The Mobile Dry Cleaning

December 2002  

In This Issue:

Introduction

Your drycleaner is human too

Upsell- Upsell- Upsell!

Hello and Happy Holidays to All

Our subscriber list has been growing. Welcome to our new subscribers and thank you to all our continuing subscribers. Most of you are also owners of the Mobile Dry Cleaning Manual and hopefully already operating your own Mobile Dry Cleaning Business.

We hope you find this issue of the December newsletter informative and helpful as you prepare to start another new year.

C.E. Hill

The Mobile Dry Cleaning Manual

Your Dry Cleaner is Human Too:

As a business owner, you are confronted with many different situations.  You are faced with customer growth, customer retention, daily operations, bills to pay, government issues, and any thing else that comes across your desk. 

One of your biggest concerns is giving your customer a product and service with which they can be happy.  You know you can control the service, but can you control the quality of the drycleaning process? That duty lies with your drycleaner.

You may be faced with a dilemma.  It is your responsibility to see that you provide adequate drycleaning to your customers, but you don’t do the cleaning or have much knowledge in this field so you are at the mercy of the cleaner/spotter.  What should you do?

If you are having problems giving your customers quality drycleaning, you must address this with your drycleaner.  Keep in mind though, your drycleaner is a businessperson also and faces the same problems and, sometimes, on an even  larger scale.  His frustrations are also real.  When confronted with a situation that needs his co-operation and input to come to a conclusion, handle the occasion professionally. 

Your customers can be very forceful and aggravating at times, but try not to direct your frustration and anger at the dry cleaner.  When a garment is returned due to unsatisfactory work or careless handling, don’t attack your dry cleaner.  Explain the situation, discuss the customer’s complaint and ask how it can be resolved.  The drycleaner also goes through the same experience with his/her retail customers and will know how best to resolve the problem. When you become aggressive over a complaint, confrontation occurs and no one wins. Drycleaning provides a service that cares for others’ property and problems will rise.  The way you deal with these problems tells your customer a lot about you, your business, and your reliability.

Your goal is to provide the best service and quality possible to your customer, but it shouldn’t create a constant disagreement between you and the drycleaner.  Work together and work intelligentyl and problems will become much easier to solve for both of you.  If, with time and patience, you can’t find a workable solution then perhaps you should be looking for another source of dry cleaning.

Upsell – Upsell – Upsell!

When you go into business for yourself, you want to make real money; you have to be able to market yourself and your products or services.

 While watching TV one day, I saw a commercial offering a specialized cooking pot that looked perfect for one of my cooking duties and it was offered at just the right price.  After calling the 800 number and ordering the particular pot, the customer rep asked if I wished to purchase utensils that would compliment the pot. I was also asked if I would like to purchase a mitt designed specifically to be used with this pot to protect your arm and hand from burns or scalding.  After declining the special offers but before I could complete giving the required information, I was asked to hold the line for a moment.  Immediately I was transferred to another rep to complete the order and was again approached with the same offers as before.

Had I felt the need for these products and agreed to the offers, a $14.95 sale would have turned into $29.95. Double the original purchase.  Think of the extra cash earned if only 25% of the callers purchased these extra items (I don’t know what the actual percentage of purchasers ordering these items is, but I am reasonably sure 25% is a low figure).

Go to any fast food window and you will always be asked, “Do you want fries with your order?”  Eat at a restaurant and you will be asked, “Would you like dessert?  This is upselling and it is very effective.

You should be doing the same thing.  When a customer gives you an item for cleaning, ask if it needs any repairs.  If you receive men’s garments, ask if there are any shirts to be laundered. If you receive a sweater, ask if it needs to be depilled (removing the fuzz balls that collect on knitted garments from wear).  When a raincoat is offered for cleaning suggest water repelling.  All these services increase your sales volume and take no more effort than talking.

Take the time to plan what you want to promote that particular day or week and leave no stone-unturned promoting it.  If you don’t always see your customer, leave a flyer suggesting you can stop on your next trip and pick-up the garment in question.

Studies have shown that upselling increases your sales figures by 32% on average.  Isn’t it foolish and unwise to pass up such a lucrative opportunity?

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Keep Those Customers.

Here’s a staggering statistic. According to Howard Kaschyk’s article in the November 2002 issue of the American drycleaner, on average, more than 40% of your customers today will not be your customers next year. 

It is important to understand, that he is referring to retail cash & carry establishments and not necessarily to Mobile Dry Cleaning Services.  However, as in the case of any business, you will loose customers.  I have found that 10-15% customer erosion is more accurate with Mobile Services, but even those numbers will hurt your annual sales figures.

Getting new customers is no easy task!  You must constantly promote your service and seek out that person who wants the convenience of home delivery and/or is dissatisfied with their present service.  It is important to replace that annual customer erosion and, at the same time, add additional customers to promote business growth.

But, don’t loose sight of the forest for the trees. You first priority is to keep your present customer.  He/she is your lifeline.  An existing customer is always easier to sell added services to than a new customer, a happy existing customer will be a positive source of new customers for your business, and an existing customer promotes repeat sales week after week.

Provide outstanding customer service, quality cleaning and pressing and timely deliveries.  What may seem silly and unimportant to you may be very serious to your customer. The attitude “get a life” should never be portrayed to your customer.  Always be sympathetic to their attitudes and apologetic to anything that upsets them.  Also be certain that you provide what the customer wants and if something occurs they do not like make certain it doesn’t happen again.  Keep records and use your information.  It is an easy chore, and helps maintain that important customer base, and those sales dollars you work so hard to achieve.

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The future is yours, you are now a business owner, an S.O.B., and only you
can make it happen.