CHICAGO — Chance Stone, owner of Tropical Laundromat in Holly Hill, Fla., faces plenty of competitors in his town, situated just seven miles northeast of Daytona Beach.
“We’ve got four competitors within a three-mile radius,” Stone says. “Two of those competitors are within a mile of us, so it makes it an area that has a lot of competitors in what we do.”
Despite facing stiff competition, Stone explains that his laundry business, which he’s been operating for four years now, continues to grow. So much so that he’s been able to draw customers from as far as 12 miles outside of his community.
Stone attributes this accomplishment to the strides he’s made in establishing his store’s loyalty efforts, both online and in his store.
But, he’s not alone. American Coin-Op reached out to various store owners and operators across the country regarding the steps they’ve taken, and the strategies they’ve implemented at their store to not only attract new customers, but to also keep regulars coming back.
GARNERING ‘LIKES’ AND FOLLOWS
Keeping in contact with customers is key, according to the store owners interviewed, as many of them execute this through e-mail and modern channels like social media.
Colleen Unema, owner of Q Laundry, Bellingham, Wash., explains that through her loyalty program, she’s built a list of 1,000-plus customer e-mails that she uses in reaching out twice a month with special offers.
Unema also uses social media sites like Facebook, saying that she stays active on the site, posting content one to two times per day.
“What you have to remember is your best [Facebook] follower only gets four or five out of 10 posts; and if they don’t ‘Like’ a post, photo or update they will not get any of your posts after awhile,” Unema explains.
Tiberio “Tiby” Erdely, owner of San Antonio (Texas) Green Laundry, follows the same principle, staying active on his store’s Yelp page.
“As soon as somebody puts up a review on Yelp, I get a notification on my phone, and I respond right away,” he says. “At the time that I receive it, I stop what I’m doing, I go to the computer and I respond, and I thank the people for putting up a review.”
Stone incentivizes his customers to engage on social media, offering a $1 coupon to customers for “Liking” or following his business.
“Basically what we do with that dollar coupon is we don’t give those four quarters, in a sense. What we do is we take those four quarters and put them in a vend of their choice,” he says. “Sometimes [liking a page] is not enough, sometimes you need an incentive to get them go the extra mile. This isn’t going to break the bank for us; this is money that’s going right back into the store.”
In her experience with social media, Deborah Dower, owner of Paradise Laundry in the greater Sacramento, Calif., area, explains that her customers’ preference for certain platforms varies from store to store.
“What I’m finding is at every store, one social media does not fit all … and it really depends on your demographics, what they’re using out there and what’s going to reach them,” she says.
SOCIAL MANAGEMENT
Managing multiple online accounts can be daunting, but Dower explains she uses sites like Yext to update and keep track of her store’s online listings, as well as Hootsuite to manage social media accounts.
“Hootsuite has been really helpful because you can make a post to Twitter and all of [your] Facebook pages at once instead of having to go log in each one,” says Dower.
Having an online presence, particularly a website or mobile website, is of importance, according to Dower. Roughly 60% of her customers discover her store through a mobile device, she says.
For those unsure of how to create a website, both Dower and Unema advise store owners to seek counsel, as Stone did in reaching out to a local design team to create his store’s website.
Dower also stressed the importance of “claiming” online directory listings, saying, “If you’re not going to have a website, you at least need to have the directories out there; claim those directories, especially Google, Bing and Yahoo.”
Staying active online and managing a store’s social media accounts is key, as it can present opportunities to better your business, according to Phil Irwin, owner of Waters Express Laundry, Tampa, Fla.
“I had one gentleman who gave me a [low rating]. He was totally dissatisfied with the service that we had provided him,” says Irwin. “By interacting with him and talking to him, we were able to find out what the problem was. … It took us a while, but we finally regained him as a customer, and he’s full-time wash-dry-fold customer again. Not engaging in social media would not have given us the opportunity to do that.”
For many of the store owners interviewed, offline, face-to-face interaction is of importance, as well.
“Every time we get somebody here in the store, regardless of who they are, when it’s their first time, we always ask them how they found us,” says Erdely. “We get a lot of response from Google and from Yelp, and from word of mouth.”
“My number one question, whether I’m in the store or whether I’m talking to a customer, I always ask, ‘How did you find out about us?’” explains Dower. “And even if they say the Yellow Pages, I want to know which one. If they say online, I want to know what search engine. I’m constantly asking them how they heard about us.”
Check back Wednesday for the conclusion!
Missed earlier parts of this story? Read them now: Part 1, Part 2
Have a question or comment? E-mail our editor Bruce Beggs at [email protected].