Pre-Soak: Touch-Up
When Tommy met Tom
The new vice president of sales and marketing
at Tommy Car Wash Systems talks to PC&D.
Tom Farris, the new vice president of sales and marketing at Tommy Car Wash Systems, got started in the carwash busi- ness when he helped put a 180’ conveyor in at a Quality Car Wash during a part- time gig in Holland, MI. He describes the experience as an “absolute blast.” After that project was done, Tom Essenburg of Tommy Car Wash Systems sought out Farris for an installation road trip. Farris had so much fun on those car- wash projects he knew what he wanted to do for a living. “This was an opportunity where I was encouraged to ‘think outside of the box’ and develop other methods to attain the ultimate goal of a clean, shiny, dry car,” he explained. Farris recently spoke with Professional Carwashing & Detailing about his new role at Tommy and what he is hoping to achieve.
Professional Carwashing & Detailing: What exactly is your new role at Tommy and what does it involve? Tom Farris: Without getting too in depth, I will be focused on our product offer- ings to better compliment the goals of the top expanding chains in the country. I will be personally assisting these devel- opers with duplicating the Tommy building design as fast as possible. I will also be defining our brand and looking at different regions where we can devel- op a larger presence.
PC&D: What are some of your goals as a new vice president? Farris: To personally get out and work with the top operators and our existing opera- tors to find solutions to help them gain more market share. That is one of the things that I love about our equipment line, it real- ly sells itself. Incredible curb appeal, open look, stainless steel and remarkable signage to go along with it.
One of the things that I've learned from watching the Essenburg family is that in order to attain what you want in life, first help others get what they want. So I will also be focusing on working alongside of Ryan Essenburg to continue to enhance our Visit/Train program for our Tommy customers and distributors.
PC&D: With all that’s happening with the economy, how is Tommy Car Wash Systems holding up? Farris: Even with last year's economic downturn we grew over 20 percent. We have been extremely busy this year, and have a lot of inquiries about our “system.” I firmly believe that we will see more groups of people looking at our industry to invest their money into. We're now directing more focus to the top developers and their needs.
times. Take the time to clean out soap foamers so you are getting your biggest bang for your buck. Check with your local municipality to see if there are incentives to utilize variable speed drives on your existing motors and calculate if there is a good ROI. Continue to clean your bay, and keep the lights on. No one wants to bring their vehicle to a place that is dark and dirty. There are a lot of examples like this to make “sensible cuts.” Remember what you have done to establish your business in the market, and don't lose sight of that.
PC&D: Is there anything new happen- ing at Tommy that our readers should know about? Farris: Lots! In the last year we have revo- lutionized the 40-year-old image of a car- wash. No longer dark, dirty and claustro- phobic. All while saving money (for our customer) we've created a new basis of open tunnels with translucent roofing sys- tem that provides natural light, green fea- tures and a more efficient layout for your operation. All thanks to a new patented product called the “POD.”
FARRIS
