National Clothesline

Everyone wants to increase sales. I get that question every month.

“What can I do to increase sales?”

Another common question is, “How can I increase profits?”

Both questions can be summed up as “How do I increase my sales and make more money?”

Speaking of money, William A. Ward said the following about the subject: “Before you speak, listen. Before you write, think. Before you spend, earn. Before you invest, investigate. Before you criticize, wait. Before you pray, forgive. Before you quit, try. Before you retire, save. Before you die, give.”

When I first went into business, I was the fortunate recipient of my father’s sage advice. In case I did not mention this previously, my father is the reason I went into the drycleaning business. His dream was to have his sons in business with him. Unfortunately, by the time this could have transpired, he came down with Parkinson’s disease and then dementia, a condition that slowly deteriorated his mind.

Before my dad became ill, and while he was operating his own extremely busy and profitable plant, he said to me, “Harvey, if you can’t give it away for free, you won’t be able to sell it.”

At that time, my counter sales were flat with no growth.

Dad also said, “If the customers don’t know where you are, they can’t bring in the clothes.”

Those two messages were extremely strong. I was wet behind the ears at age 24, and learning how to operate a drycleaning business. The first priority in my mind was to create exposure for my business. The location in a free-standing building was great, but the existing signage was miniscule. You could not read the name of the company until you were next to the building.

A large sign was designed and ordered. The sign was made up of two sections, the bottom very large, and the top section, smaller and rotating. Today, with new zoning laws, you could never put a sign like that on the roof as I did. That red rotating sign created exposure and continues to do so after 40-plus years.

Next came giving away something for nothing. I put an ad in the local throw-away newspaper. At that time, there were weekly local papers delivered to every home in a neighborhood. There was no charge to the consumer to receive the paper. These papers provided local news and advertising for local merchants.

The ad was very simple: “One Pair of Pants Cleaned Free.” No contingencies were attached to the ad. People came rushing in to get their free drycleaning. Many told me that they did not know the business existed, even though it had been open for two years.

Dad’s advice was continuously followed. Business grew and thrived. Those two suggestions from my father were the fertilizer that started the growth of my business. Since we did not have computers, it was imperative for me to learn every customer’s name. I also tried to remember whether it was starch or no starch, in a box or on a hanger, and any other requests.

Not only did I learn the customer’s names, I learned about their spouses, parents, and children. The relationships with the customers became personal. The customers would learn about my family, just as I learned about theirs. We shared the good news and sometimes the not-so-good news.

What does all of that mean to you? It means that if you do not have exposure, and people do not know you exist, you will not do much business. If you do not establish personal relationships with your customers they might find someone else who will remember their name and thank them for bringing in their cleaning.

Let us now look at increasing profits. One of the largest eaters of profits is stragglers in the production department. I hope it is safe to assume you are operating some kind of lot system.

Many plants have lot systems, but they do not know how to manage them. In many cases, the owners do not realize that management of the production lots can eliminate overtime and increase customer satisfaction by having the orders ready when promised.

Use of a lot system does not necessarily create additional profit dollars. What will make the lot system work is getting the entire production department on the same page. That team coordination will create a better and more profitable business.

The first step is to have an understanding of what the lot system is supposed to do for you.

Do you have one lot per day or multiple lots each day? One lot per day is a profit killer. There is no urgency to complete orders. The assembly department becomes a storage area for orders that are waiting for pieces. Those pieces could be in the cleaning, pressing, or sewing departments.

Your staff will have to be taught about completing lots at designated times. Create a team atmosphere so they are all working together.

For the one-lot-per-day plant, the first change can be to a two-lot-per-day operation.

I know this concept might be hard for you to understand, but wouldn’t it be nice to know that 50 percent of your promised work is done before your finishers break for lunch? The lunch break was a tool I loved to use to get the morning lots finished.

I was operating with four, and eventually eight, lots per day. The production department was told, in advance, when half the lots were complete, they could break for lunch. That was a very simple incentive.

The only incentive that was better than a lunch break, was telling the finishers that they could go home when they finished their afternoon lot or lots. That worked when they were salaried. However, our great state of California decided we were taking advantage of our employees. Salaries were eliminated because overtime had to be based on the actual number of hours worked, not on the salary hourly rate.

In order to change from one to two or more lots you must count pieces or tickets. The old standby of one lot per day may or may not include counting. I have seen instances at clients’ plants when some days had ten hours of finishing and other days six or seven hours. These plants did not consider counting pieces or tickets. These plants had many hours of overtime and were not very profitable. That is why they called me.

If you process enough pieces to press in eight hours, it will be easy to go from two to four or eight lots. The process that will create greater profitability will be getting the lots completed and out of the assembly department. I know you can make it work because I made it work. I had six finishers turning out 150 pieces per hour. There were 50 tickets in a lot with the average ticket size of three pieces. That ticket size was controlled at the counter and marking departments.

It all goes back to measuring and managing. If you want to make more money, you will count everything. If you want to make more money, you will manage everything.