lost customers

[James2011]

Due to the new competition store open, sales has been drop since 09 Dec, can you let me know how can I bring back those lost customers?

[CanCanCase]

It's a fairly simple question to answer... what did the new store do to differentiate itself from your store? There are far too many ways to compete to list them all here.

-Case

[James2011]

mostly similiar, except their machines are brand new and mine is 9 yrs old.
Can,
Can you list here top 5 ways you can think of?

[Super Clean]

Clean - and this can include new paint as well as good lighthing. Make sure the place doesnt get dirty, a dirty store always looks as if the ownership doesn't care and the customer then doesn't care.

Ammenities - Working Soap Machine, Vending Machine, Change Machine, Folding Table Space, washroom, TV's, free wi fi.

Those are my two cents. 9 year old machines shouldn't matter unless they all looked trashed. Keep them clean and working and they will do as much as any other new machine.

[CanCanCase]

Jeff just beat me to it...

In no particular order:
1) Install new or upgraded amenities for customer comfort/enjoyment - TV, WiFi, new seating, vending, etc.
2) Paint - interior and exterior
3) CLEAN EVERYTHING - make it shine!
4) Review and possibly update your signage - a new lighted sign is the first thing I'm doing to rehab my old, absentee-owner store
5) Consider the flooring. If tiles are broken or missing, fix them. Maybe consider a new floor covering, but if that's not in the budget, a good commercial cleaning/waxing/polishing will do wonders.
6) Lighting - even if you don't install any new fixtures, BE SURE all bulbs are working and BRIGHT... maybe replace incandescents with compact fluorescents or look for new bulbs with a "brighter" color of light and/or wattage.
7) Did I mention CLEAN EVERYTHING?!!!!
8) I'm big on surfaces when it comes to customer perception. Chipped laminate formica looks "run down" to me. Same with floor tiles. Caulking in bathrooms should be new-looking, not cracked, and no mildew stains.
9) Buy or rent a mailing list and start the marketing campaign you've been putting off. Radio ads, direct mail, door hangars, etc. - Consider going after some new customers while you're trying to re-capture lost ones. With my "new" store, I get to emphasize that we've been "serving the Bay Area since 1962"... I haven't owned the place that long, but it's been there chugging along. In my community of older folks, that means a lot when compared to a new store.

THEN, when you're done talking about how long your mat has been around and how you've really been there for the community, make sure everything is clean, shiny and new(er) looking to really impress folks who might have become accustomed to the "aged" look.

Granted, I'm no expert in the laundry business. I'm taking over my first (second) store on Monday, and still constructing my second (first) store. Basic marketing and competition tactics, however, don't change much from business to business...

-Case

[James2011]

thanks all,

Oh!
The DoorHanger AD is not illegal, right?

[Super Clean]

thanks all,

Oh!
The DoorHanger AD is not illegal, right?

I have my new advertising campaign starting in February. After much research I've decided to go with door hangers. The door hanger is multiple companies on one which cuts down on the cost and the ads are anchored by a local Chinese Buffet so ppl are looking for the ad each month for the 2 for 1 deal.

Door hangers are being placed on your doors not in your mailbox. I know in the US it's illegal I beleive to put unaddressed or unposted mail in the mailbox? Up here all the new houses have a centrally located mailbox where the truck pulls up and fills each compartment so most houses don't even have mailboxes anymore and the door hanger is a smarter choice.

Case made some really good points as well....clean clean and clean being important.

[James2011]

good, now how to distribute them? just hire a person and ask him to run all and each apartments door to door to hang it on the door handle?

[Super Clean]

good, now how to distribute them? just hire a person and ask him to run all and each apartments door to door to hang it on the door handle?

There are companies that will distribute them for you. Generally cheaper then you can do it yourself. Trust me I've priced it. The downfall to having companies distribute it for you being you are not the only one on the door.

There is a business oppurtunity to get into doing ad hangers as well as promoting your laundromat.

[Adamski]

Guys,

Has anyone ever distributed coupons using hired helpers and instead of paying per piece or per hour, paid a larger amount for each coupon that was actually redeemed? I'm thinking maybe $3 - $5 per redeemed coupon and zero for un-redeemed coupons.

The concern I have with hiring guys to distribute coupons door to door and paying per piece distributed is that there is nothing to prevent a person from simply throwing a bunch of them into a dumpster somewhere and claiming they were hung on doors.

[Jefflange]

You could hire a couple undocumented (illegals) people and drive them around handing out door hangers or hire a company that will do the same.

[epic02]

Larry I think It would work out better if you paid them per hour. And give them a small bonus depending on the amount of new customers that redeem coupons. All of us Laundromats know we could put out thousands of fliers and are lucky to get any new customers because of it.

[STOUT]

Due to the new competition store open, sales has been drop since 09 Dec, can you let me know how can I bring back those lost customers?

Get on the local utilities and city boards and have them raise impact fees so high that no one would ever want to open up a laundromat in your area again. Then work on buying out your competition.
:D

[Adamski]

You could hire a couple undocumented (illegals) people and drive them around handing out door hangers or hire a company that will do the same.

Jeff,

Thanks. In the past, I've taken a couple of my young, part-time helpers and driven them into a neighborhood and each guy would walk down one side of the street distributing door hangers and I'd pick them up at the far end. This eliminated the chance to throw material away but it tied me up too (even if I was just sitting in the van). By the way, we have very few illegals up here as the state bought them one-way bus tickets to Florida many years ago. Have you seen them?

[bodman]

my friend has had good success with able labor they send a driver the assistant mgr and supervised men to walk, and hang

[BCW]

Guys,

Has anyone ever distributed coupons using hired helpers and instead of paying per piece or per hour, paid a larger amount for each coupon that was actually redeemed? I'm thinking maybe $3 - $5 per redeemed coupon and zero for un-redeemed coupons.

