National Clothesline

Let’s face it, the first person to meet your customers is your customer service representative (CSR). This initial contact on the other side of the counter will spell success or disaster for your business, depending upon that one person’s conduct and motivation.

Many successful operators and industry consultants have been stressing this point for years.

The following attributes for the ideal CSR, in my opinion, are as follows:

• Must have a pleasant personality and

enjoy speaking to people. Note: This trait must be transmitted to, and observed by, the interviewer during the job application meeting.

• Must be neatly dressed and well groomed. Note: A simple, attractive uniform or slacks and blouse with name tag and your company’s name and/or logo is recommended.

• Must be knowledgeable of the company’s policies toward dealing with customers and handling problems and minor complaints relating to customer service.

• Must have a basic knowledge of stain composition and identification since an important portion of receiving garments for processing is the inspection for spots, noting them and discussing them with the customer. Note: This is where most operators fail in their basic training of CSRs.

• Must have a basic knowledge of alterations, minor repairs and be able to fit for waist, seat and length (outside seam). Note: This is where most operators fail in their basic training of CSRs. Also, this saves your tailor valuable time for tailoring.

• Must be basically informed of the plant’s processes and procedures, especially in drycleaning, wetcleaning, spotting and assembly. Note: This is where most operators fail in their basic training of CSRs. In my operation, my CSRs spent the first two weeks in the plant to get the “feel” for the processes.

• Must have the basic skills for handling money, operating a point-of-sale computer, filing, delivering orders and record keeping.

To acquire all of these requisites, your training program must be most comprehensive, and, above all, the candidate must be motivated to accomplish all that you expect from her or him. Note: The viable motivators will be discussed in a future article, but the #1 basic motivator is to pay a good starting salary with plenty room for increases in the future. “If you pay peanuts you will get monkeys.”

I strongly recommend the two-week plant introduction training. Working with the drycleaner/spotter and the wetcleaner/spotter will show the candidate how important these processes are for the initial flow of garments through the plant.

Then the candidate can see how the spotters begin the distribution of cleaned and spots-removed garments to the finishing units. Note: This portion assumes that all garments are carefully inspected for spots on a flat inspection board after they are removed from the cleaning machine (which is my methodology).

Next, the candidate will observe how the garments are finished and detailed. This will show the candidate the importance of this operation and its major contribution to the appearance of quality when delivered to the customer.

Next, the candidate will work with the inspector, assembler and bagger to see how the finished order is assembled and prepared for the proper preservation and presentation to the customer.

The next phase of the training program will comprise all of the customer relations and clerical procedures for working in the customer service area. These subjects should be taught in a classroom together with on-the-job training in the customer service area. This last phase would be about the second two weeks of the training program.

In my operation, the training phase paid a little more than minimum wage for the plant portion to find out if the candidate will be suitable for the job, and it paid a little above minimum wage during the customer service portion. After a few months the CSR received a sizable raise equal to any other experienced employee in our organization.

In my opinion, a good CSR should be paid almost as much as an experienced cleaner/
spotter or experienced finisher, and, in some cases, just as much.

Before I leave the CSRs, I would like to tell you about a real experience I had with a CSR in the automobile repair shop of the local Lincoln-Mercury dealership in Clearwater, Florida.

As my Lincoln Town Car was coming out of the car wash I noticed smoke coming from the engine compartment. When the car was driven out of the wash bay we lifted the hood and saw the engine parts and wiring burning.

The fire was quickly extinguished, and the car was pushed to the side and parked. It was then towed to the Lincoln-Mercury dealership for repair.

I spoke to the customer service representative (an attractive young lady) the next day at the dealership. And I was most impressed with not only her splendid appearance but also with her skill and tact in assuring me that the car will be repaired properly as though the fire never happened.

She then explained the workings of the electrical system of my car and the method of repairing and replacing the components. Again, I was most impressed with her technical knowledge of the electrical system of my car.

I asked her if she was a mechanic in addition to being a customer service representative.

She replied: “No, I am not a mechanic. I was well trained by our service manager, and I did my homework. I constantly study the technical bulletins and manuals because I love my work and my company.”

She then took me to the car rental portion of the dealership and arranged for a “loaner car” since my car was under warranty.

This was the most pleasant experience that I ever had at an automobile dealership, especially at the service department.

About three days later she called me at my home to tell me that the car was ready. I asked her why it was completed so quickly when there was so much work to be done. She replied: “I personally expedited the job from its start to its finish, and my follow-through paid off.”

The following year I returned to the dealership for service to my Lincoln, and I found out that this lovely customer service representative had been promoted to assistant service manager.

The cleaner/spotter and wetcleaner are the basis of the processing program that can make or break the workflow chain. If the garments are not thoroughly inspected for spots after cleaning and wetcleaning the flow of the garments through finishing and on to inspection, assembly and bagging will be disrupted.

If a garment has to be sent back for spotting, re-cleaning and finishing it will need to be repeated again from the beginning of the workflow chain. This is clearly non-productive, and it slows down the completion of the “lot.”

As with the CSR, the cleaner/spotter and wetcleaner must be motivated to ensure his or her dedication to a smooth workflow through inspection after cleaning for spots.

Fortunately, there are several schools for training in drycleaning, wetcleaning and spotting. Take advantage of these schools, and make sure your personnel are thoroughly trained. Keep them informed continuously of new processes and techniques. Motivate always!

The finishers are an exceptional group. It’s the finishing time that determines whether the day’s work will be out on time or whether it will be delayed. One person can come in early and clean or wash garments for three finishers, but one finisher can’t press the work for three finishers.

In most cases finishers are motivated mainly by high wages and good equipment. They must be directed by management to ensure quality workmanship with reasonable production.

A well-trained and experienced finisher who can press any type garment is worth his or her “weight in gold.”

Personnel in this department are truly the ones to determine the end quality of the finished garment.

The inspector was the subject of a series of National Clothesline articles written by me for November 2005, December 2005 and January 2006 on the subject of quality control.

As I noted in the article, the inspector has a tough job of rejecting bad pressing or missed spots and, thereby, “rustling a few feathers” with the cleaner/spotter and finisher.

If the inspector does not perform that important job properly several bad garments will wind up in customers’ orders. Therefore, the inspector has to be an experienced person, not just one “off the street.”

Training in this area is vital to ensure proper quality in the end product. The inspector controls final quality.

The person assembling orders and keeping the lots straight has the vital job of making sure that orders are not mismatched and that the lots flow smoothly through bagging.

If this person is not “on the ball” the orders will not be out on time, and the entire workflow process will be delayed resulting in not meeting the promise times and disappointing customers. The assembling and bagging processes are, therefore, responsible for accuracy and promptness of delivery.

Without the moral support of your employees in all branches of your business, your operation will not survive in today’s difficult business environment.