16 Ways to Improve Your Laundry Business – And, More Importantly, Your Customers’ Perceptions of It
When was the last time a customer actually blurted out “Wow!” when he or she walked into your laundry for the very first time?
My guess is that this probably doesn’t happen very often (if at all) in the vast majority of self-service laundries.
What you are about to read is 100 percent about perception – not yours, but your customers’. In reality, your laundry is what it is and, more importantly, what your customers perceive it to be. As I said, it’s all about perception.
For the purposes of this article, “Wow!” simply means stepping out and up with regard to all aspects of your laundry and separating your business on a perceptual level from the growing crowd of lookalikes.
Perception is a very private process, and it varies as a direct function of such things as a customer’s cultural background, age, sex, intelligence, educational level, expectations and life experiences all working together.
A great deal of interesting research has been done by social and cultural psychologists in the area of how individuals view (perceive) and select retail businesses with which they want to do business.
In this regard, it has pretty much been determined that the human brain works like this: when a person first perceives something (such as your laundry, for example), it’s just like he or she were typing a search phrase into Google, yet before it is fully written out, the Google-programmed algorithm actually senses and completes the entry. Perception happens very quickly as well, because the human mind also has a preprogrammed (from birth) “neurological algorithm.”
The first step is to understand and absolutely believe that your self-service laundry is not a commodity. It takes but a nanosecond to accept that; however, operating a store that reflects a completely unique image means you must work on it for as long as you own the business.
Most laundry owners design and operate their businesses in, shall we say, a conventional (commodity) style, with little pizzazz. This means they have the correct amount of washers and dryers, as well as some vending options, bill changers and the typical list of additional amenities (such as seating, televisions, etc.) that are found in typical laundromats. But they don’t have the “Wow!” factor.
I think you’ll find the following statistics interesting.
Retail customer behavioral research has clearly determined that 15 percent of customers will scoot from your laundry and not remain customers because they perceive “quality” problems. For self-service laundries, this means that you don’t have the size or quantity of machines they prefer, too many of those machines are out of order, your attendants are simply perceived as unhelpful or unfriendly, or your store is uncomfortable due to temperature or other issues.
An additional 15 percent of customers will high-tail it from your laundry because of your vend prices.
However, the remaining 70 percent will hit the road because they just didn’t like the human side (their “gut-level” perception) of doing business with your business or you.
Herb Kelleher founded Southwest Airlines based on the “Wow!” factor. He put his grand scheme in one phrase when he said: “The spiritual attitude of our employees is unbeatable,” which is defined by Kelleher as listening, caring, smiling, saying thank you and being warm. He also encourages (insists upon, actually) a sense of humor in his flight attendants. In fact, the safety announcements on Southwest flights often are preceded by something comical – such as, “There are 50 ways to leave your lover, but only six exits from this airplane.”
I think you get the point.
Southwest is not a “commodity airline” – it’s not like all the rest. Herb Kelleher clearly understands that a competitive advantage comes from a total focus on the tangibles and the intangibles. And, by the way, Southwest makes gobs of money because Kelleher broke the mold with regard to how airlines treat their customers.
So, how can you apply the Southwest Airlines view of relating to customers to your laundry business and thereby achieve the “Wow!” factor?
Here’s a “laundry list” (sorry) for you and your attendants to follow:
Smile at customers often. It’s not that difficult. It will make you feel good, not to mention those around you.
Solve all problems with customers before they fester. Every large problem started out small. Nip it in the bud. This applies to all problems.
Return customer phone calls quickly. That will distinguish you from the majority of retail businesses.
Be emotionally committed to your customers. If you’re not, they’ll be able to smell it from a football field away.
Send thank-you notes to customers. Not many self-service laundries do this (in fact, maybe none of them do), which is exactly why you should be the one that does.
Call different customers on a regular basis just to see what they think of your laundry business. A simple, five-minute chat on the phone can actually turn out to be the best 300 seconds you can spend with regard to building your business.
Find a way to incorporate the use of humor in your business. Whatever became of fun in business? This works particularly well in combination with the first suggestion listed above.
Make sure your parking lot is always free of debris and that any snow is promptly plowed during the winter months. The first thing customers encounter when they visit your store is your parking lot. If it’s full of litter or when they exit their cars they find themselves knee deep in snow and ice, guess who they’ll be muttering about under their breath.
Keep the interior of your store amazingly clean and bright, as well as properly heated and air conditioned – and, if and when your machines malfunction, fix them immediately. Ask customers how they like your store – if it’s dirty, the soap chutes on your frontload washers are caked with crusted soap, several machines are out of order, and the inside temperature is cold during the winter or hot in the summertime. I guarantee that you will not enjoy the responses you get. And, believe me, your customers will surely tell others about their negative experience at your laundry.
Put some slightly off-the-wall humor into your loyalty programs’ in-store signage. If you don’t have any loyalty programs already in place, you should strongly consider establishing some. They can help to make your business unique in the marketplace, and your customers will love it. Think about things like a frequent washer club, monthly drawings for free groceries, free gasoline, etc., and maybe even free laundry for a certain period.
When kids come into your laundry, give them stickers. These stickers can be either the normal kid stuff or you can have some printed up with an image of your store on them. This simple, cost-effective gesture will put an instant smile on the kids’ faces, as well as on the faces of their moms and dads.
Make your restrooms great. Most definitely, this will hold a special appeal to the women who patronize your store. If you don’t believe me, just ask them.
Install a suggestion box. But don’t you dare call it that, because this is 2016, not 1960. A far better name is “Communicate Directly with the Owner Box.” And when your customers do communicate with you, be sure to respond to them. The forms they fill out should include spaces for their phone numbers and email addresses. What’s more, be sure that no one can see inside the box and that only you have a key to it.
Add carefully crafted television commercials to your advertising program. This works wonders. I’ve done it many times with huge success. This will make stars out of you and your laundry.
Develop interactive marketing programs with other retailers. How about partnering with a fast-food location or some other local restaurant? Perhaps a certain number of washes will earn a customer a specified discount at that specific food establishment. There are numerous ways to accomplish this type of cross-promotion – and customers love it.
Spruce up the décor of your laundry. Paint it (or at least part of it) with new colors. Maybe add fun graphics and perhaps some framed posters. Customers will always appreciate a new, fresh-looking environment.
So, there are 16 straight-forward suggestions geared to help you put the “Wow!” factor back into your retail self-service laundry business. And I’m betting you can come up with a lot more ideas, which are specifically based upon your particular market characteristics and competition.
If you want your customers to say “Wow,” it might be time to reinvent your laundry, to overflow it with unique and exciting selling features – and to make it more than just an average, run-of-the-mill laundromat.
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