Every improvement you make to your store takes you one step closer to owning your dream laundry. Whether your laundromat is old enough to be from another era or it is a modern, technology laden store, there is always room for improvement.
The most obvious improvement is an equipment retool – if the machines in the store are old. How old is old enough for a retool? Equipment manufacturers have taken advantage of new technology to build much more efficient washers and dryers. These more efficient machines use less energy and water. One of the driving forces is the high G-force washers which has led to customers being able to do washes in a shorter time.
Another improvement that makes laundromats immediately better is making customer service a focus. Small changes such as making sure the store attendants are in branded uniforms are important. This can simply be a branded apron or t-shirt. Your customers will know who to go to in case they need help. Train the attendants to greet each customer – with a smile. Make sure they can help a customer who may not know how to operate the machines. Other things such as answering the phone professionally are essentials of good customer service.
Customer service extends to the facilities in the store too. Conveniences such as automatic doors or even wide entry ways remove the need for customers to struggle with doors while pushing laundry carts or carrying laundry bags. Other must have conveniences include: clean bathrooms (with baby changing stations!) and read & play areas for children.
Improving your laundromat business may mean improving the way it is branded and marketed. If your laundromat has a generic name (like “Laundromat” “Lavanderia”) and faded signage, it may be time to change the name to something memorable and put it up on a big, bold and bright LED sign.
Let’s not forget advertising. Can your business be found on Google and other search engines? Are you on Facebook or Yelp? Hand in hand with these are customer reviews. Do you respond to them?
Taking your laundry to the next level can be done in many ways. It may take a change of mindset to go from ZombieMat operator to running the dream laundry so many owners have accomplished.
Where to start? One of the best resources is your equipment distributor - check out the Lakeside Laundry blog, Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn accounts for more helpful information. There are formal and informal laundromat owners forums available through the Coin Laundry Association, on Facebook and elsewhere. Connect with these resources and gain great insight into how to improve your laundry!
This blog post was originally published on EasternFunding.com.