, it was like, uh, uh,and now it's starting to gain
momentum and we're building theprogram there.
But, uh, uh, I remember the.
(10:21):
Like the, the day after weopened the business right next
to us put up like a brand new,like brand sign that completely
blocked our, our side.
And that's a fast road too.
So it was like all these thingsthat kind of like culminated
into the, yeah, yeah.
But it's a beautiful store.
Yeah.
So what, um, so you were therefor a year
Zac Myers (10:41):
and a half, two years.
So 2020, I came to Innovated inJuly of 2022.
So a little over two years, um,So by transitioning to Innovate,
I was kind of, I was storemanager for almost a decade.
I was kind of, we had all thisgrowth going on, but they're,
the corporate positions werekind of filled.
Oh, there isn't gonna be adistrict manager any time soon.
(11:02):
Um, so and I've always like, Iwanted to do more.
I kind of felt like I wasgetting a little stagnant as a
store manager.
Um, so I was always looking fora new opportunity, something
else, a new challenge.
Um, and then the Innovate itrole came along.
Um, I originally just started.
I was like, my original titlewas customer success specialist.
(11:23):
So I came over to basicallyhandle any support calls that
came in.
Um, and then that kind of slowlydeveloped into, okay, now you're
going to do parts orders and nowyou're going to do.
A little bit of sales, you know,it's just kind of evolving,
evolving, pretty soon to speak,you know, it certainly seems
Shane Groff (11:41):
like when we
Kevin Zalaznik (11:41):
get out and we're touring other people's
facilities or the trade showsthat you mentioned, that, uh,
that
Shane Groff (11:48):
experience has really played a huge role in you
developing some of these newrelationships that you have.
Um, you work with every day,whether through sales or
Kevin Zalaznik (11:58):
support,
Zac Myers (12:07):
uh, it's really, I think it's awesome for store
managers to go on site and helpwith like standing up the
equipment and the last finishingtouches of the building before
you open, cause you know, itlike the back of your hand.
If you have a problem, Oh, Iremember when we were building,
I can go back.
This is where this junction boxis for that.
(12:27):
Um, and it really helps me todayis like, I've stood up equipment
and I've.
I just like, I've always takenlike a curious, like curious in
nature.
So I always wanted to know likewhat this equipment is and what
it does.
So being there early and likeseeing the install and knowing,
like getting to know how theequipment works.
It helps you when you have aproblem with that equipment.
(12:50):
So I mean, when we're puttingthis together, this bracket went
here, this bearing was likethis.
Um, so I really think it's totoday.
It's still, I've been in thatperson's shoe.
I know like.
When you're about to open astore and you're missing a part
or you have trouble withsomething, you know, being able
to talk to somebody who's goingto take action quickly, knowing
(13:10):
that, you know, you havedeadlines to meet and there's a
lot of pressure on you.
Kevin Zalaznik (13:14):
I think that's key is what you said is you've
been in their shoes wheresomething goes down or you need
a part or whatever it is.
You know what it's like, andyou're going to act fast and
take care of it.
It
Zac Myers (13:25):
helps me daily is just being in that customer's
shoes.
They call me.
And something is down and theycan't wash cars or, and they got
a line full of customers, linefull of customers yelling at
you, get trying to get back openand you're on the phone with
somebody.
So I've, I've definitely beenthere and I know that, you know,
you got to take a swift approachand take action and get them
back up and go, hold that.
(14:07):
Yeah, it definitely helps.
Like I worked, you know, everyday with our equipment in a
wash, so I know how it'ssupposed to work.
And I know the benefits.
Like, oh, this is really awesomebecause it does this.
Or, you know, I would havechanged when I came over and
said, Hey, we should probablychange, you know, a little
something here and there.
To make it more user friendlywhen you're at the store.
Um, so just having thatknowledge, like, and the
(14:30):
confidence of like, I believedin our products before I even
came over and it's just givesyou that confidence to go out
there and say, like, I'm notjust selling you this to cause
cause I want you to sell it.
I want to make more commissionor anything like that.
I'm selling you this because Iactually believe in it.
And I think it's a solution to,to your problem.
Kevin Zalaznik (14:48):
You look at, um, the pre innovated package that
you had at the Revege.
Shane Groff (14:53):
Because when I started, when we ran a credit
Kevin Zalaznik (14:55):
card, we placed it on the stand, put the paper
in it, and changed the cardback.
You didn't know if it was goingto clear or not at the end
Zac Myers (15:03):
of the day.
I think the dispenser wasprobably the one that really did
it.
With being able to isolate eachvalve, um, you know, before you
had to shut down your wholething just to work on.
Just to work on one product, youcan make changes on the fly that
really, really helped a lot.
If you had an issue, you know,you could solve it without
(15:24):
shutting
Kevin Zalaznik (15:24):
down your operation.
I can imagine that, uh, just theoverall, the technology or the
precision, uh, had to change.
Oh,
Zac Myers (15:33):
vastly.
I mean, from starting at Route7, where, or at Amsterdam, when
we first opened there, there wasno kiosk.
Yes, we were.
Brushing the back of every car,spraying every car, even putting
wiper bags on the back of everycar.
It took like five people, justin that five people and two
(15:53):
greeters to do a hundred cars anhour.
And now like, then you get toroute seven you have tellers, no
prep, no more brushing, all ofthat.
And now it's like, if everybodycalls out today I could still do
more than this.
Kevin Zalaznik (16:07):
Yeah.
Uh, when you look at, I guess.
Along those same lines, you'vebeen in the industry for over a
decade.
Um, what has been the biggestchange?
Do
Zac Myers (16:20):
you think?
Uh, it's going to be thetechnology and automation.
Um, just, I mean, I guess I saidbefore, like it was like the
wild, wild west back then, likeon a busy day, your greeter had
on a belt, a bar of soap and ahandful of cash is out there.
I remember when I started inyour scrimmage, if we had two
credit cards in a row on a busyday.
(16:41):
It would like take forever toprocess the second one and you
had to manually and then we goto tablets there Now we have
kiosks and then we were sprayingcars.
Now, we're not spraying cars andit's like You got two people but
it's easy.
You're not killing yourself.
Your feet are still dry.
