Packaging, a Personal Touch and a POS System are Keys to Boosting Your Drop-Off Laundry Business
In the next five years, you may not recognize the
wash-dry-fold business. It very likely will be growing significantly in just
about every market.
Most of this growth will be due to the on-demand home
delivery companies and locker-based drop-off services you’ve been hearing about,
which will be springing up across the country. Many of these companies are
already spending big bucks on marketing in an attempt to convert individuals
who currently do their laundry at home into regular drop-off clients – showing
them the advantages of letting someone else handle that dreaded chore.
Right now, the wash-dry-fold market in most areas is not
that competitive. There are relatively few people offering these services – and
even less are doing it well.
It’s currently being done by two basic types of businesses –
laundromats and drycleaners. And, to be honest, most drycleaners don’t want to
do it; so, when they do it, they charge a premium for the service. In general,
drycleaners typically don’t have the capacity, the time or the skill set to
handle a lot of wash-dry-fold business.
However, as these new service companies enter the industry,
drop-off laundry no doubt will soon become a much more competitive segment of
the business. And all laundry owners will want to step up their games to differentiate
their services from the rest of the pack.
Here are three ways to do so…
Packaging
With packaging, everyone does it a little bit differently,
and it’s OK to be unique. The most important factor is that – once you decide
how you’re going to do your folding and presentation – you need to do it
consistently and be sure that every employee is providing the same presentation
and packaging the exact same way. That’s critical.
For example, at my store, we match up every sock and fold
every pair in the exact same manner in which they were folded when brand new –
all of the heels face the same direction, and they’re all lined up perfectly.
Of course, we also shrink-wrap all of our wash-dry-fold packages
so that our professional presentation isn’t going to fall apart in the backseat
of a customer’s car on the ride home. It’s all sealed inside of a tight package
so that when the customers get home it looks the same way it did when we
presented it to them – like brand new garments.
First impressions are critical. And, in the wash-dry-fold
business, that first impression isn’t when the customer walks into your store.
It’s not when they place an order, or even when they pick up that order. It’s
when customers take their orders out of the bag and see them for the first time
– that is when they truly get the full experience of the work you’ve done for
them.
If you can awe them with your packaging and presentation,
you will begin to develop the greatest marketing machine known to any business
– word of mouth. Your customers will tell others about their experience, and that
will build your business stronger and more quickly than almost any other kind
of promotion.
A Personal Touch
To build on the power of your quality packaging and
professional presentation, add a personal touch – something to make that customer
feel special.
For instance, I know some laundry owners who attach a small
bag of candy to each completed wash-dry-fold order.
Another example is Washio, one of the larger players in
on-demand home delivery. When this California-based company returns a finished
laundry order, its driver will hand the customer a freshly baked cookie. It’s all
part of Washio’s marketing program.
These small, personal touches don’t cost much money, but they
say, “Thank you… we appreciate your business.” And, now more than ever,
customers today want to know you appreciate them.
So start thinking about creative, inexpensive ways to get
more personal with your wash-dry-fold customers.
Point-of-Sale System
A third crucial piece to growing your wash-dry-fold business
is a point-of-sale system. After all, you need a professional-looking, machine-printed
receipt.
In addition, one of the best tools any type of POS system can
offer is the ability to track of your customers. It lets you know who your
customers are and what their patterns are – which, in turn, gives you the
ability to reach out and communicate with any customers, should you notice a
change in the laundry routine, for example.
In other words, a POS system enables you to be proactive –
and not merely wait for customers to talk about your business on social media.
If you notice you’ve lost a regular customer, you can pick up the phone and
make a personal call to that person. In today’s electronic age, when a
businessperson actually picks up a phone, that customer is typically thrilled to
get the call.
Having the ability to track customers is a critical part of
building a successful wash-dry-fold service, because it gives you the ability
to communicate with them and let them know you care about their opinions of your
business.
See You in Atlanta…
Of course, if you’re really serious about growing your
drop-off laundry business, I hope to see you this April at Clean 2015 in
Atlanta. During the show, I will be moderating a panel discussion with some of
the most successful wash-dry-fold operators in the business.
We’ll go in-depth on folding, packaging and presentation
techniques. We’ll show you how laundry owners from across the country prepare their
wash-dry-fold loads to look as professional as possible, as well as how they train
their attendants to deliver a quality product every time.
In addition, this session will include live folding
demonstrations. You’ll not only hear the experts, but you’ll see them in action.
So, if you still haven’t registered for Clean 2015, here’s just
one more good reason why you absolutely need to be in Atlanta this spring.
Jeff Gardner owns Sel
Dale Laundromat in St. Paul, Minn. He is also the president of the Minnesota
Coin Laundry Association.
[Editor’s Note: Jeff
Gardner will present two educational sessions at Clean 2015 – “Your Guide to
Wash-Dry-Fold: Folding, Packaging and Presentation Techniques” on April 18 at 8
a.m., and “Commercial Accounts Marketing Toolkit” also on April 18 at 9
a.m.]
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