Coupon Discount Offers Are the Wrong Way to Try to Build Your Wash-Dry-Fold Business
I don’t know how many times I’ve been bombarded by salespeople representing Groupon or some other online coupon service, trying to cut into my wash-dry-fold revenue.
In fact, I’ve discussed these couponing products with fellow store owners throughout the country. In my mind, there is a certain group of customers that clips coupons – and, traditionally, these customers are not the type of customer you’re looking for, especially for a full-service product like wash-dry-fold laundry.
My closest drycleaning competitor down the street runs Groupon coupons every couple of weeks, and all I ever hear from him is that “they come, they use me one time and then they jump ship.”
If you want to change a customer’s habits, you want to be certain that they’re the right customers. You don’t want the “price shoppers.” Of course, some wash-dry-fold customers are definitely coupon clippers, so you need to be careful to attract the ones who instead are looking for convenience – because those are the customers who will be willing to pay a fair price for your service.
Do you need to market to those convenience-minded customer to get their attention? Absolutely. However, coupons aren’t the way to do it. These customers require an offering with some value and meaning behind it.
Rather than blitzing your entire neighborhood with a Groupon discount, you need to focus on a smaller, more targeted group of customers with your offering. And, typically, the most successful kind of offering to these clients is to provide some sort of service for free, but for one time only.
When it’s free, the customer doesn’t expect no-cost service every time, so you’re not going to get as much attention from the coupon clippers. On the drycleaning side, free one-time shirt service is an example of an offering I’ve seen work quite effectively.
Even with my commercial accounts business, the first thing I always do is offer a free sample of our service, because the prospective client realizes I’m trying to get to know them and that I want them to become comfortable with my laundry operation. After all, I’m trying to build a business relationship. Unfortunately, the coupon clipper doesn’t want a relationship – he or she just wants a perceived value.
For example, I had a customer call me recently, and he inquired about the possibility of getting a discount on a large-volume of shirts to be laundered and pressed. (I know these types of customers. They’re a one-time hit, and you won’t see them again for another six months. And that’s definitely not the customer I want.)
He wanted me to do the shirts for 99 cents apiece, but I simply don’t make any money on shirts at 99 cents apiece. So, I told him that I’d be happy to offer him a 10 percent discount on the order, for the slight efficiency that such a large order gives me. However, I also let him know that I’m more interested in a customer who brings me five to seven shirts a week… every week.
For that regular weekly customer, I would be more willing to offer a steeper discount, knowing I’m developing a long-term relationship. Those are your “season-ticket holders.” Those are the customers you can plan your labor around. And those are the customers you want to entice – with thoughtful, precise and creative marketing.
Your marketing should be designed to build a relationship with the customer – starting with offering something for free, following up with a phone call and then securing that next order.
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