National Clothesline

Paper or Plastic? Sometimes asked in earnest, other times as a joke, it’s a question that seems to speak of the trivialities of daily life. A decision of no great import, a choice between two things that really don’t matter much.

Or do they?

A grocery shopper we know recently switched stores because the one she had been taking her hundred-dollar-a-week business to for years decided to stop offering that “trivial” choice. Apparently the store determined that everyone should always want plastic. They were wrong, and whatever cost savings their one-choice-only policy may bring will be more than offset by the revenue loss of the “Paper, please” customers to a nearby competitor whose store is, on the whole, no better.

The point here isn’t to suggest that cleaners should be offering a paper-or-plastic choice. Rather it is to demonstrate that the things you can lose customers over may have nothing to do with the quality, service, convenience trifecta. You can be doing everything right, but make one little seemingly trivial change and — oops — there go some customers.

Customers tend to be creatures of habit. As long as they are reasonably satisfied, they will keep coming back. They don’t want to spend time looking for a new cleaner any more than a cleaner wants to spend money looking for new customers to replace those ones that leave.

So when a customer stops doing business with you, find out why. In his column this month, Dennis McCrory talks about win-back strategies — how to get a customer who has stopped coming in to return. The first thing you have to do to win them back is to find out why they left in the first place. How do you do this? One way is to simply ask. You may find out that it is something as trivial as paper or plastic.

When South Central Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection inspectors targeted drycleaners last fall, they discovered that 100 percent of the plants they visited were on the same page. Unfortunately, it was from the wrong book. Every business they inspected failed to be in compliance with the necessary paperwork. Every single one.

While many businesses were guilty only of some missing areas on the compliance calendars, others had absolutely no paperwork whatsoever. On the plus side, the inspectors did acknowledge that Pennsylvania cleaners’ equipment was up to date and the cleaning solvents were being handled properly. However, the poor calendar maintenance and lack of paperwork were so pervasive that they believed federal inspectors and penalties would be the best solution for the problem.

Truth is, that seems to be the only working solution to any environmental problem. Slogans like “Give a Hoot, Don’t Pollute” don’t quite cut it. People need a different kind of motivation: the fear of paying heavy retribution. In recent years, that has certainly been the trend. Environmental crimes have become more contemptible and are bearing dire consequences.

Just look at the ongoing case against AAD Distribution, who blatantly disregarded several environmental laws and illegally stored and dumped perc for years. Since then, two of the major players in the conspiracy have been levied with over $2.5 million in various fines and cleanup costs, as well as sentenced to over 23 years of jail time altogether.

Chances are, fines and penalties are only going to get steeper as federal agencies keep losing patience with anybody not adhering to environmental laws. You don’t have to be dumping perc or storing it illegally to incur their wrath, either. It starts with the paperwork. If it is not kept up properly, that’s the first indication that a company’s business practices might not be up to snuff. The smart move is to avoid being in the crosshairs of a federal agency in the first place. Keeping up with the little things will help you avoid big problems later on.

As for the Pennsylvania cleaners, the DEP sent out a “Drycleaner Compliance Checklist” to every cleaner in the affected areas that must be filled out and returned. The group is also hosting a series of workshops throughout the state to help inform cleaners on what they need to know to follow the law. These are just warnings, really, and cleaners are lucky to have them. From here, the stakes will only get higher, as will any fines for continued non-compliance.