Dear customer,

[thinkclean]

Dear customer,

Thank you for your support since we rehabilitated this laundromat with new equipment 2.5 years ago. On 12/1 the landlord will significantly raise our building rent and pass through higher taxes and insurance costs. Our pledge is to provide a clean environment with well maintained machines as well as fully attended staff for your convenience. Starting on 12/10 we will end our warm and cold water wash discounts. Thank you for your understanding.

==========

Is pricing announcement a good business practice appreciated by customers? Or is it better to do it unannounced and ask the attendants to explain why if anyone asks. I offer 25c off on warm water usage and 50c off on cold water usage across my washers. I did it to differentiate my coin-op store vs. two 24/7 card stores. One is unattended and old the other better condition but is attended. My 18 pounds are inline with market pricing at $2.25 before discount while my 30s and 40s are price leaders at $3.50 and $5.50. I have heard someone once said if you put a letter explaining why prices are going higher it will be tolerated. Please chime in.

TIA,
Ben

[Howard]

I've often put up similar letters to justify the pass through of expenses. A few years ago when Natural gas went sky high I posted charts showing the increase and used this to extract a huge increase in dryer pricing. Everyone just complained about the gas company not about what I did, so I guess it worked.

[Adamski]

Ben,

I suggest a shorter, more general note to prepare your customers. Notice I didn't even include the exact date of the change. Remember, a quarter increase on a washer today is minimal. It won't make much difference in your pocket or your customer's pocket so don't make it sound like a big deal.

Dear Customer,

Due to steadily rising operating costs, we are forced to end our warm water discounts. This modest price change will allow us to provide the high level of service that you have come to expect. Thank you for your understanding and continued patronage.

[Jefflange]

I never put a sign up because many people dont realize the increase, so why bring it to their attention.

[jh]

Originally Posted by thinkclean

Dear customer,

Thank you for your support since we rehabilitated this laundromat with new equipment 2.5 years ago. On 12/1 the landlord will significantly raise our building rent and pass through higher taxes and insurance costs. Our pledge is to provide a clean environment with well maintained machines as well as fully attended staff for your convenience. Starting on 12/10 we will end our warm and cold water wash discounts. Thank you for your understanding.

==========

Is pricing announcement a good business practice appreciated by customers? Or is it better to do it unannounced and ask the attendants to explain why if anyone asks. I offer 25c off on warm water usage and 50c off on cold water usage across my washers. I did it to differentiate my coin-op store vs. two 24/7 card stores. One is unattended and old the other better condition but is attended. My 18 pounds are inline with market pricing at $2.25 before discount while my 30s and 40s are price leaders at $3.50 and $5.50. I have heard someone once said if you put a letter explaining why prices are going higher it will be tolerated. Please chime in.

TIA,
Ben

It is better to put up a sign to explain the price change rather than let the customers approach the attendants with an attitude. Some don't read sign at all so prepare for that, too. I raised my price three months ago with a sign pointing out the water rate change. My equipments were newer and overall wash and dry experience was better than my competitors' so I have received few complaints.

Unless one of your goal is to make your customers point fingers at the landlord, I suggest not to include "landlord" on the sign. Simply state that rent has been significantly increased and how many more quarters will be needed to pay the rent. Use "we can not afford to offer the discount" instead of "we will end the discount".

Just my 2 cents.

[Super Clean]

I put up signs to indicate a substantial price increase when they combined our GST and PST taxes together which meant we now had to collect additional tax per machine.

I use to put up notifications about price increases but just meant ppl bitched about it more before the price change and then again after the price change. I stopped posting the increases so I only had to listen to ppl afterwards and the new customers didn't know what the old price was anyways and just pay what the machine shows.

[thinkclean]

Larry, I also offer 50c discount for cold water usage. Would you still say its not that big of a deal? I like your suggestion below. Thank you

Originally Posted by Adamski

Ben,

I suggest a shorter, more general note to prepare your customers. Notice I didn't even include the exact date of the change. Remember, a quarter increase on a washer today is minimal. It won't make much difference in your pocket or your customer's pocket so don't make it sound like a big deal.

Dear Customer,

Due to steadily rising operating costs, we are forced to end our warm water discounts. This modest price change will allow us to provide the high level of service that you have come to expect. Thank you for your understanding and continued patronage.

jh, I like how carefully you chose your words. I will def go with "we can not afford". Thank you.

Originally Posted by jh

It is better to put up a sign to explain the price change rather than let the customers approach the attendants with an attitude. Some don't read sign at all so prepare for that, too. I raised my price three months ago with a sign pointing out the water rate change. My equipments were newer and overall wash and dry experience was better than my competitors' so I have received few complaints.

Unless one of your goal is to make your customers point fingers at the landlord, I suggest not to include "landlord" on the sign. Simply state that rent has been significantly increased and how many more quarters will be needed to pay the rent. Use "we can not afford to offer the discount" instead of "we will end the discount".

Just my 2 cents.

[ldm]

Originally Posted by Adamski

Ben,

I suggest a shorter, more general note to prepare your customers. Notice I didn't even include the exact date of the change. Remember, a quarter increase on a washer today is minimal. It won't make much difference in your pocket or your customer's pocket so don't make it sound like a big deal.

Dear Customer,

Due to steadily rising operating costs, we are forced to end our warm water discounts. This modest price change will allow us to provide the high level of service that you have come to expect. Thank you for your understanding and continued patronage.

Larry's note covers the issue nicely, you can add "cold" to the discounts you are ending.

My larger concern is...have you done your homework on what the LLD's increase will mean to your overall income / expense / profit target. In other words, will ending these discounts allow you to absorb all the expenses coming your way. I don't think you want to raise your prices more than once in a while, so be sure you increase your pricing as needed along with the discounts to address the bigger picture.

While I am not familiar with your market, I would consider taking a polite but firm negotiating position with the Landlord against passing any of these costs along while you are struggling with discounts to keep customers coming thru your door. Maybe you get him to back off in whole or you negotiate a discount on the new expenses for this period of your lease. Les

[MrMachine]

If there is a substantial increase, I do what Howard does.
An apology, an explanation of why, and some proof (such as charts, data, etc) to back it up.

If the increase is related to gas, I find news articles about gas prices to be very helpful. The same goes for water, electric, rents or taxes.

You can look these up on the internet, print them out and post them in your store.

But if your competitors don't raise at the same time (which is very often the case), the customers won't believe you.
It all boils down to the marketplace, your competition, and whether or not you can get away with the increase.

[STOUT]

Originally Posted by MrMachine

But if your competitors don't raise at the same time (which is very often the case), the customers won't believe you.
It all boils down to the marketplace, your competition, and whether or not you can get away with the increase.

Paul;
You hit it squarely on top oh the head with that statement. That's why most people do not believe your reasons if and when you post them.