National Clothesline

A healthy, happy, and prosperous New Year to all of you.

One more month and on Sunday, February 7, we get to sit in front of our TV and enjoy another Super Bowl Sunday. That day makes Barbara a little crazy because of the starting time after 3 p.m. Pacific. She never knows when the game will finish, and when we will be able to sit down to dinner. Maybe this year I will volunteer to barbecue. That might keep the verbal abuse to a minimum.

Due to the lead-time in writing this column, it makes it difficult to be a good prognosticator. Right now, Indianapolis and New Orleans are playing great ball. Put those two teams in the same stadium and with Peyton Manning and Drew Brees throwing passes, we should have a fun, high-scoring shoot out.

Question of the month: “Are there any companies who are doing better in this down economy? My sales were over $1.3 million in 2006 but the last three years have brought almost a 25 percent drop.”

Yes, there are companies that are doing better. This is what they are doing to maintain and, in some cases, improve sales.

Today, a successful company must respond to the current economic situation with innovation. I always stress differentiation to my clients. What do your competitors do that you can do better?

How can you be innovative in your market? Can you package better?

Can you stay open more hours?

Can you go to six-day or seven-day production instead of five-day production?

Can you change the face of your company from being a t-shirt operation to a professional business with a dress code for the CSRs?

Will your customers like free pickup and delivery service six days instead of four days each week?

What new approaches can you take in order to benefit from the new marketplace that you are dealing with? Use of your database to determine shopping habits is a great place to start.

Have you looked at social networking? When was the last time you went on the Internet and looked at Yelp to see what previous or current customers are saying about your business?

How about expanding the services you offer? I recently visited a company that did not process finished laundry such as sheets, pillowcases, duvet covers, and tablecloths.

I inquired as to whether any of their competitors were processing finished laundry, and I was told “no” by the production manager. This man supposedly had investigated all of the competition in their market area.

I drove by their biggest competitor and walked into the store. In the course of determining pricing, and services offered, I found out they not only processed finished laundry, but also had been doing it for years.

Was my client’s production manager too lazy? Did the thought of producing finished laundry frighten him? How many dollars did the production manager cost his employer because both he and the owners never took the time to find out what was going on with competition?

Have you recently investigated your competition? If not, why not?

What is your customers’ experience when they deal with your company? Does your staff wow your clients? I ran “WOW The Customer” contests from time to time. The customer service representatives who performed the best “WOW” were given bonuses.

The big thing is managing the customer relationships your company has instead of managing the sales volume. If you use customer data, the right product differentiation, a warm welcoming professional atmosphere and hire the right employees, you might see improvements in your company’s sales.

Let us talk customer relationships. Have you surveyed your customers to determine what they want?

You need to find out how customers differ in preferences, needs, and their expectations regarding drycleaning and laundry. If you do not know what your customers want, how can you give it to them?

I recently read that within the last 12 months, 67 percent of the consumers surveyed had quit a company they had been dealing with. The number one reason given by the consumers was the company did not meet their expectations. That could be quality, service or a combination of the two.

The key for you, as a business owner, is to learn what information your database can provide. Learn about market positioning, and branding. Learn what you need to do to differentiate your company in such a fashion that the difference will resonate with your customers.

Can your company deliver a consistent customer relationship experience? That experience can start on the Internet, an in-person visit to a brick and mortar location, or a simple telephone call. Call one of your locations and see if the employee identifies himself or herself by name. If not, you have a poorly trained staff, and shame on you!

This man’s next question was, “What should I measure with the data I have?”

Initially I recommend internal metrics. These measurements can include operational numbers such as PPOH in production and number of customers handled per sales representative per hour. There are some cleaners who are so self-centered that their measurements only concern themselves and what they get out of their customers.

There is another group of cleaners who create surveys that are self-serving. They create questions that will always make themselves feel good about their company and the services they currently provide. Customers are not stupid. When they feel that the survey is self-serving for the company, they will not bother responding.

When you create a survey, you need to learn what drives customers in a relationship with a drycleaning company. A good question might be, “Did we exceed your expectations? If yes, what did we do?”

Other questions will be inquiries regarding differentiation and needs. If you ask these kinds of questions, be prepared to act on them. If you do not take action, you will add some customers to a list of disappointed people.

The following is a good outline for dealing with your customers.

1. Create a company culture that makes great treatment of customers your primary goal.

2. Be certain that the services you provide meet the needs of your customers.

3. Provide the customers with as much knowledge as possible, but do not confuse the client with unnecessary information.

4. Be certain that any advice your company provides is correct.

5. If there is a problem with a customer’s garment, become the advocate for the customer. Never, ever, send a customer back to a retailer with a garment.

When customers have the right experience with your business, you will start adding new clients. Change is never easy, but if you want to increase sales today, you will have to look at making changes. These changes will cause your customers to become your raving fans.