National Clothesline

Going to your local drycleaner and having to wait 10, 15 or even 20 minutes for your order to be located dims the pleasure of seeing your freshly cleaned clothes. Being asked to pay for this inconvenience doesn’t help either. With few exceptions, these types of customer experiences can only be described as worthless.

But, at the same time, some exceptional companies are offering experiences that are, as the commercial says, priceless. How can you change your customers’ experiences from worthless to priceless?

The best companies add value to their services to turn them into memorable experiences.

For example, Starbucks turns drinking a cup of coffee into an experience in a café with friendly service, sweet aromas, and soothing music. Instead of hot water and ground beans, Starbucks sells adventure, comfort, and social interaction.

For that, Starbucks can charge a premium price for what used to be a basic product. Because a pleasurable experience is more valuable to customers than any product or service alone, people will pay higher prices for it.

Let’s explore the link between value and experience. Companies that fully understand this link follow two simple principles:

1. The customer, not the company, determines the value of any product or service.

2. Value is enhanced by providing customers with extraordinary experiences.

Value is at the heart of what is today called the experience economy.

Take a look at these examples: A 50-cent cup of coffee can be transformed into a customer experience valued at $3. A $2 candle can be transformed into a customer experience valued at $8. A $2 cleaning of a pair of pants can be transformed into a customer experience valued at $8.

These transformations occur because people have learned to place differing values on everything in their lives. In these experiences, a cup of coffee, a candle and the cleaning of a pair of pants can take on just about any value.

Those transformations allow businesses to migrate from selling commodities to selling value-added goods and services.

Added value means higher profit margins. And added value also means competing on a playing field you create and control.

The truth is, only the buyer can determine what a product or service is worth. Meaning, that before we can predict what people value, we have to understand the criteria that people use to assign value.

These criteria are both objective and subjective. Objective value in drycleaning is mainly determined by factors such as how well stains are removed, how well the garment is pressed and, the length of time required to perform those functions.

In addition to objective value, there is subjective value. Like beauty, subjective value is highly personal and is in the eye of the beholder

For example, one person may prefer low cost; another might focus on how their cleaned clothes make them look and feel; another might be concerned about your environmentally friendly process. But rest assured, everyone is concerned that they be recognized by name, and are treated with respect by smiling, friendly counter-personnel.

The truth is, only the buyer can determine what a product or service is worth. Meaning, that before we can predict what people value, we have to understand the criteria that people use to assign value.

These criteria are both objective and subjective. Objective value in drycleaning is mainly determined by factors such as how well stains are removed, how well the garment is pressed and, the length of time required to perform those functions.

In addition to objective value, there is subjective value. Like beauty, subjective value is highly personal and is in the eye of the beholder

For example, one person may prefer low cost; another might focus on how their cleaned clothes make them look and feel; another might be concerned about your environmentally friendly process. But rest assured, everyone is concerned that they be recognized by name, and are treated with respect by smiling, friendly counter-personnel.

A service, such as drycleaning, can be a very complex enterprise. But in every service business, there should only be one focus. That focus is on the customer, your business’s number-one asset.

Each and every time your service is delivered can make the difference of whether it will be a one-time event or the beginning of a lifetime relationship with that particular customer.

Although service is a growing part of the experience economy, customer satisfaction with service continues to decline. A recent University of Michigan report shows that customer satisfaction levels have steadily declined since 1996.

Therefore, it’s no surprise that old-fashioned customer loyalty is no longer a given. Now drycleaners, like other service businesses, have to earn and keep earning customers’ business, instead of taking it for granted. In fact, many long-time drycleaners are concerned because customers continually jump from one to another.

However, when the service is done well, customer loyalty will develop. It can even blossom. And that has a major impact on your bottom line. A 5 percent increase in customer loyalty can boost profitability by as much as 95 percent.

Creating value by providing customers with extraordinary experiences is an effective and efficient way to build and retain loyalty. But every time a company drops the ball, loyalty is lost, sometimes forever.

If any of this makes sense to you and you would like to become a member of an elite group of cleaners who share money-making ideas, contact me at The Golomb Group