National Clothesline

By Bill Bogus

ll businesses, big or little ones, in order to succeed, are dependent on a transaction that makes sales.

Sales are what keep businesses alive. Without sales you have no business. It is hard to make a living by doing nothing. The big super retailers have big super inventories that need less persuasion for people to buy. It takes more persuasion when buying automobiles. People who want things, or need things, need no persuasion.

Drycleaning also is a business that needs sales. Unlike super retailers, the inventory is what customers bring in to be drycleaned, and the garments on the conveyor waiting to be picked up and paid for belong to the customers.

The frequency of the need for drycleaning is dependent on the individual drycleaner. He has to find more ways to tell customers why drycleaned clothes last longer. When answers don’t come forth, then help is needed.

IFI has the answers you need. They are in the pamphlets you can use to respond intelligently when customers ask questions. The pamphlets have answers to pertinent questions that would benefit consumers. The pamphlets are not classified for drycleaners only. They are available free to people who care about good drycleaning, Before pamphlets are placed on the counter for customers to take, the counter personnel should read and memorize the information in order to speak with knowledge and intelligence.

Women ask more questions about clothing care than men. Here is what happens when a woman brings in clothing to be drycleaned. She deposits her cleaning needs on the counter before anything is transacted.

The customer will get a friendly greeting from the counter person and will answer her questions and treat her like someone special. And if she is a first-time customer, the counter person will repeat her name as soon as it is written on the invoice and from then on it won’t be forgotten. Now, back to the transaction.

Customer: “Here is a stain on the cuff of this sleeve. I want to point it out go that your spotter won’t miss it.”

Counter person: “He won’t miss it. He will take care of that.”

Customer: “Now on this white blouse is a spaghetti stain and the blouse is brand new and I just wore it for the first time. What rotten luck. I’ve taken it to a drycleaner and he said the stain was set and would not come out. I asked him to try and remove it and he said, no, that would be a waste of time. The cleaner was so obstinate I quit talking to him. But I did see a lot of sorry tags pinned on garments. Do you use them here?”

Counterperson: “No, we don’t. But we will put a note on the garment and tell why the stain cannot be removed and what would be necessary for its removal. We would like to discuss the matter with the customer.”

Customer. “Would you like to know who the other cleaner is?”

Counterperson: “Not really. Cleaners like that keep us busy. Besides that, this tells customers that all drycleaners are not alike. This allows them to find out the good from the bad.”

Not too long in the distant past, drycleaners did minor repairs free of charge for their customers. This was done to say “thank you” and to show appreciation for their patronage.

Today there are drycleaners who still provide this service. Customers need this service. The reason is that today’s women are too busy in the work force. They can’t find time for knitting and sewing. And I’ve yet to see a man trying to sew a button on his shirt. Busy people need help. This reminds me of an old saying that is a good reminder for today’s drycleaners who are skeptical about minor repairs.

“A homely patch is more beautiful than a beautiful hole.”