Here Are a Couple of Unique Pricing Models to Consider That May Help You Present and Market Your Wash-Dry-Fold Business
I’m always looking for different ways to market and develop a wash-dry-fold service. So, this month, I’d like to discuss a couple of ideas that are rather unique and that can make wash-dry-fold – especially the home delivery aspect of this service – a bit more understandable to customers, with regard to pricing.
A frequent question you’ll hear from potential wash-dry-fold customers who have never used such a service before is, “Exactly how much is it going to cost to do my laundry?”
A couple of ways to simplify this concept for your wash-dry-fold clients are to offer either a per-bag pricing model or to provide some sort of package plan. Let’s talk about the per-bag option first.
Several laundry owners throughout the country, starting with college laundry programs, have offered the per-bag model – which is almost like an all-you-can-eat, buffet-style type of pricing.
How is it done? Simply, price your wash-dry-fold laundry by the bag, rather than the pound. For example, you can provide your customers with standard express bags, or counter bags, which you can get from your local drycleaning supply company. Most of these bags can hold about 21 pounds of laundry when packed full.
The beauty of this per-bag model is that customers know exactly what they’re paying for a bag of laundry. They know that, whatever they cram into that laundry bag, it will all come back clean – and it will cost exactly what you told them.
And, of course, you can name your price.
If you’re in a market that’s a bit stronger for wash-dry-fold, don’t be afraid to charge in the $2-a-pound range. So, perhaps price that 20- to 21-pound bag at $40 or so. Then again, if full-service laundry in your market is on the lower end of the pricing spectrum or if you want to offer wash-dry-fold as a value, maybe price that laundry bag closer to a $20 flat rate.
However you choose to price and market the per-bag concept, I believe it’s a great way to introduce customers to your wash-dry-fold service in a way that’s easy to understand and in which they’ll have a clear expectation as to how much they can get laundered for a certain set price.
For customers who haven’t yet received one of our wash-dry-fold laundry bags yet are still interested in the service, we’ve told them that a standard, white, plastic, drawstring garbage bag – basically, a “kitchen garage bag”that you would buy at the supermarket – is almost the same capacity. Again, this helps them understand how much laundry they can get washed and at what cost. It helps them visualize our product.
The idea behind this concept is to educate your wash-dry-fold customers ahead of time – so that they know what it’s going to cost them to receive this service, without actually having to bring their clothes into the store and weigh them first.
A second way to put a different spin on your wash-dry-fold business so that customers can control their costs and more accurately plan their budgets around your laundry service is to offer a package plan. Again, college laundry programs have embraced this concept with great success.
Two options are to offer a monthly plan or a “good-until-used-up model, where customers can pre-buy your laundry services. Perhaps even offer these pre-purchased services at a discount, because the customer is paying you for your work ahead of time.
A monthly payment plan is especially advantageous because – similar to a fitness center’s pricing model – you know that those customers will be paying every month. It’s guaranteed. You know that the customer is consistently going to be there for you with laundry, which is especially helpful if you’re offering pickup and delivery. After all, if you know that customer is there every week or every other week, you can plan your labor around that business.
Of course, being able to plan labor around wash-dry-fold orders is one of the more difficult tasks to achieve. That’s one of the great aspects of servicing commercial accounts; you can plan your labor schedule around that commercial work… it’s consistent.
The beauty of having a wash-dry-fold laundry plan is the fact that you know that income will be there every month – whether the customer has dirty laundry or not. If a customer utilizes the plan 100 percent or not, the dollars will be there to support your labor needs every month. So you will always have the staffing equation worked out.
As a side note, there is a nice advantage to both the per-bag and the monthly package pricing models – underutilization. Both of these options have the possibility of being underutilized, which means pure profit directly to your bottom line.
For example, when that 20-pound laundry bag comes in with only 12 pounds of clothes in it, you’re still going to charge the full price. Now, your price per pound goes up significantly. This can be a factor of the specific mix of clothes a customer happens to place in the bag on a particular week. It can change the weight and the volume that’s in there and, suddenly, that load becomes more profitable.
Another other example is a customer who buys a 100-pound-a-month plan yet only washes 70 pounds of clothes that month. It’s similar to loyalty card systems in the old days, when laundry owners would have “float”on their customers’ cards that may never get used up. It’s the same idea.
All in all, the per-bag and package pricing concepts are two great ways to introduce your wash-dry-fold service to new customers in a way that will give them some idea what they’ll need to spend for your services and how they can best budget for it. Plus, these are two interesting ways to put a different spin on presenting and marketing your wash-dry-fold business.
