National Clothesline

Caroline Schoeder, a noted author, said, “Some people change when they see the light, others when they feel the heat”.

What kind of businessperson are you? Do you wait until you feel the heat? Is your landlord asking you to change your cleaning solvent? Will your landlord want to sell the property you are renting? Are you prepared to have a Phase 2 inspection done?

People fear change. It is natural. In fact, it is so natural a simplistic little book was written to allay fear. Read the best seller Who Moved My Cheese? by Spencer Johnson M.D. If you are making changes in your business, purchase multiple copies and ask your employees to read the book.

How have you changed your business in the last year? If you are doing what you always did, you will get what you have always gotten.

Are sales dropping? What are you doing to change? Sit down and create a written picture of your company listing what has remained the same and for what length of time. Once you have a detailed written description, determine what you have to do to change your company.

A good place to start will be a visit to the Clean Show in Las Vegas. Besides talking to me, you will be able to visit with other consultants in the Cleaners Supply Booth. You can meet the internet-marketing guru Darcy Moen. If you want to take your marketing to the internet, give Darcy a call at (306) 721-0124. Any drycleaner who does not have a web site is three cans short of a six-pack.

An easy change to make in your business is diversifying your services. I know of one company that only drycleans clothing and launders shirts. Finished flat laundry, shoe repair, tailoring, and any other service you can think of is verboten.

You might ask, “Why offer those other services?” and my response to you is “If you don’t do it, your customers will give the business to your competitor.”

Any time one of your clients has to visit another cleaner to have their tablecloth washed and ironed, you risk the loss of that customer.

Shoe repair is the easiest thing to do. Find a local shoe repair company to do the work and you are now in the shoe repair business.

What I did when I started shoe repair was purchase and print T-shirt bags. The bags not only had our company name on them, they also provided an easy way of bringing shoes into the plant. Staple those bags to every drycleaning order you process. Each T-shirt bag, even if used by the customer for trash, is an announcement that you repair shoes.

Alterations are a sure money-maker and the demand for the service is constant. People are always gaining or losing weight, which means they alter what they own or buy new garments.

If you pay a commission to the seamstress or tailor, you will find the production of that individual will increase. Pay by the hour and the alteration work will somehow fill 40 hours.

Finished flat work, especially tablecloths, are a huge profit maker.

If you have the space, a washing machine and hot head or flat work ironer will get you started. Do not forget to look at what the competition is doing. Whatever their packaging is, you will have to make yours better.

Garment restoration, floor mats, carpet and upholstery cleaning are all services that many companies are providing to increase their income.

If you can use your current equipment, it is easy to transition to doing uniforms and other kinds of garments being handled by industrial drycleaners.

Packaging can be another change in how you run your business. Every consumer wants a garment returned that is immediately wearable.

Customers want a garment that looks as though it is brand new. What that means is delivering clothing in packaging that emulates department store packaging.

One company I worked for went so far as to deliver suits on wooden hangers, just like the hanger a new suit comes on.

Pants should be hung from the waist, not with safety pins but with hangers that have clips, the same way new merchandise is delivered.

What other packaging can you change to make your finished garments look as though they were just picked up at Nordstrom ’s or Bloomingdales?

Putting sweaters in special bags instead of folding them over hangers is a great way to differentiate your company from the competitor.

Don’t forget to put your company name on any new packaging you start using. Spend an hour in the clothing department of a good department store and take a lesson in retail packaging.

The average consumer equates tissue paper with extra care.

Yes, there will be the customer who does not want tissue, but that person is the exception, not the rule.

Tissue paper in the folded sweater, in shirt and blouse sleeves and under the shoulders of the shirts and blouses is a good start.

You can also use tissue in suit coat sleeves and the shoulder areas.

With proper packaging, you make your product stand out even if it isn’t a standout product.

How long has it been since you changed the appearance of your counter sales area? When was the last time the building you are in was painted?

Are you aware that sales will increase if you remodel your sales area? New counters, signs and a fresh coat of paint will make your place look and feel better.

What color building stands out? Drive into the highest-end shopping areas and see what color the buildings are.

What color is your building? How faded is it? Putting a few dollars into the appearance of your plant, store, or truck has immediate return on investment.

Are the walls in the production department looking worse than the inside of your garage? Would you want to work in a dingy and dusty area? Will your employees be happier in a clean, freshly painted environment, or one that has not been changed in 10 years?

Check the restrooms. If a customer wants to use your rest room, how do you feel about the impression it will make on that person?

Is your route growing or are you complacently sitting in your office waiting for growth that never happens?

How are you going to change that zero growth into a vibrant, exciting company with a new route being added every six months?

Don’t say it isn’t possible because you are wrong. Remember, the word is change. You have to be willing to change how you do business to make that route grow.

Think back to what I wrote earlier, web site, web site, web site.

In addition to using a web site to market your route business, think about adding a sales force without paying one cent for their help.

How can you get a new sales force that will not be money out of your pocket? I have fudged a little, there will be a cost, but it will be so minimal that it won ’t affect the bottom line.

Either you or your current sales representative must have the communication skills, appearance and personality to be able to walk into a retail-clothing store and communicate what services you can provide.

Retailers have soiled clothing all the time. Customers try on garments and soil them or wear and return items.

The retailer has to clean that garment and get it back into inventory.

This is where you enter the picture. Offer your services to the retailer at a minimal price, and ask the retailer for referrals in return for the low amount you are charging their place of business.

How easy is that? How easy is it to walk into a place of business and deal with another businessperson rather than a consumer?

You must be willing to extend yourself and change your thought process.

Are you going to see the light or wait until you feel the heat?

The choices are yours, change or remain the same. Complacency is your enemy. What are you going to do about your complacency?