National Clothesline

Many drycleaners think that value means either low price or that it’s merely the relationship of quality to price. For instance, some cleaners promote any garment for $1.99 as a value position, ignoring other components of what customers actually perceive as value.

Although price and

quality are critical to building value, in today’s competitive marketplace these only meet customers’ basic expectations. Today, value is a more complex proposition.

In addition to price and quality, value is derived from convenience, service, and experience. When combined effectively, they enable drycleaners to command higher prices for their services.

Consider the convenience component of this value equation: According to recent marketing studies, 75 percent of customers believe they need to manage their time more efficiently, and 71 percent believe they need to find ways to reduce stress in their lives. Customers increasingly feel there is not enough time to do the things they need to do, which contributes to the high stress levels so prevalent today.

It’s no wonder customers’ tolerance for error has grown so thin.

Drycleaners can take advantage of this development by ensuring that their services genuinely help consumers simplify their lives, whether through longer hours of operation, providing service on Sundays, pick-up and delivery or, even, improved packaging.

Improvements to packaging can be: plastic hangers with skirt-clips, jacket sleeves stuffed with tissue or customized to each customer’s preference (as in “Have it your way”).

Service is the next component of the value equation, and we are experiencing a substantial service void in the drycleaning industry. Customers tell us that good service is more important to them than ever — so much so, they are willing to pay more for what they perceive to be superior service.

Yet satisfaction levels for drycleaning and laundry have reached all-time lows. According to the American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI), overall satisfaction for the service sector, which includes drycleaners, has dropped by a greater percentage in the past six years than for any other sector in the U.S. economy. Interestingly, poor service is the reason most customers cite for changing cleaners — well ahead of both quality and competitive activity.

Although there are many attributes that contribute to overall satisfaction in any service business, one key factor is the comfort of knowing that a cleaner will stand behind his work.

Service-oriented drycleaners offer unconditional guarantees to ensure their customers’ satisfaction.

A guarantee will instill confidence. Many cleaners are afraid to try this. They say, “Oh, I can’t do that! Every customer will want their money back, and I’ll go broke.” Or “Too many of my customers will take advantage of me. I won’t make any money.”

These kinds of objections are only used to mask their true concerns — namely, that their work is below par. And people will, indeed, ask for their money back.

Actual studies show that this is not true. Here’s what does happen: sales increase because the customer has confidence shopping with you. Guarantees will bring you more business. Guarantees will give your customers more confidence to use your services.

Guarantees will give your business a greater sense of quality. Guarantees will set your business apart from the competition. Guarantees will position you as the “first choice” drycleaner.

Here’s what you need to know. There is a small group of people who attempt to take advantage of anyone they do business with. Of course the laws of nature and giving and receiving catch up with them in the end. The only free cheese is in the mousetrap.

The point is, you can’t design your business to protect yourself from a few ignorant people. That’s known as, “Throwing the baby out with the bathwater.”

Build your business around customers you want to attract. And one of the best ways to attract good new customers is to take away their risk of doing business with you.

The third component of the value equation is experience — not yours, but the customer’s. More than just the absence of problems and inconvenience, experience is the total of all the positive and negative encounters a customer has while doing business with you.

Do you enjoy going to McDonald’s? Even if you don’t like the food, the experience is usually pleasant.

Do you enjoy going to Disney World or Disneyland? Most people do. Why? Because these are both well-engineered experiences.

That’s right. It’s no accident that all of these places make you “feel good” when you visit them. The colors, the sounds, the smells, are all considered in the design and construction of these establishments.

We are all in business to satisfy the customer. Or, at least, we should be.

However, many cleaners don’t understand how to satisfy the customer. They don’t understand how the customer really wants to be satisfied. So they opt for the easiest out. The short term fix. Discounting.

Since we are the ones in control of our customers’ experiences we are responsible for their fragmented vision of our services. We are the ones who must redirect their focus toward the whole pie. The entire experience.

Would you consider your experiences at McDonald’s or Walt Disney’s to be pleasant if the people that worked there were less than cheerful and helpful?

In fact, if you’ve ever had a bad experience at one of these, a front-line employee was probably the reason. The same can happen in your store! Don’t allow employees to be anything less than courteous and friendly at all times. Even with other employees.

Tomorrow morning, when you come to work, drive up to your store, as if you were a customer. Park in a customer parking space. Note if there is ample parking. Note if your building and signage are well painted.

Come back at night and check to see if they are well lit. Walk into the call-office and look around like a customer. Is everything clean, neat, well painted, pleasant and cheerful to look at? Do the surroundings make you feel good? Would they make you feel good, even if you weren’t the boss?

Smart drycleaners realize that providing value is a means to an end. Value is the key to customer satisfaction, which in turn results in higher levels of customer loyalty. In addition to price and quality, convenience, service and experience are all necessary to achieve and maintain profitable market leadership.