Tips for the top

27 February 1998



They are successful and have been in business for some time. They are Britain’s top cleaners. Lisa Arcangeli asked them to share their advice on how to keep customers coming back.


The word quality. So easy to say and yet so hard to achieve. Yet quality should be a cleaner’s credo if he is to keep his business lucrative.

What common threads link the top people in the business? Most successful cleaners genuinely like people. They are unafraid of facing customers and being honest about what can realistically be achieved. Problems are sorted out on the counter and service is always maintained at a high level.

Laundry and Cleaning News’ Drycleaners of the Year offer their advice on how to gain a customer’s trust and more importantly, their loyalty.

Howard Bradley, relief manager for the Johnson Group, believes cleaners should be aware of what fabrics are on the market and keep abreast of fabric technology.

“Provide a first-rate service. Look for opportunities in whatever you do,” he urges. Mr Bradley’s father, Eric, a retired cleaner, says operators should strive to give the best service possible and adds: “always be nice to your customers”.

Barry Knell, laundry manager for the Ministry of Defense Royal Hospital Haslar in Gosport, Hampshire, says his cleaning services are for a captive audience, and are also conveniently sited near to where his customers work.

“We run a professional operation, maintain a cheerful manner, make sure we thoroughly check all garments and discuss the garment labels with our customers,” he says.

Michelle Hare, shop manager of Beaucare cleaners in Chatham, Kent, maintains that greeting and treating customers kindly is essential. “We like to provide a personal touch and offer extra services, like re-cleans. All our finishing is done by hand,” she says.

Ashvin Sachdev of Mr Clean Drycleaners in north west London believes the three best elements for success are “being nice to your customers, offering a good, all-round service and keeping prices at a reasonable level. It always brings them back”, he says.

Graham Parrish of Oyster Cleaners in Whitstable, Kent, says the key profit boosters are a first-class professional service. “I believe in sorting problems out on the counter and making sure my customers are aware of the results they will get.” Mustafa Shakir of Panache Drycleaning of Sawbridgeworth, Hertfordshire, explains that the personal touch is all-important.

“Customers have to like you. A trip to the cleaner should be like visiting their own home.

“Prices have to be competitive and you have to be reliable—open all hours—and staff must be courteous, so that the customer comes out of your shop feeling good.” Robert Turnbull owner of Ideal Dry Cleaners, Middlesbrough, Cleveland maintains that a cleaner must always give customers satisfaction.

“Make sure there is a quality control system in place so that all garments are double-checked.” He adds that his main marketing strategies originated when he first read the Stan Golomb marketing column in Laundry and Cleaning News. It inspired him to re-examine how he promoted his services and helped him to build his existing business.

“It is too easy to bring in new customers with special offers. What is important is to look after the customers you have,” he says.

“Winning the Drycleaners of the Year competition has also been unbelievably helpful to our business, especially with regard to customer confidence.

“We also managed to get our entry into Yellow Pages, showing our award, and this has given customers reassurance. Many cleaners have signs in their shops saying ‘we are not responsible for buttons or trims’. In my shop, we say ‘we are responsible’.

“We also award our top 100 spenders with money-off vouchers. Before, I used to do all the spotting, but now I am on the counter most of the time.”



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