Shane Groff (16:57):
I remember I Think it would it's still 2013 but
Zach opened that store you Youcould see like from here to Jax
Pro that that is like how farthere was a We have those
service tools for the
Kevin Zalaznik (17:12):
statewatches for the automatic operations So for
those uh, on the audio sideprobably a thousand, yeah a
thousand feet you have the
Shane Groff (17:18):
actual manual sweeper you know they had the
standard canister
Kevin Zalaznik (17:21):
vacs out there you just go hey and Zach's store
was our first call center withfree vacs your original store
that you started with It wasafter they
Shane Groff (17:29):
opened, because I remember it was warm outside, it
was
Kevin Zalaznik (17:32):
summertime, and we opened it, uh, and it was
brutally cold.
Last like two weeks ago or amonth ago, whatever it was, I
remember whoever I was with andit's interesting because he
exactly store probably has allthose
Shane Groff (17:45):
automatic customers
Kevin Zalaznik (17:46):
coming down and like people go there.
They don't Jarrett's manager.
They know everyone right now isa pretty big change.
It sounds like it's gone fairlysmooth.
He brings that same attitudetoday.
Um, you know what?
So everything you were preppingmodel was 10 years ago was a
prepless model.
Um, But other than like, what,what changes it has to be, I
(18:08):
mean, it is way more efficientand you know, the controlling
labor, were there any surprisesor things that you didn't think
of that, uh, that came with thatprepless model?
Zac Myers (18:18):
Um, how many people would still ask you to prep?
So it's like, you always get theguy spraying my wheels, like,
just, we're going to spray yourwheels in there.
Like, just go through and giveit a chance.
You know, if it doesn't come outclean, come back, we'll do it
again.
And they rarely come back.
Um, it's just, I thought itwould be like easy transition,
like, Oh, well, just notspraying anymore, but you have
(18:39):
to realign your whole staff jarin, um, where you're placing
your people.
So more focused on, you know,taking the guys that we're
spraying, putting them outside,talking to the customer, trying
to build your unlimited package.
You're
Kevin Zalaznik (18:52):
just reallocating those resources or
focusing.
So.
Hey, instead of this kidbrushing the car, now he's out
there trying to grow theUnlimited program.
Zac Myers (19:43):
Yeah, also the beginning of December will be
open.
Kevin Zalaznik (20:11):
What's crazy is that, uh, the free vacuum model
is standard now.
Oh, yeah.
And how it, you had to take aleap of faith to adopt that.
And now it's, you know, like Isaid, it's the standard model.
Did you ever, was there anyhesitation with you?
Yeah.
I mean, we
Zac Myers (20:29):
had, when we were figuring out the free vacuums, I
was like, I don't know if theseare going to work.
We ran the first pipeunderground during construction
and they ended up breaking it.
During construction, and theysealed it back up, but they must
not have sealed it all the way.
Okay.
Because I remember like a fewweeks after opening, I'm like, I
don't have any suction.
I'm like trying to figure itout.
And then I open up
Shane Groff (20:50):
the bottom door of the main vacuum and there's just
a tidal
Zac Myers (20:54):
wave of nasty vacuum water comes flowing out because
it was sucking the ground waterout.
I had a leak and I'm like, Idon't know if these are a good
idea.
Control side that uh, we'reworking very hard and diligently
on right now to, to
Shane Groff (21:08):
bring some of our technology that we're using for
free vacuums, uh, and make
Zac Myers (21:13):
it available for everybody.
What do you say?
I think only twice a year, ifyou want to, you just wash it
and you didn't really hit her.
She got it, with cells, figuringit out, like, try to auto wash,
you know, process, so.
We really broke up some timetoo, and one time, she died.
He was kind of skeptical goingthrough, he was out in the
vacuum a lot.
I go, I'm going to give you afree car wash, let me know how
(21:36):
you like it.
If you don't like it, I'llunderstand.
Um, and he went through and hewent through, got the free car
wash and then came right backaround and signed up for an
unlimited den.
He was an unlimited member forthe seven years that I was
there.
And Jerry's still
Kevin Zalaznik (21:48):
there today.
I think the, uh, they fall inthat category of like the people
who don't trust the equipment ordon't trust the brushes and it's
kind of become obsolete.
Like it's an old fashioned wayof thinking.
Do you still find it?
Did you still find that when youwere
Zac Myers (22:04):
a little bit?
It's wearing I mean now we havethe option to go touchless in
our tunnels.
Oh,
Shane Groff (22:09):
there's people that do that But it's, it's, it's
wearing, I
Kevin Zalaznik (22:13):
mean, the technology is powered, you think
all the high pressure, you know,equipment And Hoffman's were
somewhat screwed a little bit.
We've got
Shane Groff (22:21):
a robust service
Kevin Zalaznik (22:23):
team, a robust installation crew But not all
those guys have been with us,so, you know, 15 plus years.
This is all insider baseball.
Not all the car washes thatwe're dealing with have that,
but I think it's unlimitedmembership scrawl and people's
friends, their families do it.
They
Shane Groff (22:38):
realize that it's very safe.
Two, three or four years andthey haven't built that team.
So
Kevin Zalaznik (22:42):
yeah, I guess this is a question for both of
you is that, 2024?
What their pain
Shane Groff (22:49):
points are and match up a product with
something that will come out.
Like Zach was saying earlier.
20
Kevin Zalaznik (22:52):
days away, so.
Shane Groff (22:53):
And certainly.
Absolutely.
Uh, with the industry movingtowards electric brushes and all
electric motors, Um, a lot ofour control systems will play
right into that, making, uh, onsite support by the car wash
staff a lot easier for theseowner operators.
(23:19):
Oh, absolutely.
I mean, you As, as an owneroperator, you can, you know,
you're, uh, I think 2023, youcan log in with your iPad, your
iPhone, whatever, you know,like, uh, or you call on Zach
and our customer care team.
They can do the same and,
Zac Myers (23:36):
and you'd bring that
Shane Groff (23:37):
all into 2024.
I always tell the customers likementoring their
Kevin Zalaznik (23:40):
staff because you could have their staff
standing
Shane Groff (23:42):
in front of
Kevin Zalaznik (23:43):
the screen.
How do you get out in front ofthat?
Support care teams.
Uh, you're here because you havea solution and, uh, you know,
Carlos, that's for sure.
Uh, when you look at and seewhat you talked about, the, um,
what's ahead, are there areasthat you're particularly focused
(24:05):
on from a research anddevelopment standpoint or, or
are there pain points that youstill see operators having and
innovators going to be thatsolution?
(24:43):
We, we certainly
Shane Groff (24:44):
have the think tank.
