National Clothesline

--There is one little question of the month at the end of this article. I never expected to receive a question like this. It made me feel like Ann Landers.

If you read last month’s article, you know I had foot surgery at the end of July. July was difficult for our family. Barbara had cataract surgery and the doctor said, “I accidentally scratched your eye.” During the course of my surgery the doctor said a bone he was moving “shattered, and it had to be put together like a jigsaw puzzle.” Those are not the kind of words you like to hear after being operated on.

If we look at professionals who perform operations on us, and the errors they make, should we get angry when a spotter pulls color or a presser stretches a garment out of shape? Your employees are just as human as the doctor who scratched Barbara’s eye or the doctor who broke the bone in my foot.

Now it is September and we have the NFL to entertain us. The World Series is right around the corner and college basketball is close behind. I love this time of the year. The weather is changing, the summer heat is ending, and business starts picking up.

Our world is quickly changing. President Obama is going to change how our medical system works. Whether it will be better or worse after the change will be proven by time. It makes me feel as though we are looking at socialized medicine. What do you think?

Another change in our world is the names of children. Over the last ten to 15 years, have you noticed that children are given first names that were once upon a time considered last names? My youngest grandson’s name is Griffin. The boy is going to have to deal with the name Griffin Gershenson for the rest of his life. His big brother is Reed, another last name that is now a first name.

What all of this is leading up to is a discussion about change. My friend and fellow writer for the National Clothesline says it best. Don Desrosiers states, “If you do what you always did, you’ll get what you always got.” If your business is stagnating or dropping, consider changes.

One of the biggest changes you can make is using the best tool you have at your disposal — your customer database. I hate to tell you how large the percentage is of companies that do not take advantage of that tool. The business owner is either too busy putting out fires, or too lazy to use the database to market to existing customers.

If you are smart, talk to your software company and learn about the tools that are provided by the software you use. If a customer only brings in drycleaning and not anything else, that means another company is getting those extra dollars you should be getting.

I would hear from some customers, “You are my good cleaner.” Other customers, who were wealthier, would state, “You are my cheap cleaner.” I bet you have heard those expressions far too many times. There is a third group of customers who bring you everything. You have to love those people.

Your job is to take the customers who think you are the “good” or “cheap” cleaner and convert them to a bring-everything client. You have all the information at your disposal. You have a software company that will be happy to tell you how to utilize the tools at your disposal. Put your database to work and get more business from your existing customers. If you don’t know how, I can help you.

A fast way to bring in more business is creating a unique market niche. Wedding gown cleaning and preservation produces big dollars. Do you want to specialize in that field? Go to your computer and enter “Wedding gown cleaning” in the search engine. If another cleaner does not come up you have a wide-open field in front of you.

You can visit the boutiques that sell wedding gowns. You can create a referral system with the shops. For every referral you receive for processing, the wedding gown shop would receive a commission. You can give discounts to the shop employees for their personal drycleaning. You might have to get off the chair in your office to make it happen, but it can be done. This is what’s known as working on your business, not in your business.

If you are unable to do it yourself, have your best and most personable route driver or counter sales representative do it. That individual must be dressed like a business person when he or she solicits these stores. Polo shirts or tee shirts are not acceptable attire for business solicitation. If you look and dress like a professional person you will act like a professional person.

You can incentivize your route sales representative or counter sales representative with a bonus for any new shop that becomes a customer. Before you send your employee out, create a sales brochure or handbook. This brochure or handbook will demonstrate to the wedding gown shop that you are not the same as the other drycleaners. There will be pictures of gowns that have been processed by your company. You could have before and after pictures of stained gowns. Use a little creativity and ingenuity and you will be a winner.

There is a large amount of money to be made in a specialty niche. Can we take the wedding gown example and do the same with stores that specialize in leather or fur sales? Can we do the same with linen shops or shoe stores? Retailers are your oysters. Open the oyster shells and get the pearls.

Here is the unusual question I received. The question was so funny I almost ignored it for fear it was a hoax. Nevertheless, I hope you enjoy it. “Harvey, I am a married man. One of my counter girls keeps grabbing me in a sensitive area. What should I do?”

I was not certain if he meant the counter sales area as being sensitive, or a body part. I was laughing so hard it made me forget my foot surgery. Because this question was out of my field of expertise, I decided not to answer. Wait until his wife finds out. Then we will learn what is meant by a “sensitive area.”

If any of you have a question pertaining to drycleaning. and not extraneous matters, please email the question to consultme@msn.com.