Industry:
Retail / Carwash Operations
Solution:
Cloud Claims and First Report Portal by APP Tech
Key benefits:
- Enforced documentation at the point of incident
- Faster claim resolution
- Network-wide trend identification
- A claims process that doubles as a customer service tool
A Family Business and Relationships That Matter
Mike’s Carwash has been shining up cars in Ohio, Kentucky, and Indiana for decades. It’s a family business at its core, built on customer service.
Behind that front-of-house experience is a claims and incident management operation that requires speed, precision, and the ability to see the big picture. APP Tech has been part of that operation since 2014, when Mike’s first adopted APP Tech’s Incident Management System (IMS) to move accident and damage claim reporting off paper forms and into a structured digital workflow. That original implementation set the foundation, and more than ten years later, Mike’s made another big move: transitioning to Cloud Claims, APP Tech’s updated, modern SaaS platform for claims and risk management. The result is a process that’s faster, cleaner, and for the first time, genuinely useful for identifying trends before they become problems.
The Challenge: Speed, Service, and the Truth About Pre-Existing Damage
Running a high-volume carwash means incidents. Every day, across every location, cars enter the tunnel and emerge. Most of the time, customers glow with the satisfaction of a clean, shiny car. When a claim happens, the goal is to resolve those quickly. n.
Mike’s relies on a network of cameras at tunnel entry points and inside the wash itself to investigate damage claims in real time. For example, if a customer says a scratch or dent appeared during the wash, the team pulls footage and determines whether the dent was already there when the car arrived. The camera system is the first line of defense.
But investigation is only part of the equation. Mike’s prioritizes customer service over everything and makes deliberate decisions that build loyalty. The goal is retention, not just resolution. That means the claims process is as much a customer service function as it is a risk management one, and the team needs a system that can support both.
The Old System: Functional, But Fragmented
Before Cloud Claims, Mike’s was using APP Tech’s IMS platform — a significant upgrade from the paper-based process it replaced in 2014, but one that had grown harder to work with as the team’s reporting needs evolved.
Natalie Fryerson, who leads the claims team at Mike’s and has been with the company for nearly 19 years describes the old system as functional, but pulling reports meant navigating to different areas of the system and cross-referencing data that often ended up in spreadsheets. There was no single view. And getting photos and videos attached to claims was a persistent challenge. It was possible, but it wasn’t enforced.
“Getting photos and videos submitted with the claim was a real challenge with the old system. Now it’s locked down — you can’t move forward without them. That’s been one of the biggest game changers for us.”
— Bethany McAlister, Director of Marketing and Customer Support, Mike’s Carwash
The Transition to Cloud Claims: Fast and Smooth
When Mike’s made the move to Cloud Claims, they approached it strategically. Rather than rolling it out across all locations at once, they piloted with a select group of stores. Those general managers learned the system, worked out the early questions with APP Tech’s team, and then presented the new process to the broader organization.
The rollout took less than two weeks to fully stabilize. Bethany and Natalie both describe it as smooth, a transition that didn’t generate significant disruption at the location level and was helped by a responsive APP Tech team.
“Hector was great working with Dan, our IT Business Analyst — answering questions, helping configure things when we needed it. Paul made sure we were getting what we wanted out of the transition. Their customer service was really good, start to finish.”
— Bethany McAlister, Marketing and Customer Support Director, Mike’s Carwash
What Changed: From Compliance to Insight
The most immediate operational change was structural. Mike’s enabled a business rule in Cloud Claims to ensure locations can’t complete a claim submission without attaching photos or video. The system enforces documentation at the point of entry — which means the problem of missing evidence largely disappears.
“It’s helping train our managers to get all the information that’s needed, up front” Natalie explains. That discipline at the front end also protects the team downstream, where having complete documentation speeds up both the investigation and the resolution.
Trend Identification Across Locations
The bigger shift has been in reporting. Where pulling data once meant working across multiple system areas, Cloud Claims surfaces trends at a location level in a way that’s actually actionable.
A recent example: Over a period of a month or two, the team began seeing a cluster of incidents involving equipment getting caught on truck hitches with hook-style tow receivers. The incidents were being seen across locations, not isolated to one site. Because Cloud Claims made it possible to identify the pattern quickly, Mike’s was able to trace the root cause and take corrective action across the whole network.
“We started seeing multiple incidents where our equipment was getting caught on truck hitches — the hook style. It was happening across locations, not just one site. We were able to pinpoint the issue, figure it out, and get ahead of it. That kind of thing, you might not catch it as fast without the reporting.”
— Natalie Fryerson, Customer Support Supervisor, Mike’s Carwash
That kind of catch, a network-wide operational issue surfaced through claims data, is the difference between a reporting tool and a management tool. The data is no longer just a record of what happened. It’s a signal for what to fix.
The First Report Portal: Closing the Loop at the Location Level
Alongside Cloud Claims, Mike’s is also using APP Tech’s First Report Portal, which supports frontline managers in capturing incident information at the point of contact. The portal generates the form customers fill out on-site, feeding structured data directly into the claims workflow.
For Natalie and the central claims team, the First Report Portal and Cloud Claims work as two connected layers. The location captures the initial incident in a consistent, structured format, and the claims team works the file from there. The result is a cleaner handoff and a complete record from the first touchpoint forward.
What’s Next
For now, Mike’s is focused on getting the most out of what they have. The team has what they need, and the priority is continuing to build on the reporting capability — using the data to identify trends, inform equipment maintenance decisions, and support location-level training.