Uh, anybody knows Tom jr knowsthat anytime he comes to the
office, he's got about 101 ideasthat he thought of just
yesterday and, um, you know, andbeing operators and having
nearly 30 washes, high volumewashes as test locations for us
(25:08):
and, and the feedback of allthose managers and team leads
and district managers.
It just really feeds right intowhat we're doing.
Hang on.
Uh, we were, a lot of timespeople ask Zach and I when we're
at the
Kevin Zalaznik (25:20):
shows.
Does the movement become moreWhat makes you different than
the guys in the booths next toyou?
You can really control itanywhere.
That's
Shane Groff (25:26):
what I always go to.
As an owner operator, you can,we're Hoffman Innovator, not
Hoffman Car Wash, but we're allHoffman, and we're all one big
team, and, uh, you know, westarted in 1965, so that brings
a lot of experience, and, youknow, to, to, I always stand up
to any challenge if somebodybrings us, because, you know, I
(25:49):
think it's really, uh, being onthe screen and our, uh, support
care team can, Operate it andthen see where you're going and,
uh, chances are next time theyrun into something like that,
they'll remember what they sawduring that mentoring
Zac Myers (26:04):
session.
Cool.
Anything to add there?
No, I think Shane basicallycovered it all.
You know, once we can get intothe machine, we can basically
figure out what's going on.
And then it's always a goodlearning.
Like, hey, this is, this is whyit's doing what it's doing.
And here's how you fix it.
And here's how to avoid it inthe future.
What,
Kevin Zalaznik (26:23):
as far as like, um, when you're.
Again, in that research anddevelopment, like, has there
been any, uh, look at AI?
Yeah, we kind of, there is kindof AI to an extent, but
incorporating more of thetechnology is, you know, it's a
forever, it's forever changing.
So, uh, it might not even bethat, it might just be the, the
way customers call and interactor they need support, like, um,
(26:48):
any growth in that area.
And uh, 100 that he forgot.
Yeah.
Yeah.
(27:47):
No,
Shane Groff (27:47):
I mean, I, uh, like I said, you know, I've been
working with Zach for 10 years,uh, as a, uh, big fan of when he
made this transition over toinnovate it.
I really look forward to thefuture where,
Kevin Zalaznik (28:00):
you know, when you're at this trade shows, are
there any areas or
Shane Groff (28:03):
teams really building lines
Kevin Zalaznik (28:05):
to questions that people are asking a lot of
talented
Shane Groff (28:08):
people, a lot of it is around the support and like.
What happens when it breaks andwhat happens if this
Kevin Zalaznik (28:13):
happens?
You're like, it doesn't break.
It doesn't break.
Realistically, you're working ina very wet environment.
A lot of cars going through,things are going to happen.
It's a matter of though, do youhave the right process in place
to, and are you quick enough torespond?
I really think that
Zac Myers (28:31):
our support and, you know, coming from operations,
it's, you know, again, we'vebeen in your shoes, we know, you
know.
So if something goes down, we'rerigged out for it.
Yeah.
Kevin Zalaznik (28:42):
Yeah.
I think it's such a unique thingtoo.
And I think it goes for a lot ofpeople that work for innovated
and also for often car wash.
Like they've, you've worked inthese washes before.
It's not like, uh, innovativewas hiring a customer support
person and they got someone whoused to do, you know, support
for.
(29:02):
Xerox or something like that.
Like you've actually lived andbreathed the
Zac Myers (29:05):
car wash world for sure.
I'm just going to feed you thetypical customer support lines.
Shut it off.
Kevin Zalaznik (29:10):
Turn it back on.
Yeah, I'm sorry.
I
Zac Myers (29:12):
can't help you.
Yeah.
I'm sorry for any convenience.
Like, yeah, we are sorry,
Kevin Zalaznik (29:16):
but we're going to get a fix.
But how much of that is, uh, Imean, do you take ownership of
and like your response time andsetting your own metrics and
things along those
Zac Myers (29:25):
lines?
Yeah.
I mean, there's always room forimprovement, but I feel like,
you know, it's always.
It's a balancing act, you know,it's, is it, you know, we try to
respond to everything within,you know, an hour or so.
Um, it's always like, I mean, Igive customers my cell phone
number, everything.
It's I'm answering calls onweekends, so it's, we're always
(29:45):
available.
Just, you know, give us a callor email, I'll get back to you
right away.
So
Kevin Zalaznik (29:50):
yeah.
So you got anything else forZach before we wrap things up?
You just don't
Shane Groff (30:06):
see the toe strap really loading,
Kevin Zalaznik (30:08):
they go in front of it.
It's funny when you were like,uh, what's the difference
between you and the booth nextto you?
You should be like, well, wehave a podcast.
And do they have a podcast?
So, yeah.
(30:29):
Um.
We'll remember that one.
Well, any final clothingthoughts there, Zach?
You wanna like, plug yourYouTube channel or anything?
I don't really have a YouTubechannel
Zac Myers (30:39):
or something like
Kevin Zalaznik (30:40):
that.
I think, uh, what is importantthough, we kid though, but when
you think of YouTube and justvideos and things like that is
like innovative is in theprocess of still getting
everything online, easy access,whether it's startup videos,
maintenance
Shane Groff (30:57):
videos, haven't really got into any other
series, you know,
Kevin Zalaznik (31:00):
waiting for that.
And well, hey, there's already.
Documentation and thingsavailable.
So we'll see what happens.
Continue to build out thatrobust, uh, platform as well as
Keaton.
It helps your job and helps yourcustomers for sure.
Uh, we always ask, uh, whileyou're watching, what are you
streaming?
What are you binge watching?
Or are you prepared for thisquestion?
Zac Myers (31:18):
I knew this question was coming and I've tried
lately.
To get into a series.
So I'm kind of in between, butmy a DD just hasn't let me do
Kevin Zalaznik (31:26):
that.
Yeah, but you're an F1 fan.
We knew
Zac Myers (31:28):
that.
I like Formula One.
Uh, I've been watching, I watcha lot of YouTube videos.
I mean, besides the Modern CarWash.
Yeah.
Kevin Zalaznik (31:35):
what?
YouTube?
Kind of
Zac Myers (31:37):
YouTube based, uh, just like, you know, stuff where
you don't really have to payserious attention to.
Yeah.
I watch this guy, he is like gota concrete company and he like
walks through his concrete jobsand how they're done.
