National Clothesline

The Facility (outside):

• Outside signage.

• Outside cleanliness.

The Facility (inside):

• Inside signage.

• Inside cleanliness.

The Customer Service Representatives (CSRs):

• The time it takes to be greeted.

• Uniform.

• Name tag.

• Did the CSR use my name?

• Did the CSR ask for my address?

• How did the CSR handle my special requests?

• Did the CSR inspect the garments when counting them?

• In addition, and most important, did the CSR have a positive, upbeat attitude? The CSR’s attitude is the most important part of waiting on customers.

Using a mystery shopper is an excellent way to find out how your CSRs treat customers in your drop stores or at your main counter when you aren’t there. Mystery shopping is also a very good way to check up on your competitors. When you mystery shop your competitors, give your mystery shopper the above checklist to follow. You can also ask a friend to mystery shop your locations. Once again, give them the same checklist to follow. You can modify this list to fit your needs.

Mystery shopping is not a new idea. There are companies that specialize in providing mystery shoppers to retail businesses. In an article in the Wall Street Journal (Selling Civility by Peter Scott), the author states that “For some time now, a general incivility has made its way into everyday life. It is noticeable in a thousand different ways, not least in the small exchanges between buyer and seller, customer and clerk.

“In the small town America of yesteryear, such exchanges might have been governed by a genial familiarity. But the shop around the corner has given way to sprawling franchises and large corporate identities. With them, it seems, has come an impersonality and an indifference that adds stinging little indignities to a simple transaction.”

The real purpose in the mystery shopping exercise is to improve customer service by identifying the strengths and weaknesses that exist. The mystery shopping companies state that, “employees respect what you inspect.” The WSJ article reports that the mystery shopping business in the US is a $435 million business, according to a study done by Florida State University.

Customer service in the U.S. has gotten so bad that the McDonald Corporation is creating customer recovery teams to combat the problem. According to a recent Dow Jones newswire report earlier, a University of Michigan study on customer satisfaction ranked the world’s largest fast food chain among the poorest performing retailers.

The newswire obtained information on McDonald's in-house web site that stated that “on any given day, 11 percent of McDonald's customers are dissatisfied with their visit and take time to share their complaint with the restaurant.”

How many people beyond that 11 percent are dissatisfied? A whole bunch! McDonald's estimates that their annual loss in sales because dissatisfied customers don’t come back as often as they would if they had a good experience is over $750 million a year.

The general coarsening of society makes delivering good customer service — not great or excellent — a bigger problem every day.

Don’t despair. There is light at the end of the tunnel. The problem can and will be corrected by the business owners and managers who become proactive in the hiring and training of their customer service personnel.

The employment situation is improving for employers. With more applicants to choose from, your biggest challenge will be deciding which applicant to hire.

Earlier in this article I said that attitude is the most important aspect of customer service.

Attitude — good, bad, or indifferent — starts with the owner and managers. The drycleaners who truly believe that they offer the best service have employees who believe the same. When the employees believe that the company they work for is the best drycleaner in town, the customers also believe it.

Positive attitudes are taught and cultivated by good leadership. Good leaders manage by example. It costs you absolutely nothing to smile, to enthusiastically say “good morning” and be pleasant to everyone you meet.

For most of us, being pleasant all the time is not instinctively natural – it must be learned. You can learn by practice and eventually it will become natural. Be a good leader, set the example for your employees and your business will prosper.

In the game of business the more you know the better you can play the game.