National Clothesline

Hello, history. Get me rewrite! It’s time to revise, update and correct the oft-told story of the origins of drycleaning. Long before what has been called the first drycleaning shop, Jolly Belin Cleaners, opened in Paris, an American received a patent for a clothes cleaning process and was running a drycleaning business in New York City. This was brought to light at last month’s International Drycleaners Congress convention in China where Masashi Shimenoki of the Textile Care Information Service Inc. in Japan told of the contribution of Thomas L. Jennings to the garment care industry.

Jennings received his patent in 1821, years before the Jolly Belin shop opened in France, which was reportedly sometime in the 1840s. But Jennings was not just the first person to receive a patent for drycleaning (which he called dry scouring), he was, according to the U.S. Patent office, the first African-American to receive a patent of any kind.

Both Mr. Jennings and Monsieur Jolly were tailors who were no doubt vexed by the habit of their clothing creations to collect soils and stubborn stains. No doubt both wished for a way to remove those soils and stains without harming the fabric, dye or construction of the garment. Both probably imagined that wealth would accrue to the person who discovered such a way.

From here their stories differ. Jolly’s discovery was accidental — he accidentally knocked over a lamp, spilling its oil onto a grease-stained tablecloth. After drying, the stains were gone. Voila!

Jennings took a more purposeful approach. He experimented with different solutions and cleaning agents, testing them on various fabrics, until he found the right combination that worked, leading to his patent for “dry scouring.”

Let the record be corrected and Thomas L. Jennings receive his rightful place in the industry’s history.

Much is often said about the importance of maintaining high customer satisfaction standards. The most successful cleaners are acutely aware that excellent customer service starts long before a customer even enters your plant’s front door.

Trudy Adams of Cleaner’s Supply, who is one of the industry’s wisest customer service experts (and happens to be our profile this month, as well), is quick to point out that the customer doesn’t always come first as so many of us have been programmed to believe. True, satisfying a customer and getting them back through the door for more business is at the top of any company’s priority list. But, in order to accomplish that, you have to take care of your employees first.

Columnist Dennis McCrory expands on this notion in this month’s column. He writes: “While you can make some customers happy through brute force, you cannot sustain great customer experiences unless your employees buy into what you’re doing and are aligned with the idea.”

You simply can’t expect your employees to make your customers happy if you aren’t motivating them to do so, and such motivation is a never-ending battle. No employee can be content 100 percent of the time, obviously, but communicating with your staff consistently and addressing their complaints is a good way to ensure that they will take pride in their work.

With national employment continuing to be astronomically high, it’s easy for business owners to be skeptical about being overtly concerned with keeping their workers happy, but such attention is required for converting good employees to great ones. Most of your staff will respond positively to challenges provided they are trained to meet them and genuinely feel as if their voice matters in the company. After all, your employees would greatly prefer to be happy and excel at their position. They don’t want to lose their jobs anymore than you want to lose your customers.

A good way to keep customers, as Adams is fond of noting, is to remember that when it comes to customer service, there are no rules. The most successful practitioners of the art are willing to ignore set precepts and do whatever it takes to make customers happy. The same is true of your employees. Once you have a good, competent staff in place, your ability to keep them happy and motivated will ultimately dictate how hard they work to keep your customers coming back.








						Giving credit and correcting the record Hello, history. Get me rewrite! It’s time to revise, update and correct the oft-told story of the origins of drycleaning. Long before what has been called the first drycleaning shop, Jolly Belin Cleaners, opened in Paris, an American received a patent for a clothes cleaning process and was running a drycleaning business in New York City. This was brought to light at last month’s International Drycleaners Congress convention in China where Masashi Shimenoki of the Textile Care Information Service Inc. in Japan told of the contribution of Thomas L. Jennings to the garment care industry. Jennings received his patent in 1821, years before the Jolly Belin shop opened in France, which was reportedly sometime in the 1840s. But Jennings was not just the first person to receive a patent for drycleaning (which he called dry scouring), he was, according to the U.S. Patent office, the first African-American to receive a patent of any kind. Both Mr. Jennings and Monsieur Jolly were tailors who were no doubt vexed by the habit of their clothing creations to collect soils and stubborn stains. No doubt both wished for a way to remove those soils and stains without harming the fabric, dye or construction of the garment. Both probably imagined that wealth would accrue to the person who discovered such a way. From here their stories differ. Jolly’s discovery was accidental — he accidentally knocked over a lamp, spilling its oil onto a grease-stained tablecloth. After drying, the stains were gone. Voila! Jennings took a more purposeful approach. He experimented with different solutions and cleaning agents, testing them on various fabrics, until he found the right combination that worked, leading to his patent for “dry scouring.” Let the record be corrected and Thomas L. Jennings receive his rightful place in the industry’s history. Who are you trying to make happy? Much is often said about the importance of maintaining high customer satisfaction standards. The most successful cleaners are acutely aware that excellent customer service starts long before a customer even enters your plant’s front door. Trudy Adams of Cleaner’s Supply, who is one of the industry’s wisest customer service experts (and happens to be our profile this month, as well), is quick to point out that the customer doesn’t always come first as so many of us have been programmed to believe. True, satisfying a customer and getting them back through the door for more business is at the top of any company’s priority list. But, in order to accomplish that, you have to take care of your employees first. Columnist Dennis McCrory expands on this notion in this month’s column. He writes: “While you can make some customers happy through brute force, you cannot sustain great customer experiences unless your employees buy into what you’re doing and are aligned with the idea.” You simply can’t expect your employees to make your customers happy if you aren’t motivating them to do so, and such motivation is a never-ending battle. No employee can be content 100 percent of the time, obviously, but communicating with your staff consistently and addressing their complaints is a good way to ensure that they will take pride in their work. With national employment continuing to be astronomically high, it’s easy for business owners to be skeptical about being overtly concerned with keeping their workers happy, but such attention is required for converting good employees to great ones. Most of your staff will respond positively to challenges provided they are trained to meet them and genuinely feel as if their voice matters in the company. After all, your employees would greatly prefer to be happy and excel at their position. They don’t want to lose their jobs anymore than you want to lose your customers. A good way to keep customers, as Adams is fond of noting, is to remember that when it comes to customer service, there are no rules. The most successful practitioners of the art are willing to ignore set precepts and do whatever it takes to make customers happy. The same is true of your employees. Once you have a good, competent staff in place, your ability to keep them happy and motivated will ultimately dictate how hard they work to keep your customers coming back.