And then there's another guythat Vice Grip Garage.
He like finds an old car that'sbeen sitting in a field for like
15 years and he tries to get itrunning and then he drives it
(31:59):
home.
That's cool.
I don't know how much of it isactually like somebody on the
side is doing it.
But like he walks through itlike checking the carburetor,
getting the carburetors unstuckand the whole time, you know,
he's driven some sketchy stuffon the highway.
Kevin Zalaznik (32:16):
Well, it's, it's funny because like YouTube, you
think is very, uh, organic orlike just someone with a, their
iPhone or whatever, but there's,there's some channels, I mean,
they are full blown productionsand it's in the models shifting
because it's like, um, beforelike, say you were like a DIY,
like home builder, like youwould work or whatever it was,
(32:39):
you know, HGTV would comeknocking like, Hey, we want to
test you for this.
And now all these people arelike, you know what?
I'm good.
Like I wouldn't do my own thing.
Like I can make just as much ormore money, like just on
YouTube.
So you're doing your way too.
You're yeah.
Shay, what about you?
Were you done with Yellowstoneyet?
(33:13):
Very good.
Well, Zach, thanks for, uh,indulging us here today.
Yeah.
Thanks for having me.
Uh, what's the best way peoplewill get ahold of you?
So
Zac Myers (33:20):
support at innovated carwash.
com or Zach, I'm at innovatedcarwash.
com.
C A C M.
Kevin Zalaznik (33:29):
Z A C M.
No H, no K.
Just Z A C M.
Alright.
Thanks a lot, buddy.
Welcome back everyone to the modern car wash
podcast.
I am joined once again, my cohost Shane Groff.
Shane, how are you doing?
Good.
Good.
All right.
And our special guest is fellowinnovate it person innovator.
I don't know.
Zach Myers.
How are you?
I'll do well, Kevin.
Thanks for having me.
Zach.
Um, let's get some background oninfo on you.
(00:33):
First off, I guess, what's yourrole at InnovateIT?
You got the, you got the swagon.
So,
Zac Myers (00:37):
yep, I got the fancy InnovateIT shirt now.
So we're in the team.
Kevin Zalaznik (00:41):
Yeah.
What, uh, what exactly do you dofor InnovateIT?
Zac Myers (00:44):
So I, uh, I'm in a sales and support role.
So I do outside sales, insidesales, parts orders.
And then I also do support forour customers if they're having
any trouble with our equipmentor starting up.
So
Kevin Zalaznik (00:56):
Innov8d is certainly a growing company.
If you, um, if you're watchingthis online behind us probably
20 feet is the Innov8d space,the warehouse, um, uh, and how
many employees?
We're rated about 36 total.
36.
So of those, there's probablyvery few that are actually
(01:20):
Facing other than you and youand probably Stefan and a few of
the other people, but you, youhave somewhat become a face of
innovating.
Zac Myers (01:31):
Maybe we're so voiced now.
Yeah.
A lot of phone work.
Yeah.
But yeah, I guess we're at allthe trade shows out with
customers.
Yeah.
One of the
Kevin Zalaznik (01:38):
faces.
Yeah.
So your background, your historythough, is, uh, you started with
Hoffman carwash.
Um, so it's not like you're,you're just like, New to the car
wash industry.
This has been a long time comingfor you.
Zac Myers (01:54):
Yes, I've worked for Hoffman Car Wash for the last 17
years.
Uh, I started in 2006 at ourEast Greenbush location as a
line attendant.
Uh, it's actually funny, mybuddy was working at East
Greenbush and he was leaving andI didn't have a job at the time.
So he asked Jared, who's still amanager there, he's like, Hey,
you should hire my buddy Zach.
(02:14):
And then I filled out anapplication and I went and I
started working for Jared.
Um, and then, you know, I cutit.
Didn't expect it to be mycareer.
And here I am 17 years later,I've done all kinds of different
roles with the company.
I worked my way from lineattendant there to supervisor
there.
Um, I did that for a year or twoand then I was like, I'm gonna
(02:38):
try something different.
And I went over to our landscapedepartment.
Yeah.
Um, at that time it was anoutside business.
It was like, kind of like thefirst outside business that
Hoffman did.
Meaning
Kevin Zalaznik (02:50):
outside business, like, uh, other, uh,
businesses would hire.
More
Zac Myers (02:56):
residential than business and some businesses.
So like we would first, like allspring was taking care of all
the car washes, getting theflowers planted, uh, grass,
ground repair, all that stuff.
And then after that we would goand just like a normal landscape
company would go work in.
I primarily did hardscapebecause I'm a bigger guy.
Lift the stencil.
(03:17):
Yeah.
Yeah.
I'll just, uh.
Yeah.
The bowl in the china shop.
That's what Scott Kelly saw.
Because I just, I wasn't fragileenough for the flowers.
Yeah.
I would just grab the big stonesand throw them around.
Kevin Zalaznik (03:28):
So Scott Kelly is the, uh, he runs our
landscaping team for Hoffman CarWash.
And, uh, what's interesting isthe amount of time and effort
that we put into the landscape.
And I'm curious, um, and I thinkwe've probably touched on it on
the podcast as far as, uh, youknow, I, I remember one episode
talking about branding thingsand that's part of the Hoffman
(03:50):
Carlos brand is, uh, thelandscaping, but I'm curious
for, for you and actuallyworking in that is, was that
something maybe you didn'tnecessarily have an appreciation
for until you like got out thereand, And so what a difference
that great landscaping couldmake.
Zac Myers (04:06):
Yeah.
I mean, it's a lot of hard workthat goes into it.
I mean, flower week, I mean,back there was a week now with
all the locations, it's probablya month, but it was like all
hands on deck for 50, 60 hours.
You were just go, go, go likefive, six locations a day trying
to get all the flowers in theground.
And not only that, it's like,then you go back to the
greenhouse and then gettingready for next year.
(04:29):
So it's just like, it's a yearround processing landscape odds.
Fun in the summer, but it's it'sa it's a year round process.
How's your house look?
Landscaping.
Uh, it's good.
It's good.
Kevin Zalaznik (04:41):
Shane, what about you?
How's your green thumb?
Well, you live in Vermont, whichis the green mountain state.
So I hope it's sun green there,huh?
Yeah.
Up,
Shane Groff (04:54):
up in the canopy of the trees.
