Day one of Training

Day one of training was Thursday for 2 ½ hours with Ryan “Gino” Barden a good friend of mine and fraternity brother. Ryan is the Senior Service Consultant at Water Way and in charge of the hiring and firing and training of SC’s (which will be me) at this Water Way location. Most of the months Gino is the top SC in the 15 store company, he is good at what he does.

Heading into training I was not sure what to expect. So far the manager has seemed to be walking on egg shells with me. It is not every day that a 27 year old who owns his own business comes to work at a car wash. He is used to high school and college kids who need to be slapped around from time to time. A typical SC works the line for a month or so, and Gino told talked them down to a week, which I am very appreciative for also. But on the other hand, I don’t want to start this job seeming like a guy who owns his own business and is only is working because his wife kicked him out of the house during the day….

For those of you wondering: I have not had a job where I have had a "boss" for about 6 years. I have in the past, worked my ass off at jobs, and am very proud of the jobs that I have done. I actually, contrary to popular believe, don't mind working. I just have been fortunate in the past to have jobs where I made my own schedule, or I was the boss making the schedule. So, this will be a change for me, but a good one. Baby steps to a full time "real" job...baby steps

So, I digress. But, training went very good, I was very impressed with Gino and his organization and how he ran the training; I know that I can learn a lot about selling car washes from him. It is a different type of selling than I am used to. I am used to being in people’s homes for a few hours and having plenty of time to talk and get to know them. Here I have 15-30 seconds to greet them at the gas pump, figure out if they want a car wash and then convince them they want detail work. Quick…quick…quick.

Here’s how I make money. The basic car wash is $9.99. For everything over that, I make commission. So, if you get a Hand Wax for $49.99, I make commission on the $40. The Max; Car wash/detail is $120. The % that I make is on a sliding scale, the more I sell, the hire commission I can make. Any where from 6%, up to 12%: paid monthly. The morning shift, which I work, does around $1,000 in car washes. Just FYI. Oh yeah, and I get $0.10 off each gallon of gas. Not a bad deal there.

Sunday from 1:30-3:30 I start my first day of working the line. I have about 20 hours to fulfill; but as Joel (store manager) told me, I can do it whenever I want, as fast or as slow as I want. I figure, I might as well get it over with and work it in one week. Granted, that is a lot of work in one week for me, but I think I can handle it: I did used to work full time. Ha. I will keep you updated after my first day of working the line.

By the way, Guitar Hero: World Tour is awesome. I personally like it better than Rock Band. The drums have cymbals, the graphics are better and I like the guitar play better. I did try to sing, and on both games, got booed off the stage within minutes. So, I am not a singer.

In the mean time: Keep on keeping on…..mrrrrrrrrrrr