In this time of
economic instability, each dry cleaning store needs to stand out from the
competition. There are key steps that must be in place to ensure that you are
the best. One of the most cost effective ways to improve your business is
through positive and engaging attitudes from owners to employees, ensuring this
starts from the top. Treating your employees with respect makes them feel they
are valued as a person and as an employee. Each employee should emulate this
positive and engaging attitude. Have your employees look smart in front of
customers, well dressed or maybe in uniforms; let them vote on a couple of
choices, again letting them know that you value their input. This fosters a
positive attitude and when they take a personal interest in the store, they
become an engaged part of your team. By making them a team member, you are
giving them a voice. By giving them a voice, they ultimately become your
extended eyes, ears, ensuring your customers’ needs are met to their
satisfaction, and the business grows. To show you appreciate them for their
professionalism, provide them with occasional employee rewards I.e. (drinks or
lunch) and solicit their input in the future.
If there is a bad
apple, get rid of it. It only takes one person to bring down an entire team. Get
rid of dead weight. Make sure that those valued employees who are left are
properly skilled and are aware of the team that holds the store together.
Employees that feel respected and part of a team are more likely to show up
every day, give 110% while they are there, and do not feel the need to pad their
hours. They are happy with their employment and know they are fortunate to have
a “good job” in a respectful work environment.
Are you doing
your best to make sure that your employees are properly skilled in customer
care? Their training not only needs to be in the technical areas but also in how
to take care of your customers. Your employees should know who their customers
are, I.e. about their families, about their personal lives and about their
garments. You should have an express drop off; have a checklist of your
customer’s likes and dislikes for their garments right in front of you. Your
customers have already invested in their wardrobe and want to know that your
business cares about it just as much as they do. A great example of this is at a
local coffee shop where my coffee is waiting for me when I walk in the door,
they see me pull up and know what I want and how I want it. That is real quality
personal care service. A customer who feels that the reason your business opened
today was to take care of them will be loyal. That customer will then become
your biggest publicity billboard and word of mouth advertising; this is the best
and least expensive form. Any business who can offer quality personal care to
their customers will grow their business.
“Excel
in this area of service and you will succeed.”
Another point to
consider is those who do handle customers at the counter need to be at their top
of the game. If they are having a noticeably bad day then they do not belong in
the front helping your customers; this is a recipe for disaster. You cannot
always be “the nice guy”; but you can control this in a way you will feel
comfortable. After all, you should know your employees.
Smile: Greet every
customer this way! It conveys a sense of comfort to those who come through your
door and sets you apart from the competition. Trust me on this
one.
Ask Caring
Questions: How
are you today? How was your weekend? How is your family? Are there any details
you want to bring to our attention?
Pay Attention to
the Customer: When
the customer is walking into the cleaners, they should get your most complete
attention. The idle talk should stop between employees; the customer is number
one. It is all about him or her now, and if you are currently working with
customers, quickly acknowledge him or her and say you will be right with them.
When times are slow
cross training is another task to consider. Make sure you have two or three
employees that are capable enough to move into any position when you have
someone who is out. This keeps any one employee from feeling as if they are
irreplaceable. It also fosters team spirit.
This is also the
time to look at all aspects of your business and evaluate if they are running at
their best productivity. Although most owners look at a slow period and think
it’s time to tighten down, a true business owner looks at this time to expand
and then repair those issues that have gotten out of hand during the busy times
and were not able to be dealt with properly.
Some owners of
well-established cleaners put the emphasis on money, which is a necessary thing,
after all that is why you are running a store, to make a profit and have a
positive cash flow. However, the owner who neglects his or her store in these
economic times will be out of business. To avoid this from happening, keep your
cleaners in a respectable state at all times, from the front to the back, always
maintain your equipment that processes the garments, take pride in the
appearance of your delivery vehicles, and lastly, avoid skimping on the repairs
that you need to keep you in good shape. At some point, you will get to where
skimping will not do it anymore and that turns into thousands of dollars to fix
a problem. Then you are just fighting just to keep the doors open. It does not
have to cost a tremendous amount of money to address the small changes that are
necessary to produce maximum results. You need to make some changes if you
really want to make it through the next couple of years.
The owner must be
able to invest the time to correctly train all employees and maintain a
presentable store at all times. If you are not able to, bring someone in who can
assist you by doing an analysis of your store to help. Bringing in a consultant
should not be viewed as an expense, but as an investment in your dry cleaners!
In these slow times, here are some ideas to consider looking
into:
- customer
referral analysis