Our horses take care of most of
Kevin Zalaznik (04:59):
our grass.
I was laughing today because wehad some snow, uh, in this area,
and when we bought our house, Itold my wife that, listen, I'll
do the landscape, but I want nodecision making.
Like, it's just not, um, like,tell me where to dig and I'll
dig.
I don't want to maintain it orwhatever.
(05:19):
So she had bought three peonies,uh, that were supposed to go in
the ground.
A couple of months ago, whichare still at a pot in our
driveway.
So I'm sitting there in themorning of our bedroom.
You can overlook the driveway.
And I'm looking down at thesethree peonies pots and I'm like,
well, she told me to do it, butshe didn't tell me where to
place it.
So I'm like, am I going to getblamed for this?
(05:41):
Or so the jury's still out onthat one.
Yeah.
I'm going to do it for you.
Watches this podcast.
Yeah.
Yeah.
She was, she listensreligiously.
Let me tell you.
Um, so landscape, then you moveon.
Now you, you eventually become astore manager.
Um, and you were, uh, Amsterdam,Amsterdam is one of our
(06:05):
locations, uh, Amsterdam, NewYork, but you had an opportunity
to become the manager of a brandnew facility, uh, which we
opened December, 2020.
So we're coming out of COVID.
It's funny because the other dayI was looking at it.
When we open a store, we havethese giant flags that say,
like, now open.
(06:26):
Imagine, like, a pizzeria on theside of the road, right?
And I have a photo of yourunning through, like, the yard
of the car wash, holding thisthing, ready to go.
Uh, how is the, how is it justopening, and this is probably
something that our audience canrelate to, is opening a store.
Being a manager and opening anew store.
Uh.
You have this nice, shiny newtoy, but I'm sure there's a lot
(06:49):
of pressure that goes into it.
Zac Myers (06:50):
Yeah, there definitely is.
Um, and luckily, Route 7 was mysecond go around because I
opened Amsterdam.
Oh, you do?
Okay.
Yeah, um, Amsterdam I think wasactually easier and it was my
first time.
Um, that market was so starvedfor a car wash that it was like,
I mean, we were profitable thefirst month there.
That was like a huge success.
Much simpler building.
Yeah, much simpler, you know,didn't have all the expenses
(07:13):
that there are now.
Um, it was also 10 years ago.
So those were a little cheaper.
But yeah, Route 7 was verychallenging because we were
coming out of COVID.
There was this huge building.
It was a hundred and seventyfeet in there.
Yeah.
I mean the back room you coulddrive a Buick through.
Um, and all the latestequipment.
(07:34):
I think it was like innovated.
It's like first Like the secondgeneration of our products, like
really being showcased.
Um, and it was just a hugechallenge.
Just, you know, you haveeverybody at your store, you
have it's there, yourmarketing's there.
Um, our service guys are justfinishing up their, you know,
making sure everything's workingand like, you're just trying to
(07:55):
wash cars and do everything, butyou have all these people
around, like, so it's just superchallenging, but you know, we,
we pulled it off.
It's.
It's really in the groundworkwith getting your team ready
beforehand.
Um, most luckily that, um, wehad several people come over,
uh, like my assistant managerand a couple of my team leaders
(08:15):
already worked in the cartwash.
I didn't have any brand new teamleaders, so they already kind of
knew the paces, but it was kindof like we had to iron out like
different managers havedifferent styles.
So they've been working forother people and what they did
compared to what my expectationwas is getting everyone on the
same page.
I am.
Um, so that was verychallenging.
(08:35):
Uh, it didn't start off as fastas everybody had hoped.
Yeah.
Um, and it was like, we hadanother Hoffman car wash right
down the road.
So it was tough because we weredoing cars, but we were washing
like the other stores unlimited.
Yeah, it's actually, I thinkit's healthy reshaped how they
distribute the unlimited.
Kevin Zalaznik (08:55):
It's the, uh, for some context for, so, uh,
let's go back to, um, Amsterdam,which was the original store
that you opened that store whenit opened.
And when you look at it is avery, I don't want to call it a
box, but it's, you know, it'sfour walls and a pitched roof
and there's a clock tower andthat's it, and probably got
(09:18):
built in half the time thatroute seven, which is.
Uh, our Route 7 location has ournew building design.
It's a signature look for us.
It's, um, you know, differentpitches, different areas of the
roof.
There's bump outs and Route 7was designed to be a much larger
car wash too.
You talked about you could drivea Buick in the back room.
(09:39):
Arguably the biggest back roomin the country, right?
I met you back in 2013.
You get stationed out there inAmsterdam before the store was
really even open.
I mean, we were just puttingequipment in and you were
Shane Groff (09:53):
there every day.
You know, how does an experiencelike that really play into
Kevin Zalaznik (09:58):
what you're doing today?
It's on a road that is very,it's a commuter road.
Um, and, uh, the people thatwork around there, we're working
from home.
It just, it was like, uh, uh,and now it's starting to gain
momentum and we're building theprogram there.
But, uh, uh, I remember the.
(10:21):
Like the, the day after weopened the business right next
to us put up like a brand new,like brand sign that completely
blocked our, our side.
And that's a fast road too.
So it was like all these thingsthat kind of like culminated
into the, yeah, yeah.
But it's a beautiful store.
Yeah.
So what, um, so you were therefor a year
Zac Myers (10:41):
and a half, two years.
So 2020, I came to Innovated inJuly of 2022.
So a little over two years, um,So by transitioning to Innovate,
I was kind of, I was storemanager for almost a decade.
I was kind of, we had all thisgrowth going on, but they're,
the corporate positions werekind of filled.
Oh, there isn't gonna be adistrict manager any time soon.
(11:02):
Um, so and I've always like, Iwanted to do more.
I kind of felt like I wasgetting a little stagnant as a
store manager.
Um, so I was always looking fora new opportunity, something
else, a new challenge.
Um, and then the Innovate itrole came along.
Um, I originally just started.
I was like, my original titlewas customer success specialist.
(11:23):
So I came over to basicallyhandle any support calls that
came in.
Um, and then that kind of slowlydeveloped into, okay, now you're
going to do parts orders and nowyou're going to do.
A little bit of sales, you know,it's just kind of evolving,
evolving, pretty soon to speak,you know, it certainly seems
Shane Groff (11:41):
like when we
Kevin Zalaznik (11:41):
get out and we're touring other people's
facilities or the trade showsthat you mentioned, that, uh,
that
Shane Groff (11:48):
experience has really played a huge role in you
developing some of these newrelationships that you have.
