Slow Day Turnaround
“Slow Day Turnaround” episode, American Coin-Op Podcast—May 2020
Bruce Beggs, Editor, American Coin-Op
Editorial Director, American Trade Magazines
Guest: Cathy Neilley, Spin Doctor® Laundromats, LLC
Bruce: Our focus today will be on filling the typical business lulls that a self-service laundry might experience. But we can’t ignore the coronavirus pandemic and its impact. How can a laundry owner best position their business to serve customers in this new age of social distancing and hand hygiene?
Bruce: OK, let’s look at things more traditionally. What are the typical “slow” times and days for an average vended laundry?
Cathy: Going to guess that for most of us it is mid-week, l late on weeknights, major holiday weekends in the summer. In fact, summertime generally. If you are in a northeastern state like us, many leave for even warmer climates, are washing their clothes in other states or countries, and when they do wash, they are putting significantly less in the machines: shorts, bathing suits, and tee-shirts, versus coats and sweatsuits.
Bruce: In what ways can a store owner determine his/her store’s slow times or slow days, beyond simplevisual observation of customer count?
Cathy: If you have a coinless operating system (e.g., LaundryCard), you can run a “Sales by Hour” or “Average Usage” reports for each day of the week, or tallying collections at close of day for two to four weeks.
Bruce: What type(s) of promotions could a store owner offer to help boost business during slow periods?
Cathy: Before I opened, I noticed that some laundromats had “happy hour” specials where they gave out free detergent or dry time, or other discounted service. I was advised against instituting a “free dry” program because it is a bit of a “smoke and mirrors” discount that can be difficult for staff to manage. A year post-opening, I did a usage analysis and decided to program the washers and dryers to charge less at mid-week. And, in a nod to our music theme, I call it “Club Wednesday.” We’ve even had karaoke nights.
Bruce: How can today’s advanced laundry equipment play a role in helping a store owner generate more business during typically slow times or days?
Cathy: Coinless operations, where some, or all, of the laundry equipment is wired into a remote management system the owner operator has the ability to pre-program or enact real-time discounts on all or select sizes of equipment.
Bruce: What, in your opinion, are the most effective marketing methods for informing customers and potential customers of specials and promotions designed to increase business during slow periods?
Cathy: I would say Facebook and Yelp. With Facebook you can choose a geographic radius or population demographic and post a coupon in less than 15 minutes. Yelp has a Deal (like Groupon), and “Check-in Offer” that owners can construct from available templates and post for free.
Bruce: Are there things a laundry owner can do—completely unrelated to self-service laundry itself—to boost business?
Cathy: Host a local business group for breakfast or “after work” networking event. Do something for the kids: Literacy programs or sponsor a local school team. Perhaps consider partnering with a business in a non-competing industry to host a social event.
Bruce: How can a laundry owner involve their customer base in developing a strategy to generate more business during slow periods?
Cathy: If you have a customer mailing list, post a short online questionnaire using Survey Monkey or Mail Chimp; and encourage them to vote by promising a small gratuity. Have a comment box in the store and draw one name at random for a store coupon—something with perceived value that you don’t have to put out a lot for. Better yet, form a little committee or customer board that picks the “best idea” for a gift or publication on your website.
Bruce: Anything else to add about generating additional business during slow periods?
Cathy:
(1) One thing I learned in my corporate life at Bayer and Johnson & Johnson: Make whatever program you come up with easy to administer and reproducible—in other words---it should not be too hard for the staff, or it won’t get done.
(2) Give yourself a lot of ramp-up time to build awareness well before you launch and have a heathy mix of online and traditional outlets (e.g., local newspapers), to reach a wide audience or potential customers.
(3) “Do the ‘math.” Ask yourself how much time and resources (staff, supplies, advertising, product), you think it takes to make it work If the incremental increase in sales is not enough to cover your expenses---it is not worth your time.
(4) Be consistent. Once you have some traction, avoid significant changes in the terms, or date; otherwise, you will lose any goodwill you’ve built up.
(5) Tell the ones that didn’t show up what they missed. Post pictures immediately after.
