National Clothesline

he most frequently asked question I receive is, “Of all the drycleaners you know, what distinguishes the best from the rest?” The short answer to that question is that the owners of the most successful companies have developed two essential management skills: 1) good perception and 2) a high degree of persistence.

Before I continue with “the best drycleaners,” let’s take a look at the industry as a whole.

The front page of the October edition of this publication featured an article about the 2002 census. In that article it showed that the 27,000 drycleaners in this country had combined total sales of 7.7 billion dollars. This works out to about $286,000 a year in average sales per drycleaner.

If ten percent of those cleaners (2,700) generated sales of one million dollars a year then their combined sales would equal 2.7 billion dollars a year. I am using the one million dollars in annual sales figure because that is what my clients average. This means that the remaining 90 percent of the cleaners (24,300) generate five billion dollars in combined annual sales, or average annual sales of $205,000 each.

The top ten percent of the cleaners who are doing one million dollars a year in sales started where the other 90 percent are today. So, how did they go from being among the insignificant many to the significant few? They did it by taking advantage of their competitor’s weaknesses.

As the 2002 census shows, drycleaning sales have been flat in terms of dollar volume since 1997. In terms of piece volume, which is the only truly consistent measure, volume was down from 1997 to 2002.

According to most economists, growth will continue to be slow. The drycleaning business will lag behind the general economy in this cycle primarily because of casual wear in the workplace and other demands on disposable income. Thus, this downward trend will continue to affect the drycleaning industry for the next 12 to 18 months.

The management skills that distinguished the most successful cleaners from the rest of the pack in the past are the same skills that will be needed in the future.

Back to the two most important management skills of the best drycleaners: perception and persistence. Good perception is the ability to identify areas of needed improvement and to prioritize them in order of importance. When establishing the order of importance, you must take into consideration the feasibility of accomplishing that improvement.

Watch the competition

The best way to improve your perception is by observing what others do. Everyone knows that they should shop their competition to learn their strengths and weaknesses. After shopping six to eight competitors, look at your own operation as a stranger would. Determine what needs to be improved immediately. If you shop ten competitors, I will guarantee you that eight will have poor to bad customer service.

I have heard people say that today everyone is delivering good customer service. Either these people are extremely easy to please or they don’t get out much.

Recently, I was in a drycleaners call office waiting to meet with the owner. I noticed that the two CSRs (dressed in very nice uniforms) were wearing buttons that said, “Ask me about free cleaning.”

So, I did. “Can I get free drycleaning?” I asked. Both answered, “yes.” Naturally, I asked, “how?” They looked at each other blankly. One picked up a bag of clothes and started tagging-in while the other one rushed out of the call office.

She returned a few minutes later with a supervisor who started to explain to the CSRs how customers can get free drycleaning. Before she finished her explanation, the owner came out and I never heard how the program worked.

During my conversation with the owner, I asked how the new free drycleaning program was going. The owner said the program started two weeks ago and that it was going great (perception?).

Communications gap

This real-life story is telling. First, we know there is a big gap in the communications moving down the chain of command (the CSRs didn’t know how the program worked).

Also, we know there is a big gap moving up the chain of command because the owner thought the program was “going great.”

Second, the CSRs put the buttons on for two weeks and never asked what they were for.

Third, and most important, after two weeks I was the only person curious enough to ask about the free drycleaning and I’m not even a customer of theirs.

These buttons are like most promotional signs — they don’t work unless the CSRs talk about them. This incident took place at the main plant. This cleaner has seven drop stores and I wonder if those CSRs are even wearing the buttons.

The subject of customer service brings me to another FAQ which is “How can you train someone to be good at customer service? They either have it or they don’t.”

Not true. Customer service skills can and are taught every day in the workplace. How difficult would it be to inform your CSRs that providing good customer service is a condition of employment? This would require you to provide customer service training.

Persistence pays

This brings us to the other essential management skill, which is persistence. Persistence is the ability to remain steadfast to an undertaking despite obstacles. Persistence requires mental toughness.

The cleaners who belong to my management groups set goals for their companies every year. A few members decided to take on the challenge of improving customer service.

They decided to begin by creating the position of Customer Service Team Leader. These owners selected the individuals who they felt did the best job providing excellent customer service.

Each owner has dramatically improved customer service and, along the way, learned some valuable lessons. Their persistence helped them:

• Devote time and energy to train the new Team Leaders.

• Meet with their Team Leaders at least once a week for a Progress Report.

• Stay on point until reaching the goal of trained Team Leaders to take over customer service responsibilities.

Once the goal was met:

• Ownership no longer had to micro-manage the customer service department.

• Customer service improved dramatically.

• Piece volume and dollar sales increased.

Now is the best time to start moving your business toward the top ten percent because your competitors are preoccupied with their own problems. Your perception will help you discover your competitors’ weaknesses and your persistence will allow you to exploit those weaknesses.

In the game of business the more you know the better you can play the game.

Alan Robson is a private consultant dealing with the specialized needs of the drycleaning industry. Contact him by telephone at (941) 408-8819 or send e-mail to him at: alan@bizbuilderonline.com or visit the Biz Builder web site: www.bizbuilderonline.com.