The concern I have with hiring guys to distribute coupons door to door and paying per piece distributed is that there is nothing to prevent a person from simply throwing a bunch of them into a dumpster somewhere and claiming they were hung on doors.

Larry, Just do it the easy way.

1. Place flyers into 33 gal. bags

2. Rent plane.

3. Determine drop zone.

4. Bombs away.........$$$$$$

Tom

[surfflite]

I had 2 of my attendants hand out 1000 door hangers a several months ago. We have yet to see even 1 turned in for a free wash. My latest strategy was to make up another 500 coupons that we keep on premise. We get a lot of winter visitors so I have instructed my attendants to hand out 4-5, but ONLY to the winter visitors. Telling them they can use one on their next visit and if they wouldn't mind handing out the other few to their RV neighbors back at the park. Being retiree's are creatures of gossip (good or bad), this works out quite well. Sure, occasionally the couples will keep all 4-5 coupons for themselves but they can only use 1 per visit. I have been seeing a few coupons being used since I've been doing this. Unlike the door hangers which produced ZERO response.

[James2011]

TOM,
your article needs to post in FUN site because it's not a practical approach.


Anyway,
I think it's better just drive with one or two helpers myself around my area....

[epic02]

Tom, Larry wouldn't have to rent a plane he has his own so that wont be a problem.
LOL.

[BCW]

TOM,
your article needs to post in FUN site because it's not a practical approach.


Anyway,
I think it's better just drive with one or two helpers myself around my area....

laundror, lighten up, I was kidding. Maybe you should try it sometime. You might get your customers back.

Tom

[BCW]

Tom, Larry wouldn't have to rent a plane he has his own so that wont be a problem.
LOL.

Kenny, If I know Larry, he would rent the plane from himself as a business expense. :)
Tom

[Adamski]

Kenny, If I know Larry, he would rent the plane from himself as a business expense. :)
Tom

Tom,

Just to correct something ... I no longer own an airplane. I use to own a Mooney 201 (201 refers to its maximum level speed) and I commuted among my 3 laundromats in the 1980s using said plane. Mooneys are built near San Antonia as I'm sure our Texan friends here know. Since I was using the plane to commute between laundromats in various towns, I was able to write off 90% of its operating cost.

Yes, expensive airplanes and yachts often become legitimate business enterprises. A person can buy one and then lease it out, either to himself or to others. As long as there is the possibility of making a profit, all operating expenses become tax deductable.

[epic02]

Larry was it hard to get off the ground with all those quarters? Because back then you were only using quarters. LOL

[pressandclean]

Due to the new competition store open, sales has been drop since 09 Dec, can you let me know how can I bring back those lost customers?

Go to their apartments and tell them that you want them back!

[Adamski]

Larry was it hard to get off the ground with all those quarters? Because back then you were only using quarters. LOL


Kenny,

Good one. The nice thing about flying was we would travel 180 miles (round trip) in a day, service 2 laundromats (1 in the morning and 1 in the afternoon) and not get any more tired than on the days when we serviced the local laundromat/dry cleaners/car wash without flying anywhere.

[epic02]

I would of liked to work for you just to go for the plane ride, even if you didn't pay. I would of been taken pilot lessons from you though.

[James2011]

Go to their apartments and tell them that you want them back!

Did you do that??

[Self_Suds_WV]

When we opened our mat in 6/2009 we bought 154 vend size boxes of tide detergent and went to every apartment within 2 miles of the new mat, knocked on the door, gave the owner a box of soap, a buy-one-get-one free wash coupon, asked for their business and answered questions about our mat.

Remember to remind them that "even if you have a washer here in your apartment, we have large washers for quilts, comforters and other large items"

The soap was cheap (less than $60). The coupons i printed on my home computer (about $4). The time invested was 3 hours every saturday and sunday for 2 months (when the weather was decent). The response was incredible.

We have been open now over 7 months and we continue to have people walk in with their free box of Tide and the coupon.

Definately ASK people to CHOOSE your laundromat, then give them a reason to do it.

ALSO YOUR MAT MUST BE CLEAN - VERY CLEAN - EVERY DAY

John

[pressandclean]

Did you do that??

No, my mat is new and taking customers away from other mats.

The idea is to talk to your lost customers and figure out why they are leaving and to come up with a plan to get them back.

[Adamski]

Due to the new competition store open, sales has been drop since 09 Dec, can you let me know how can I bring back those lost customers?

Anderson,

Ask yourself if your business plan still makes sense in light of the new competition. For example: Maybe you've been operating for years as the Low Price Leader to maximize turns and draw customers from a wider circle. That strategy may have worked well until the new guy opened within your wide circle. Now he's offering a location that is more convenient to some customers within the circle than your location is. There's not much you can do about the convenience his location offers those customers. What you can do is modify your approach to attracting customers by improving your laundromat and restructuring to a higher vend price to get more profit from the fewer customers within your reduced circle (market).

[DaveLevenson]

...I use to own a Mooney 201 (201 refers to its maximum level speed) and I commuted among my 3 laundromats in the 1980s using said plane...

Larry, thanks for posting the above. It brought back some very fond memories. I, too, used to own a Mooney (mine was a Mark-21, AKA model M20C) back in the 1980's. Back then I worked for a company that sent me visiting their customer sites all over Pennsylvania. I could get to three for four sites all over the state in one day-trip and still make it home for dinner. Home base was Morristown, NJ. The travel-allowance on my expense account covered much of the operating cost. My last flight was in 1996 when I sold it, and delivered it to its new owner in Connecticut.