What Dry Cleaners & Laundromats Can Learn from the #1 Sports Agent

When was the last time Drew Rosenhaus called you?

You may say he is different, he has very few customers paying him a lot of money. That’s true - he is by far the highest paid sports agent in the world. Yet, that means it is much harder for him to keep and retain his customers, since everyone is gunning for him. Just like your competition is looking to take your laundry customers from you.

Why does he do it?

He knows that if he can connect with his people on an emotional level, and make them feel that they are his #1 priority, then they will stick by his side.

You do not have to call every client all the time. Rather determine which people to reach out to and when. Some people are short, and some people take more time. Some people only need a call once every 2 months, but some you will need to touch base with every other day. Just remember that you may only be able to connect with your top 5% of customers/contacts or half of your employees, but the key is that you “connect".

How do you do it?

Some experts set goals to try to reconnect with at least 3 people, each day. Either by phone, email or even a card. Some people even prefer to be contacted by social media now - Linkedin is great for professional contacts.

It helps keep you fresh on where people are, and oftentimes gives you great leads on where your business can move or evolve. Our previous experience is that we have even found some of our best partnerships and employees this way.

You can choose to have more or less, but in the course of a year that is over 1,000 connections that you have made to strengthen your relationships. If those are unique people, and each of those people have connected with 500 others, then you now have a network of over 500,000 people. This will pay dividends when you need a great lawyer or need to hire your next sales person and the word of mouth for driving your business is great.

Consider These Tips

Frequently pull a list of your top customers. Do not just look at dollars spent. Consider those that frequent you every few days with smaller orders - they are loyal to you.
Set a schedule. This will help you to remember to reach out to these folks on a consistent basis.
Create templates. Create email and text message templates that you can quickly edit and customize to send to customers as a check it. It will make the task less daunting.
Create automations. With CRM’s like Starchup’s Laundry and Dry Cleaning POS software, you can create automations that contact certain customers on a regular basis with templated emails or SMS messages.
Ask the important questions. Ask how their last order was. Ask what is happening in their life. Ask if there is a service you are not providing that you could. Ask them about their last interaction with a CSR. Ask them how your technology stack is working for them.
Give some customers special attention. Review the list each month and see if there are new entrants or customers who have fallen off. Reach out to both of those. Hearing from the manager or especially the owner makes customers feel special and heard and will pay dividends in word of mouth and loyalty.
Talk to competitors. Take a healthy competitive spirit. Talk to your competitors often - you may find a friend in the business. They may be able to be a back-up for you if you have an operational issue (see #21 in our blog post: Choosing a Dry Cleaning Wholesaler). If the competitor is ever in the market to sell, you may get first right of refusal to take over their business..
Create a prospect list. Create a list of the top professionals in your area. Reach out to them on a consistent basis and ask for their business. Offer to do it free for a period of time. Then stay in touch when they become your customer.

These methods will help you to keep your customers happy, get fresh ideas, and continue to grow your business long into the future.