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Dear ,
I was convinced my dry cleaner absolutely hated me.
Every time I strolled into the shop, there he was -- seemingly uninterested, rushed, and looked like he had just gulped down
two-week-old sour milk... by the gallons!
Yep, he hated me! I was convinced.
After frequenting the place a few times, I noticed that I wasn't the only one who was receiving this "special" treatment. In fact, this man handled everyone in the
same unfriendly, aloof manner.
And he never uttered a word except, "Phone number?" and "Friday ok?"
Naturally, this begs the question:
Why Did I Keep
Going Back When the Service Was So Awful (and the Dry Cleaning Wasn't Even That Great)?
One word: PROXIMITY.
The fact is, this shop is exactly 90 seconds away from my house and has an extraordinarily convenient parking set up. Other dry cleaners are about
5-7 minutes away (on busy main roads) and aren't as ideally geographically situated.
(To be honest, I've often pondered the idea of getting a friend to open up a competing dry cleaners a few doors away. All he'd need to do is crack a smile and chat it up a little bit. He'd clean up [Ok, that was a bad one]!)
But there are several important lessons you can glean from my traumatic (ok, not really) dry cleaning experiences:
1. Never underestimate the power of proximity -- If your business is ideally located and geographically near your customers, you have a default
advantage. Actually a STRONG default advantage. Even if you don't have a physical office/store location, think about how you can make your customers' experiences with you more convenient. Marketing tip: Do a direct mail postcard campaign promoting your business to residents who are within a two-mile radius of you and make them an irresistible offer.
2. Don't make your customers feel like YOU'RE doing them a favor -- Sometimes we forget how much competition is out there. The idea is to make the customer feel special and appreciated -- not the other way around. If a customer is angry enough, they will absolutely make it their life's mission to take you down. Exceptional customer service, however, will cover a multitude of business shortcomings. Let's not forget about sites like Yelp and others.
Businesses live and die by reviews nowadays.
3. Make referring business to you a no-brainer -- Do you think I'd ever refer anyone to that dry cleaner? No, absolutely not. When people give referrals, they do so because they're happy with a particular business and feel confident that their friend will have a similar experience. I am neither happy nor do I expect a
friend to be happy going to my dry cleaners. The result? I will NEVER send that business a referral. So, really this shop is risking my business... and has already lost future business.
4. You achieve customer loyalty when you go above and beyond the call of duty -- I remember eating at an Italian restaurant with some friends years ago.
I ordered Fettuccine Alfredo and it was served excessively al dente. Normally, I like my pasta more on the al dente side, but not like biting into a pencil. Anyway, I told the waiter about it and, within seconds, the manager rushed to our table, apologizing profusely. He replaced my order, gave us complimentary dessert and a special coupon for the next time we go there. All with a smile. Do you think he earned my loyalty? Absolutely. I've been there many times since
then. I've also recommended them over and over.
Hopefully you can apply all, or at least some, of these lessons to your business.
While I'm still hoping for a competing dry cleaners to open up near me, I've challenged myself to find a way to make this man talk or
smile.
I'm on a mission!
We'll see what happens...
If you have any comments, ideas or suggestions, please email me at: nader@copticchamber.com
Until next time...
Your friend,
