HAGERSTOWN, Md. — Mowing the lawn, washing the dishes, weeding the garden, making the bed or doing the laundry. They’re all chores, and they usually aren’t fun to do.
But doing the laundry — including washing, drying and folding — shouldn’t be included in that list thanks to the increasing popularity of wash-dry-fold (WDF) services at many Laundromats. WDF services allow customers to cook dinner or attend their children’s sporting events, instead of worrying about when they will find time to do the laundry.
ON THE SPOT
At Spot Laundromats, we strive to make sure our customers’ only worry with laundry is having to put it away in their drawers or closets.
Train your staff to separate laundry by colors and safely dry items. Consumers shouldn’t have to worry about their items being overdried.
Hand-wash delicate items, and make your WDF service customizable. So, if a customer wants some items folded and others hung on hangers, do it that way. That could also include washing things like leggings inside out and allowing them to be air-dried, or separating work garments from everyday garments.
You also need to spell out exactly how WDF works since many people are afraid of trying something new. Tell consumers upfront that you provide the detergent, softener, bleach and hangers, and that you’ll fold the laundry as they’ll find it on a store shelf. Explain to people that they can put their laundry in a trash bag, hamper or any other container they like, and that you’ll handle the rest.
Reassure your customer that their laundry is not co-mingled with laundry from other customers. A tag system is used from the counter, to be sorted before going into the washer, then into the dryer and even to the folding table, all the way until the laundry is bagged and ready to be picked up.
Here at Spot, we use Tide, Snuggle and bleach, and ask customers to tell us if they have any allergies. If they do suffer from allergies, customers provide their own detergent or softener, and specify whether we can use bleach or not. We will mark a customer’s detergents with their name and keep them for future use or give them back to the customer with each visit.
One of the biggest things that draws a customer’s attention is offering WDF services in the same space where customers are doing their own laundry. People are more likely to ask about the service when they see it being done.
Many people view WDF services as a higher-end service or a luxury, so we like to compare it to ordering pizza and having it delivered. That allows the customer to think outside the box and see that it really is an affordable luxury.
Check back Thursday for the conclusion!
Have a question or comment? E-mail our editor Bruce Beggs at [email protected].