National Clothesline
MFM cruise sails out of the slump
Methods for Management held its biennial MFM Success Conference aboard the Norwegian Sky cruise liner
traveling between Miami and the Bahamas March 22–26, 2010.
The theme of Success 2010 was “Sailing Out of the Slump,” focusing on cooperative activities to promote business development and
profitability by sharing ideas and creativity among owners in the drycleaning
industry.
Cleaners from across the United States and Canada participated in roundtable
discussions covering cross-selling, the process of going green, cutting edge
technologies, call center effectiveness, route development, wedding and special
event business development, automation and productivity.
Discussion leaders included Margaret Butler of Dublin Cleaners, Steve Schmitt of Don’s Claytons, Stu Crane of Glyndon Lord Baltimore, John Rudolph of Page the Cleaner, and Bake and Patricia Shaffer of Shaffer Drycleaning & Laundry.
The owners also combined efforts in a case study challenge, where five teams,
each with the same fictional company outline, were asked to make key decisions
to develop a new business plan to promote sales, profit, efficient production
and future company prosperity.
Five leaders from the fabric care industry and business world made
presentations.
Trudy Adams, director of customer service and sales for Cleaner’s Supply, presented “Your Competitive Edge for Racing Out of the Slump: World Class Customer Service
and Employee Motivation.”
Don Desrosiers, president of Tailwind Systems, presented “Sailing Out of the Slump by Rethinking Everything” and “Saving Labor Without Automation.”
Carolyn Nankervis of Marketwise Consulting Group Inc. presented “Trends for 2010 — Five Principles for Smarter Business.”
John Rudolph of Cleaning by Page and Nationwide Carpet Cleaning, presented “Racing Strategy: Convert Your Telephones from Overhead to Profit!”
Tom Pisani, finance and economics adjunct professor and former CFO of a Fortune 500 company,
presented “Smooth Sailing or Storms Ahead: An Economic Update”
Members receiving “MfM Best of the Year” awards during the conference included:
Mark Callaghan of Blue Sky Cleaners for Van and Best Idea.
Arthur and Charles Anton of Anton’s Cleaners for Website and Marketing Effort.
Keh & Gary McCracken of Clothesline Cleaners for New Store and Social Media Program.
Joe and John-Claude Hallak of Hallak Cleaners for New Plant.
Brian and David Cass of Martinizing for Route Development.
Dawn Marie, Kathleen and David Crouse of Crouse’s Cleaners for Cross-Selling Program.
Alonso Corona of Greene’s Cleaners for Recession Money Saver.
Bake and Patricia Shaffer of Shaffer’s Drycleaning & Laundry for Environmental Commitment.”
Kermit Engh of Fashion Cleaners and Larry Hill of American Cleaners for “MFM Cheerleaders.
Attendees were also invited to attend two plant tours. MFM Members disembarked
the ship on March 24 to visit New Oriental Cleaners in Nassau, hosted by Lana Lee-Brogdon, Henry Lee and Chris Brogdon.
Before returning home on March 26, the group attended a tour of Rey’s Cleaners in Miami, hosted by Angel Suarez and his sons, Frank and Angel D. Suarez.
Attendees were entertained with an original song, “Success 2010 Blues,” written and performed by Keh and Gary McCracken of Clothesline Cleaners. Keh also taught everyone to get out of their comfort
zone with a new skill — how to hula.
Methods for Management serves the drycleaning industry through independent
consulting relationships and coordinating. Also, MFM management bureaus provide
a safe, non-competitive environment where members are comfortable sharing
information, issues, and concerns with peers that they trust and respect.
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