National Clothesline

With my nose pressed against the glass, I stared longingly at the object in the camera case.

“May I help you?” asked Bob, the shopkeeper.

“Yes,” I replied, somewhat embarrassed as I awkwardly wiped a bit of drool from my lower lip. “Can I see that Nikon over there in the corner?”

“Ah, good choice,” he answered. “It’s a beauty! Just arrived last week.”

Ten minutes later, I was still fondling the camera… stroking the sleek black panels, thumbing the knobs and training the crosshairs on items in the store to test the focus. And even though I was taking a lot of time, Bob was in no hurry. He was both knowledgeable and patient as he explained every little feature and answered every dumb question I had.

“In all fairness,” I offered, “I’ve gotta tell you this. I already have a Nikon. Lenses, filters… everything, but I’ll have to sell that camera body first before I can justify buying this one.”

“No problem,” he said. “Why not bring it here? Maybe we can sell it for you.”

Two days later, I got the call. Bob had sold my camera. I went to his shop to pick up the Nikon and as we completed the transaction, Bob asked what type of photography I did. I told him sports and nature. “In that case you’ll need this.” He tossed me a lens care travel kit. “It’s perfect for a guy on the move. My compliments.”

The lens cleaning kit was only the first of many goodies I would get from him over the course of 17 years. Other items included batteries, videos, an anti-static whisk brush, a camera strap, a photo album, a photo stand and more. He even gave me a credit card-sized mini survival tool (with 10 functions). His latest gift came two weeks ago. I got a card in my mailbox from Bob inviting me to come in and pick up a free booklet entitled, How to Use Light Creatively.

Over the years he’s done all sorts of imaginative things to add value to his business in unusual ways. For example, he offers free photography classes to any prospect or customer who wants to learn how to get the most out of the equipment. At these classes, he gives away free rolls of film so attendees can test their newly acquired skills.

To my knowledge, however, Bob has never yet run a sale. Instead of cutting prices and reducing his margins, he gives bonuses to get additional business. In short, Bob is different and in his case… it pays to be different.

Today’s drycleaners can take a tip from Bob. Many have asked how to market without “giving away the store.” Others are concerned that their image will suffer if they discount their work or give coupons for cleaning. Personally, I don’t think there’s anything to fear, but if you’re looking for another way to promote, why not do what Bob does — why not offer premiums?

Simply put, a premium is something given free or at a reduced price with the purchase of a product or service.

Murray Raphel once said, “When faced with a choice between reducing prices or giving something away free, give something away free.”

For years, Murray was in the retail clothing business and he used this example. You sell suits for $300. Putting them on sale for even as little as 20 percent off means a $60 loss in profit. Instead, give the customer a $25 shirt and a $15 tie — free! Your cost is only $20. You make an extra $40 on the transaction. The greater the discount, the greater your loss.

Here’s how it works in a drycleaning plant. Most cleaners today think nothing of offering $10 off on a $30 order. But what would they say if they were asked to give away a $10 premium for the same $30 order? They’d call you crazy. After all, it costs $10 to buy the premium item. However, any cleaner can afford to give away $10 in service. Right? Wrong. At the end of the day, the $10 in free service is still $10 that didn’t make it into your cash drawer. So, in fact, $10 in free service still costs $10. In reality, it’s $10 you lost.

But here’s the real beauty of the premium. What if you could get a popular item with a perceived value of $10 and spend just $3 if purchased in quantity?

Two things. First, you would be exercising some marketing creativity by breaking out of the discount syndrome that all cleaners seem currently stuck in and, second, you’d be $7 ahead on that single transaction. Multiply that transaction by “x” number of visits and you’re big money ahead at day’s end.

The Golomb Group has offered premiums to drycleaners for years, everything from teddy bears and designer gold hangers to steak knives and spice racks. We even made a special deal to buy silver directly from a silver mine just so cleaners could offer their customers pure silver coins for free! On top of that, we made the program risk-free by offering to buy back the silver. Who could lose?

Premium programs can be run as free give-aways or, if you prefer to offer a gift of greater value, they can be run on a purchase with purchase basis. In other words, instead of giving something away free, you allow the customer to pay a small amount toward the purchase of the item and you pick up the rest of the cost. This would work nicely if, for example, you chose to offer $50 dress shirts.

Meet with the local haberdasher and tell him your plan. Ask what sort of deal he can make you on shirts. He might be willing to offer you as much as 30 percent, which would bring your cost to $35 a shirt.

The deals you can make might surprise you. After all, you’ll be sending customers to his store to select shirts of their choice and the store stands to gain a lot more than the sale of a shirt. In fact, if they get the customer in the door, they could wind up selling an entire outfit. If you picked up $20 of the remaining cost, that would leave $15 for the customer to pay. Now, not all customers will qualify for this type of incentive, but the ones who do are the ones you actually want.

Marketing studies indicate that a valuable premium will always outpull a discount but very few cleaners use this to their advantage. Perhaps because it’s not as simple to implement or maybe they find it difficult to believe that customers can actually recognize and appreciate the value in a creative promotion.

One of the keys to success in any business is differentiation. And the degree to which one stands out from the competition is, in part, a measure of their success. The idea of promoting your business creatively through the use of premiums is simply one means of differentiation. When it comes to separating yourself from the competition, always strive to be as ingenious and inventive as possible because it pays to be different.