Um, you work with every day,whether through sales or
Kevin Zalaznik (11:58):
support,
Zac Myers (12:07):
uh, it's really, I think it's awesome for store
managers to go on site and helpwith like standing up the
equipment and the last finishingtouches of the building before
you open, cause you know, itlike the back of your hand.
If you have a problem, Oh, Iremember when we were building,
I can go back.
This is where this junction boxis for that.
(12:27):
Um, and it really helps me todayis like, I've stood up equipment
and I've.
I just like, I've always takenlike a curious, like curious in
nature.
So I always wanted to know likewhat this equipment is and what
it does.
So being there early and likeseeing the install and knowing,
like getting to know how theequipment works.
It helps you when you have aproblem with that equipment.
(12:50):
So I mean, when we're puttingthis together, this bracket went
here, this bearing was likethis.
Um, so I really think it's totoday.
It's still, I've been in thatperson's shoe.
I know like.
When you're about to open astore and you're missing a part
or you have trouble withsomething, you know, being able
to talk to somebody who's goingto take action quickly, knowing
(13:10):
that, you know, you havedeadlines to meet and there's a
lot of pressure on you.
Kevin Zalaznik (13:14):
I think that's key is what you said is you've
been in their shoes wheresomething goes down or you need
a part or whatever it is.
You know what it's like, andyou're going to act fast and
take care of it.
It
Zac Myers (13:25):
helps me daily is just being in that customer's
shoes.
They call me.
And something is down and theycan't wash cars or, and they got
a line full of customers, linefull of customers yelling at
you, get trying to get back openand you're on the phone with
somebody.
So I've, I've definitely beenthere and I know that, you know,
you got to take a swift approachand take action and get them
back up and go, hold that.
(14:07):
Yeah, it definitely helps.
Like I worked, you know, everyday with our equipment in a
wash, so I know how it'ssupposed to work.
And I know the benefits.
Like, oh, this is really awesomebecause it does this.
Or, you know, I would havechanged when I came over and
said, Hey, we should probablychange, you know, a little
something here and there.
To make it more user friendlywhen you're at the store.
Um, so just having thatknowledge, like, and the
(14:30):
confidence of like, I believedin our products before I even
came over and it's just givesyou that confidence to go out
there and say, like, I'm notjust selling you this to cause
cause I want you to sell it.
I want to make more commissionor anything like that.
I'm selling you this because Iactually believe in it.
And I think it's a solution to,to your problem.
Kevin Zalaznik (14:48):
You look at, um, the pre innovated package that
you had at the Revege.
Shane Groff (14:53):
Because when I started, when we ran a credit
Kevin Zalaznik (14:55):
card, we placed it on the stand, put the paper
in it, and changed the cardback.
You didn't know if it was goingto clear or not at the end
Zac Myers (15:03):
of the day.
I think the dispenser wasprobably the one that really did
it.
With being able to isolate eachvalve, um, you know, before you
had to shut down your wholething just to work on.
Just to work on one product, youcan make changes on the fly that
really, really helped a lot.
If you had an issue, you know,you could solve it without
(15:24):
shutting
Kevin Zalaznik (15:24):
down your operation.
I can imagine that, uh, just theoverall, the technology or the
precision, uh, had to change.
Oh,
Zac Myers (15:33):
vastly.
I mean, from starting at Route7, where, or at Amsterdam, when
we first opened there, there wasno kiosk.
Yes, we were.
Brushing the back of every car,spraying every car, even putting
wiper bags on the back of everycar.
It took like five people, justin that five people and two
(15:53):
greeters to do a hundred cars anhour.
And now like, then you get toroute seven you have tellers, no
prep, no more brushing, all ofthat.
And now it's like, if everybodycalls out today I could still do
more than this.
Kevin Zalaznik (16:07):
Yeah.
Uh, when you look at, I guess.
Along those same lines, you'vebeen in the industry for over a
decade.
Um, what has been the biggestchange?
Do
Zac Myers (16:20):
you think?
Uh, it's going to be thetechnology and automation.
Um, just, I mean, I guess I saidbefore, like it was like the
wild, wild west back then, likeon a busy day, your greeter had
on a belt, a bar of soap and ahandful of cash is out there.
I remember when I started inyour scrimmage, if we had two
credit cards in a row on a busyday.
(16:41):
It would like take forever toprocess the second one and you
had to manually and then we goto tablets there Now we have
kiosks and then we were sprayingcars.
Now, we're not spraying cars andit's like You got two people but
it's easy.
You're not killing yourself.
Your feet are still dry.
Shane Groff (16:57):
I remember I Think it would it's still 2013 but
Zach opened that store you Youcould see like from here to Jax
Pro that that is like how farthere was a We have those
service tools for the
Kevin Zalaznik (17:12):
statewatches for the automatic operations So for
those uh, on the audio sideprobably a thousand, yeah a
thousand feet you have the
Shane Groff (17:18):
actual manual sweeper you know they had the
standard canister
Kevin Zalaznik (17:21):
vacs out there you just go hey and Zach's store
was our first call center withfree vacs your original store
that you started with It wasafter they
Shane Groff (17:29):
opened, because I remember it was warm outside, it
was
Kevin Zalaznik (17:32):
summertime, and we opened it, uh, and it was
brutally cold.
Last like two weeks ago or amonth ago, whatever it was, I
remember whoever I was with andit's interesting because he
exactly store probably has allthose
Shane Groff (17:45):
automatic customers
Kevin Zalaznik (17:46):
coming down and like people go there.
They don't Jarrett's manager.
They know everyone right now isa pretty big change.
It sounds like it's gone fairlysmooth.
He brings that same attitudetoday.
Um, you know what?
So everything you were preppingmodel was 10 years ago was a
prepless model.
Um, But other than like, what,what changes it has to be, I
(18:08):
mean, it is way more efficientand you know, the controlling
labor, were there any surprisesor things that you didn't think
of that, uh, that came with thatprepless model?
Zac Myers (18:18):
Um, how many people would still ask you to prep?
So it's like, you always get theguy spraying my wheels, like,
just, we're going to spray yourwheels in there.
Like, just go through and giveit a chance.
You know, if it doesn't come outclean, come back, we'll do it
again.
And they rarely come back.
