The view from across the counter
Armed with statistical data from the
Fabricare Foundation’s recent Consumer Attitude Survey, a
panel of speakers discussed “Are You Giving Your
Customers What They Expect?” at the Clean ’03
lecture hall on the morning of Tuesday, August 12.
The educational session was moderated by
Laura Barron, president of The Barron Group, a Tennessee-based
consulting firm founded in 1994.
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Out of the ideal target group of customers
— the coveted heavy users — 71 percent were women.
It is also interesting that 81 percent of such respondents
worked and 56 percent of the respondents’ spouses worked,
as well. The mean income for heavy users was $72,000 and the
mean age was 42.4 years.
Thus, the best drycleaning customers are
often busy professionals who are quite willing to pay for
services that save them time.
“People are hurting for time and
they value you picking up clothes at their house,” Barron
said, emphasizing the importance of offering delivery routes.
When customers were asked why they use
their usual cleaner, the number-one reason was quality of work.
Convenience and personal service were the next two most
deciding factors.
As far as what they liked most about their
drycleaner, 42 percent again chose the quality of cleaning.
Other popular responses were friendly/attentive service at 15
percent and reasonable prices and convenient hours, both of
which tabulated 9 percent of the overall vote.
The single most common reason that
respondents stopped using a particular cleaner was because they
moved (20 percent). However, service that lacked friendliness
or courteousness accounted for 19 percent of those who left and
price was responsible for another 16 percent making a switch.
Therefore, one of the major conclusions
drawn from the survey — to nobody’s surprise
— is that cleaners are judged on the quality of their
work. For a cleaner to receive high satisfaction marks from his
customers, he must accomplish the following three things: make
garments feel and look like new; remove stains well; and make
sure problems are handled quickly.
Another conclusion from the survey was
that most customers see cleaners as “miracle
workers” and as trustworthy local entrepreneurs.
“Customers really do trust you to
handle their problems and fix them,” Barron said.
It was also revealed that proximity is
important in the minds of customers, but it isn’t
everything. A large percentage prefer that their cleaners be
closer to their home than to their work.
Yet, surprisingly, 40 percent polled
indicated that they were willing to drive two or more miles in
order to get a superior product.
Along with location, pricing is another
double-edge sword for fabric care specialists.
Half of the customers questioned felt that
price discounting was unimportant, but that leaves open the
possibility that discounting is very important to the other
half.
Barron offered words of warning for those
trying to increase business by decreasing prices.
“If you decide to compete on price,
you’re going to hurt yourself in the long run,” she
said. “You really don’t want to court the coupon
jumper because they aren’t loyal.”
There were many other interesting tidbits
of information found in the survey, as well. Overall,
drycleaners aren’t really associated with environmental
damage, for example.
Of course, having statistical data is one
thing, but what can be learned from all of the facts and
figures?
For starters, there are marketing
implications for cleaners who wish to become more profitable
with their heavy hitters — a group largely comprised of
younger, affluent women who wear traditional business attire
and attend church regularly.
Cleaners can differentiate themselves from
the pack by offering high quality, convenience, individualized
friendly attention and stressing the fact that they are local,
family-owned businesses.
Plus, cleaners would do well to promote
the cleaning of household items, sweaters, suedes and leathers
and casual wear to their heavy user market. Most such customers
don’t think about taking these things in, so it would be
a good idea to remind them.
Following Barron’s introduction,
three cleaners shared customer service tips that have been
successful for their plants.
The first to speak was Buddy Gritz, owner
of Presto Valet in Alexandria, VA, and vice president of the
Mid-Atlantic Association of Cleaners.
Gritz noted that he has only three rules
for running his business. “Rule number one: Take care of
the customer,” he explained. “Rule number two: Take
care of the customer. Rule number three: Take care of the
customer. If we don’t, then someone else will.”
Part of Gritz’s philosophy is to
create “raving” consumer fans that are so happy
with the service they receive that they tell everybody they
know about it. To do that, he employs nine counter clerks on
Saturdays to cut down on waiting time and he encourages all of
his employees to “bend over backwards” to make sure
no customer leaves the store unsatisfied.
“When customers come in, they are
the direct focus of everybody in the store,” he said.
“We take care of customer problems
immediately.”
Toys for the kids
One thing Gritz does differently is keep a
free gumball machine in the lobby. He also spends $10,000 to
$20,000 annually on fun toys to give to children whenever they
come in with their parents. “I sit on the floor and play
with the kids with the toys,” he said.
The toys must be of high quality so they
have a high play value with the kids, thus creating a personal
experience between the customer’s family and the cleaner.
He cultivates that relationship by making
himself available any time, any day. “Customers call us
all the time at night. They have my phone number,” he
explained. “It doesn’t get abused.”
The next cleaner to offer up customer
service tips was Mike Nesbit, CED, who serves on the board of
directors for SDA and owns nine Nesbit’s Cleaners’
plants and 13 substations in Texas.
For Nesbit, quality customer service boils
down to “the ultimate convenience” available.
“Drycleaning’s a necessary
nuisance so our objective is to make it as convenient as
possible for our customers,” he said.
To cut down on long waiting times,
Nesbit’s Cleaners offers in-car drive-thru service with
multiple lanes that have pneumatic tubes installed for money
transactions… as is the case with most banks.
The set-up also includes a Video
Identification System, so when customers drive up, a CSR can
type in their license plate number and greet them by name and
start working on their order.
Nesbit’s also offers a 24-hour bag
drop and pickup service at the plant which allows customers to
call ahead, prepay with a credit card, and pick up their
clothes after hours at a locker with their name on it that is
secured with a four-digit pin code.
Another irreplaceable service offered by
Nesbit’s Cleaners is its free home pickup and delivery
service. According to Nesbit, the keys for a successful route
are: focussing on a tight market; selling from door-to-door;
and maintaining a certain number of stops per hour is also
critical.
“You can never stop growing the
route,” he stressed.
Also joining in on the discussion was Pat
Godo, owner of Avon Cleaners in Dallas, TX. She is also the
first vice president of SDA and is a director of the Fabricare
Foundation.
Godo keeps her customers near and dear to
her by being a part of their lives. “We live in our
community. We go to church in our community,” she said.
“We see our customers at community functions. Our
advertising dollars go to charity in our community.”
In addition to communicating with
customers publicly, Avon also adds a personal touch by keeping
track of their consumers’ preferences in their computer
database.
“We celebrate the customer’s
birthday. We celebrate their dog’s birthday,” Godo
noted. “We celebrate their anniversary with us. We reward
according to their spending level. We try in every way to make
customers feel welcome.”
Those interested in obtaining more
information on the Fabricare Foundation’s Consumer
Attitude Survey should contact that association by calling
(800) 617-0098 or visit the organization’s web site at
www.fabricarefoundation.org.
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