To Be Or Not To Be A Professionial

Being a drycleaner and being members of the drycleaning industry, we are all on the same page as others for criticism, but not as much as individuals. Some are criticized more than others. Some have been deemed praiseworthy by the customers, which is good. Cleaners who become praiseworthy are good for the industry and also the community.

The drycleaner who is a professional makes drycleaning a necessary, valued service. He is the one who helps in keeping the drycleaning industry alive. He is the keeper of the flame, but unfortunately today, the flame is flickering and getting dimmer.

The drycleaning industry needs more professional drycleaners in order to professionalize the industry. Today the professional drycleaner is in the minority. What depressed the need for professionalism was the belief in the fallacy that drycleaning required little or no knowledge in the beginning and that knowledge would be achieved through work experience. Right from wrong should be known prior to beginning. Skills and knowledge must be learned. Self-learning can become a disaster and cause customers to look for service elsewhere.

To be a professional is having a skill learned at an institution. This is where skills and the use of chemicals are taught. Teaching at institutions is done by certified instructors.

The nature of drycleaning requires knowledge on how to use chemicals and their purpose when used in drycleaning and spot removal. And, importantly, how chemicals react with one another and how and why chemicals react with fabric and dyes. All of this is being taught at the International Fabricare Institute.

When customers ask the professional drycleaner for advice, his knowledge pays off. But when a self-taught drycleaner is asked for advice his cock-and-bull story gets him into trouble. He will be referred to by customers as stupid. Drycleaners who don't have answers for legitimate questions are paying a big price for not knowing.

Customers can easily recognize the unknowledgeable drycleaner when he spells "suit" with a couple of “o’s” and has a problem with the letter “s” by using the letter “z” instead.

The notion that you learn while you earn influenced people in getting into drycleaning in the first place. And many did. Many American drycleaners started business without knowledge or experience, but they soon realized that knowledge was important and they wanted it quick. They became members of the International Fabricare Institute.

Many Koreans came into drycleaning in the same manner. They believed that they had sufficient knowledge to become drycleaners, which is true if that knowledge is put to use in order to become better drycleaners.

The International Fabricare Institute is certified to teach by the state of Maryland but IFI is not just for Maryland or American drycleaners. The word "International" speaks to the world. Any person practicing drycleaning in any country is eligible to become a member of IFI. The person can learn as much as he wants or needs, or learn more to become a professional.

When Koreans came to America, they came legally. They didn't come with pick and shovel or to cut grass. They came for opportunity. Many decided to be drycleaners and bought existing cleaning plants. Some were good and some were not so good.

Many Koreans didn't find time to learn more about the business, which was not good.

Being bunched together like grapes on the vine caused a predaceous environment — too many drycleaners and not enough volume. By cutting prices to build volume, they also cut the value of their services, which customers didn't like. This was bad for all drycleaners.

Customers are what make the industry. Without customers there is no industry. Drycleaners cannot control or own the industry. You cannot capture customers. You can only persuade people to become customers, provided you have something people would want, like or need.

We are now experiencing a national tragedy and a down economy. Retail sales are off. People are out of work. Jobs are scarce. Who wants to be a millionaire?

The good news is that dirty clothes will need cleaning. Women hate dirty clothes. They ask more questions about spots and stains than men. They appreciate intelligent, knowledgeable drycleaners. What are we doing that will build better relations with women customers?

Women want to look beautiful and wear pretty clothes. Men want to look handsome, like George Washington when he stood in the boat crossing the Delaware River. No one dared to rock the boat.

Drycleaning requires knowledge and skills. IFI teaches drycleaning from A to Z and yet too many drycleaners are getting knowledge from reading labels on gallon jugs. Not wanting to learn more puts drycleaning into the trial and error method, which can be disastrous. Too many are not taking advantage of learning to become better drycleaners.