Um, it's just, I thought itwould be like easy transition,
like, Oh, well, just notspraying anymore, but you have
(18:39):
to realign your whole staff jarin, um, where you're placing
your people.
So more focused on, you know,taking the guys that we're
spraying, putting them outside,talking to the customer, trying
to build your unlimited package.
You're
Kevin Zalaznik (18:52):
just reallocating those resources or
focusing.
So.
Hey, instead of this kidbrushing the car, now he's out
there trying to grow theUnlimited program.
Zac Myers (19:43):
Yeah, also the beginning of December will be
open.
Kevin Zalaznik (20:11):
What's crazy is that, uh, the free vacuum model
is standard now.
Oh, yeah.
And how it, you had to take aleap of faith to adopt that.
And now it's, you know, like Isaid, it's the standard model.
Did you ever, was there anyhesitation with you?
Yeah.
I mean, we
Zac Myers (20:29):
had, when we were figuring out the free vacuums, I
was like, I don't know if theseare going to work.
We ran the first pipeunderground during construction
and they ended up breaking it.
During construction, and theysealed it back up, but they must
not have sealed it all the way.
Okay.
Because I remember like a fewweeks after opening, I'm like, I
don't have any suction.
I'm like trying to figure itout.
And then I open up
Shane Groff (20:50):
the bottom door of the main vacuum and there's just
a tidal
Zac Myers (20:54):
wave of nasty vacuum water comes flowing out because
it was sucking the ground waterout.
I had a leak and I'm like, Idon't know if these are a good
idea.
Control side that uh, we'reworking very hard and diligently
on right now to, to
Shane Groff (21:08):
bring some of our technology that we're using for
free vacuums, uh, and make
Zac Myers (21:13):
it available for everybody.
What do you say?
I think only twice a year, ifyou want to, you just wash it
and you didn't really hit her.
She got it, with cells, figuringit out, like, try to auto wash,
you know, process, so.
We really broke up some timetoo, and one time, she died.
He was kind of skeptical goingthrough, he was out in the
vacuum a lot.
I go, I'm going to give you afree car wash, let me know how
(21:36):
you like it.
If you don't like it, I'llunderstand.
Um, and he went through and hewent through, got the free car
wash and then came right backaround and signed up for an
unlimited den.
He was an unlimited member forthe seven years that I was
there.
And Jerry's still
Kevin Zalaznik (21:48):
there today.
I think the, uh, they fall inthat category of like the people
who don't trust the equipment ordon't trust the brushes and it's
kind of become obsolete.
Like it's an old fashioned wayof thinking.
Do you still find it?
Did you still find that when youwere
Zac Myers (22:04):
a little bit?
It's wearing I mean now we havethe option to go touchless in
our tunnels.
Oh,
Shane Groff (22:09):
there's people that do that But it's, it's, it's
wearing, I
Kevin Zalaznik (22:13):
mean, the technology is powered, you think
all the high pressure, you know,equipment And Hoffman's were
somewhat screwed a little bit.
We've got
Shane Groff (22:21):
a robust service
Kevin Zalaznik (22:23):
team, a robust installation crew But not all
those guys have been with us,so, you know, 15 plus years.
This is all insider baseball.
Not all the car washes thatwe're dealing with have that,
but I think it's unlimitedmembership scrawl and people's
friends, their families do it.
They
Shane Groff (22:38):
realize that it's very safe.
Two, three or four years andthey haven't built that team.
So
Kevin Zalaznik (22:42):
yeah, I guess this is a question for both of
you is that, 2024?
What their pain
Shane Groff (22:49):
points are and match up a product with
something that will come out.
Like Zach was saying earlier.
20
Kevin Zalaznik (22:52):
days away, so.
Shane Groff (22:53):
And certainly.
Absolutely.
Uh, with the industry movingtowards electric brushes and all
electric motors, Um, a lot ofour control systems will play
right into that, making, uh, onsite support by the car wash
staff a lot easier for theseowner operators.
(23:19):
Oh, absolutely.
I mean, you As, as an owneroperator, you can, you know,
you're, uh, I think 2023, youcan log in with your iPad, your
iPhone, whatever, you know,like, uh, or you call on Zach
and our customer care team.
They can do the same and,
Zac Myers (23:36):
and you'd bring that
Shane Groff (23:37):
all into 2024.
I always tell the customers likementoring their
Kevin Zalaznik (23:40):
staff because you could have their staff
standing
Shane Groff (23:42):
in front of
Kevin Zalaznik (23:43):
the screen.
How do you get out in front ofthat?
Support care teams.
Uh, you're here because you havea solution and, uh, you know,
Carlos, that's for sure.
Uh, when you look at and seewhat you talked about, the, um,
what's ahead, are there areasthat you're particularly focused
(24:05):
on from a research anddevelopment standpoint or, or
are there pain points that youstill see operators having and
innovators going to be thatsolution?
(24:43):
We, we certainly
Shane Groff (24:44):
have the think tank.
Uh, anybody knows Tom jr knowsthat anytime he comes to the
office, he's got about 101 ideasthat he thought of just
yesterday and, um, you know, andbeing operators and having
nearly 30 washes, high volumewashes as test locations for us
(25:08):
and, and the feedback of allthose managers and team leads
and district managers.
It just really feeds right intowhat we're doing.
Hang on.
Uh, we were, a lot of timespeople ask Zach and I when we're
at the
Kevin Zalaznik (25:20):
shows.
Does the movement become moreWhat makes you different than
the guys in the booths next toyou?
You can really control itanywhere.
That's
Shane Groff (25:26):
what I always go to.
As an owner operator, you can,we're Hoffman Innovator, not
Hoffman Car Wash, but we're allHoffman, and we're all one big
team, and, uh, you know, westarted in 1965, so that brings
a lot of experience, and, youknow, to, to, I always stand up
to any challenge if somebodybrings us, because, you know, I
(25:49):
think it's really, uh, being onthe screen and our, uh, support
care team can, Operate it andthen see where you're going and,
uh, chances are next time theyrun into something like that,
they'll remember what they sawduring that mentoring
Zac Myers (26:04):
session.
Cool.
Anything to add there?
No, I think Shane basicallycovered it all.
You know, once we can get intothe machine, we can basically
figure out what's going on.
And then it's always a goodlearning.
Like, hey, this is, this is whyit's doing what it's doing.
And here's how you fix it.
And here's how to avoid it inthe future.
What,
Kevin Zalaznik (26:23):
as far as like, um, when you're.
