National Clothesline

Quite often I am asked whether or not to service commercial accounts on a route service.

You know the drill — going to a business or office building with the intention of servicing dozens of customers at one location.

The theory that you can have hundreds of individual accounts in only a handful of locations seems possible, but quite often the reality is that it doesn ’t always work, but is definitely an option when building a growing route.

Let’s explore some pros and cons.

The most obvious benefit is you have multiple customers per stop.

Commercial accounts add value to a route when you are starting a new one.

Your delivery van is a rolling billboard.

You can branch off to residential route service with the employees.

You establish a business relationship with other professionals.

People do not like to carry their dirty clothes to work — or they forget.

Once you have one unhappy customer, you may lose them all.

High-rise buildings are often difficult for parking and security can be a hassle.

You may disrupt the normal business routine at the office.

Usually you get more shirt customers as the executives will not always be the best customers.

People leave, leaving you with unpaid or open accounts.

So which is it?

So what to do? I have seen many success stories and many horror stories. Do the pros outweigh the cons? Should you include commercial accounts on your route and can you prevent or limit some of the cons?

My response is that you should go after professionals at their place of work. Too often your competition will get there first and lock you out.

The fact of the matter is that some people do not want to leave their clothes out on the porch and feel that it is safer to bring their clothes to the office. Commercial accounts can work, but here is what you must do.

Pick up in one location at the place of business. Do not have the driver wander from office to office. Find a closet, break room, or some designated space to service the establishment. Offer to build a rack or buy a small rolling rack to service the clients. Remember, to be profitable, your route must be efficient.

Install a nice drop box with your logo, contact information and information about how the system works.

Find out who is the main contact person and wine and dine that person. Take the decision-maker to lunch and explain the overall benefit of servicing the high-rise or office facility. Build a personal relationship and develop trust between the client and your company.

When promoting the service, send a professional who best represents drycleaning to sign up the professionals.

Everyone must be on credit card billing when servicing commercial accounts. This is a must since people do leave or get fired. Do not leave yourself vulnerable for unpaid work.

Monitor the servicing time and total sales. If the driver is taking too much time parking and picking up the clothes, then offer to pick-up at their residence.

Utilize a referral program. Either provide the clients a $10 to $50 referral program or develop a group discount. I find that if you get someone from the inside to promote the business you will grow.

Provide a constant reminder for your customers so that they will remember to bring their clothes to work.

Sponsor or advertise in a newsletter. If the company has one, have an article written about your service.

These are some basic tips for maintaining a profitable route service for commercial accounts. It is often very difficult to get your foot in the door. Many have a no-soliciting policy or a gatekeeper that you must penetrate in order to get inside. It may be difficult, but perseverance can pay off when building your routes.

I am often asked who to go after or what clients are the best customers for commercial pick-up and delivery. I am providing a list of examples of successful commercial accounts, but like anything, there is no guarantee that it will work for you.

Hotels. Yes, many upper-end hotels have in-house drycleaning service, which is always same-day. My main recommendation is to not wholesale this out and to monitor payment on a regular basis.

Bill twice a month to ensure payment. Be careful; there are many horror stories here as well.

Apartment complexes. Promote this as an added benefit for the complex. Make sure that everyone is on credit card and that you don ’t give the staff big discounts. You may end up picking up only employees that are getting major discounts. Go after high-end apartment complexes and pick up in one location.

Doctors/dental offices. Lab coats are an added benefit to servicing medical offices. Often there are many professionals and the nursing staff whose spouses do drycleaning as well. The hardest part is their commitment to the service.

Lawyers. Not always the best, but worth looking in to.

Car salesmen. More horror stories than success stories here. But it’s still worth investing some resources when building your routes. Rental car places often provide some business as well.

Teachers. It’s often a bonus when dealing with other customers who are snowbirds. They are definitely seasonal, but also many teachers ’ hours do not allow them the time to get to the drycleaner. Also, they can bring their spouses ’ clothes in as well. Again, you need one stop to service all the staff. Offer a teacher discount and get the community to recognize the effort.

Police/fire departments. Great for representing the community, but as you know, discounting always occurs. Keep it to the uniforms and offer to clean the flags for free.

Clothing stores. Hey, why not? Clothes get returned and need to be cleaned. Definitely a hard sale, but well worth it.

The bottom line is that commercial accounts may take longer to sign up and develop, but in the long run, they will be worth the effort.