The problem
Regular customers are a valeter's best work, but each visit means another message to book and another bank transfer to chase. A valeter with 30 regulars on fortnightly maintenance washes spends about 5 minutes per visit booking and getting paid: 60 visits a month is 5 hours. And regulars who have to remember to rebook drift off.
What the AI does
GoCardless collects regular payments by Direct Debit: subscriptions and memberships set up once and taken automatically, with customers signing the mandate online. Turn your maintenance wash into a monthly plan, for example two visits a month for a fixed price, and keep the visit dates in your diary or booking system. GoCardless's Standard plan is 1% + 20p a payment, capped at $5£4€5A$8C$8 with no monthly fee. Failed payments show in your dashboard so you can follow them up.
A worked example
A mobile valeter in Harrogate has 30 regulars on $40£30€36A$58C$56 fortnightly maintenance washes. They move them to a $80£60€71A$115C$113 monthly plan collected by GoCardless on the 1st, and set fixed rounds by area in their diary.
Before
60 visits a month, each booked and paid separately: about 5 hours, plus 2 visits a month skipped because nobody rebooked
After
30 payments collected automatically on the 1st; messages only when something changes
What it's worth
About $200£150€179A$288C$282 a month: 4 hours of booking and chasing saved, worth $133£100€119A$192C$188 at an assumed $33£25€30A$48C$47 an hour, plus 2 visits a month no longer skipped, $80£60€71A$115C$113 of work at an assumed 80% margin, about $64£48€57A$92C$90. GoCardless fees are about $32£24€29A$46C$45 a month (30 payments of $80£60€71A$115C$113 at 1% + 20p, 80p each), excluding VAT.
How to set it up
- Decide the plan: what each visit includes, how many visits a month, the price, and how customers cancel.
- Sign up for GoCardless Standard and set the plan up as a monthly subscription.
- Send each regular the sign-up link with a short explanation before their next visit.
- Put each customer's visits in your diary or booking system as area rounds.
- Check the dashboard after each collection date and contact anyone whose payment failed.
What goes wrong
- GoCardless collects money; it doesn't book visits. Keep the schedule in your diary, or customers pay for washes that never happen.
- Rain cancels visits. Say in the plan terms what happens to a missed visit, such as rebooking within the month.
- Customers can cancel a Direct Debit at their bank at any time. A failed payment is a prompt to call, not to keep visiting.
- GoCardless's prices exclude VAT, and the fee grows with the payment amount up to the $5£4€5A$8C$8 cap.