Again, in that research anddevelopment, like, has there
been any, uh, look at AI?
Yeah, we kind of, there is kindof AI to an extent, but
incorporating more of thetechnology is, you know, it's a
forever, it's forever changing.
So, uh, it might not even bethat, it might just be the, the
way customers call and interactor they need support, like, um,
(26:48):
any growth in that area.
And uh, 100 that he forgot.
Yeah.
Yeah.
(27:47):
No,
Shane Groff (27:47):
I mean, I, uh, like I said, you know, I've been
working with Zach for 10 years,uh, as a, uh, big fan of when he
made this transition over toinnovate it.
I really look forward to thefuture where,
Kevin Zalaznik (28:00):
you know, when you're at this trade shows, are
there any areas or
Shane Groff (28:03):
teams really building lines
Kevin Zalaznik (28:05):
to questions that people are asking a lot of
talented
Shane Groff (28:08):
people, a lot of it is around the support and like.
What happens when it breaks andwhat happens if this
Kevin Zalaznik (28:13):
happens?
You're like, it doesn't break.
It doesn't break.
Realistically, you're working ina very wet environment.
A lot of cars going through,things are going to happen.
It's a matter of though, do youhave the right process in place
to, and are you quick enough torespond?
I really think that
Zac Myers (28:31):
our support and, you know, coming from operations,
it's, you know, again, we'vebeen in your shoes, we know, you
know.
So if something goes down, we'rerigged out for it.
Yeah.
Kevin Zalaznik (28:42):
Yeah.
I think it's such a unique thingtoo.
And I think it goes for a lot ofpeople that work for innovated
and also for often car wash.
Like they've, you've worked inthese washes before.
It's not like, uh, innovativewas hiring a customer support
person and they got someone whoused to do, you know, support
for.
(29:02):
Xerox or something like that.
Like you've actually lived andbreathed the
Zac Myers (29:05):
car wash world for sure.
I'm just going to feed you thetypical customer support lines.
Shut it off.
Kevin Zalaznik (29:10):
Turn it back on.
Yeah, I'm sorry.
I
Zac Myers (29:12):
can't help you.
Yeah.
I'm sorry for any convenience.
Like, yeah, we are sorry,
Kevin Zalaznik (29:16):
but we're going to get a fix.
But how much of that is, uh, Imean, do you take ownership of
and like your response time andsetting your own metrics and
things along those
Zac Myers (29:25):
lines?
Yeah.
I mean, there's always room forimprovement, but I feel like,
you know, it's always.
It's a balancing act, you know,it's, is it, you know, we try to
respond to everything within,you know, an hour or so.
Um, it's always like, I mean, Igive customers my cell phone
number, everything.
It's I'm answering calls onweekends, so it's, we're always
(29:45):
available.
Just, you know, give us a callor email, I'll get back to you
right away.
So
Kevin Zalaznik (29:50):
yeah.
So you got anything else forZach before we wrap things up?
You just don't
Shane Groff (30:06):
see the toe strap really loading,
Kevin Zalaznik (30:08):
they go in front of it.
It's funny when you were like,uh, what's the difference
between you and the booth nextto you?
You should be like, well, wehave a podcast.
And do they have a podcast?
So, yeah.
(30:29):
Um.
We'll remember that one.
Well, any final clothingthoughts there, Zach?
You wanna like, plug yourYouTube channel or anything?
I don't really have a YouTubechannel
Zac Myers (30:39):
or something like
Kevin Zalaznik (30:40):
that.
I think, uh, what is importantthough, we kid though, but when
you think of YouTube and justvideos and things like that is
like innovative is in theprocess of still getting
everything online, easy access,whether it's startup videos,
maintenance
Shane Groff (30:57):
videos, haven't really got into any other
series, you know,
Kevin Zalaznik (31:00):
waiting for that.
And well, hey, there's already.
Documentation and thingsavailable.
So we'll see what happens.
Continue to build out thatrobust, uh, platform as well as
Keaton.
It helps your job and helps yourcustomers for sure.
Uh, we always ask, uh, whileyou're watching, what are you
streaming?
What are you binge watching?
Or are you prepared for thisquestion?
Zac Myers (31:18):
I knew this question was coming and I've tried
lately.
To get into a series.
So I'm kind of in between, butmy a DD just hasn't let me do
Kevin Zalaznik (31:26):
that.
Yeah, but you're an F1 fan.
We knew
Zac Myers (31:28):
that.
I like Formula One.
Uh, I've been watching, I watcha lot of YouTube videos.
I mean, besides the Modern CarWash.
Yeah.
Kevin Zalaznik (31:35):
what?
YouTube?
Kind of
Zac Myers (31:37):
YouTube based, uh, just like, you know, stuff where
you don't really have to payserious attention to.
Yeah.
I watch this guy, he is like gota concrete company and he like
walks through his concrete jobsand how they're done.
And then there's another guythat Vice Grip Garage.
He like finds an old car that'sbeen sitting in a field for like
15 years and he tries to get itrunning and then he drives it
(31:59):
home.
That's cool.
I don't know how much of it isactually like somebody on the
side is doing it.
But like he walks through itlike checking the carburetor,
getting the carburetors unstuckand the whole time, you know,
he's driven some sketchy stuffon the highway.
Kevin Zalaznik (32:16):
Well, it's, it's funny because like YouTube, you
think is very, uh, organic orlike just someone with a, their
iPhone or whatever, but there's,there's some channels, I mean,
they are full blown productionsand it's in the models shifting
because it's like, um, beforelike, say you were like a DIY,
like home builder, like youwould work or whatever it was,
(32:39):
you know, HGTV would comeknocking like, Hey, we want to
test you for this.
And now all these people arelike, you know what?
I'm good.
Like I wouldn't do my own thing.
Like I can make just as much ormore money, like just on
YouTube.
So you're doing your way too.
You're yeah.
Shay, what about you?
Were you done with Yellowstoneyet?
(33:13):
Very good.
Well, Zach, thanks for, uh,indulging us here today.
Yeah.
Thanks for having me.
Uh, what's the best way peoplewill get ahold of you?
So
Zac Myers (33:20):
support at innovated carwash.
com or Zach, I'm at innovatedcarwash.
com.
C A C M.
Kevin Zalaznik (33:29):
Z A C M.
No H, no K.
Just Z A C M.
Alright.
Thanks a lot, buddy.
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