CHICAGO — It’s one thing to handle drop-off work but taking on commercial accounts may require a different approach entirely.
What must you consider? How do you identify potential accounts? How does taking on such work impact equipment, space and staff? How do you balance doing commercial work with serving walk-in customers?
American Coin-Op reached out to some manufacturer reps and distributor reps this month, as well as some store owners, to ask them for their analysis of what it takes for the average self-service laundry to “go commercial.”
Q: What aspects of their vended laundry must a store owner assess when considering the addition of commercial accounts?
Christopher Brick, regional sales manager, Maytag Commercial Laundry: A number of factors need to be considered when assessing the addition of commercial accounts, including but not limited to:
Washer and dryer capacity – Does the store have enough large equipment to meet both store customers’ and potential commercial customers’ needs at peak times?
Do I have a staff in place to assist with the demands of the commercial accounts?
Are the appropriate procedures and policies in place? If not, can they be enacted?
Do I have transportation for laundry needing to be picked up and/or delivered? Related insurance?
Do I have the counter space necessary to process and fold the larger-volume loads?
John Olsen, vice president, Vended Laundry Products, Laundrylux: The store owner must assess the potential commercial customer base within their trade area, availability space for necessary large front-load washers within the Laundromat, potential increase of staff, and determine if they will provide pickup and delivery service.
Tony Regan, senior vice president Global Sales, American Dryer Corp.: Do they have enough equipment to handle the volume of work so it doesn’t disrupt their walk-in customers who, if they cannot find available machines, will go elsewhere? Also, making sure the added wear and tear on the equipment is considered when taking on consistent work. What hours of the day will this be completed?
Tom Weisheipl, regional sales manager, Speed Queen: Store owners need to assess whether or not the store has the ability to process commercial work. Is the store too busy during open hours to process the work? Do they have enough machines, and do they have enough larger machines? Do they have the staff needed to do the work? You wouldn’t want to try to take on commercial accounts without sufficiently identifying answers to these important questions.
Q: Once the decision to take on commercial accounts has been made, how does one go about identifying prospective customers and acquiring their business?
John Antene, president of coin laundry sales and marketing, Coin-O-Matic: Once the decision to take on commercial accounts has been made, identifying prospective customers and acquiring their business is action that requires a thoughtful process to achieve the best return for the investment, monetarily as well as labor-wise. The groups that should be considered are any business that requires laundering of any type of linen, fine or otherwise (restaurants, banquet halls, etc.); garments (uniforms, smocks, aprons, etc.); and cleaning tools (mop heads, rags, towels, etc.). The considerations are endless.
At the point where general areas have been identified, the owner can then expand within each product group to best meet their abilities. For example, they may choose to deal solely with the uniform market, targeting the “everyday” type of laundering. Areas they may choose to stay away from would be the restaurant linens with food stains that may require more labor-intensive pre-treatments, or medical products that may require higher water temperatures and specific cleaning requirements.
Acquisition of new business is a broad spectrum. This will require a certain amount of salesmanship. What sets you apart from your competitor? It may start with approaching a prospective client, going through the introductions. If they are already using a service, what are the advantages of what you have to offer? Price is a factor but is there a better chance of “value add,” something that their existing service is not offering that you could?
Brick: Certain types of businesses, such as hair salons, veterinary clinics, restaurants, gyms, etc., require lots of linens and make ideal commercial customers. When talking with potential customers or making cold calls to gauge possible interest from a business, having a professional-looking sell sheet is the best way to showcase your service capabilities.
Olsen: Start by making a list of potential customers by business segment: hotels/motels, restaurants, doctor’s offices, hair salons, etc. Then reach out to them by telephone or in person to explain how your service will add value and allow them to dedicate more time to their core business.
Regan: One should prepare a complete overview of their laundry and its capabilities. Like any commercial laundry, the advantages of outsourcing vs. an in-house laundry must be convincing. Reach out to any business that might already be sending out or who might have an aging in-house laundry. Talk service, not just price.
Friendly Wash, Chicago
The two Chicago-based Friendly Wash laundries owned by Tony Kahan (he has a third is under construction) have been serving commercial accounts for four years now. “We move our services between stores depending on location of the business,” he says. Commercial work accounts for less than 10% of his annual revenue.
Kahan says the addition of commercial work came about “organically.”
“I have friends who are in different businesses who have laundry needs and were too small for some of the bigger corporate laundry services, and were paying too much,” he explains. “I was able to work the classic ‘win/win,’ as I am able to save them money from their former laundry service (while) at the same time I make money on the commercial accounts.”
His stores featuring either Speed Queen or Huebsch equipment are attended, and the regular staff handles the commercial work. At times, he provides employees with extra hours to handle bigger orders.
Friendly Wash processes commercial work during regular business hours and has a 48-hour turnaround time. “The commercial portion is a nice accompaniment to our walk-in business, but the walk-ins are our bread and butter. We work around those customers and make sure that machines are available for them.”
Friendly Wash uses designated laundry bags for its commercial accounts to minimize impact on walk-in customers.
Kahan has a warning about pursuing commercial business: “Be careful what you wish for. These accounts can get cumbersome and reoccurring. If you don’t see yourself driving an hour in the snow to get your customers their items, it is probably not a commercial account worth keeping. Also, if too much commercial accounts (work) shows up at the store, people get a little leery about what is going in the machines.”
Check back Tuesday for Part 2!
Have a question or comment? E-mail our editor Bruce Beggs at [email protected].