Build a Customer Retention Bridge

As a drycleaning business owner, you will go to the next level of earnings by doing higher value work. One of the highest leveraged activities you can do is to build a bridge between your company and your clients that have gone out of pattern or are lost.
 
A bridge is meant to close the gap between where your clients are and where you want them to be. Think of the bridge as a system you create once and can be used time and again to encourage clients to re-engage and continue to do business with you.
 
This gap, and client loss can be due to a number of reasons. Here are the five most common:

1. Indifference or rudeness from one of your team members
2. The client’s expectations were not met – typically with cleaning or pressing quality
3. The order was not ready when promised
4. The client did not feel appreciated
5. There was nothing special about the client experience

 
When one or more of these reasons happen, your client will see you as a transaction rather than a relationship. They don’t trust you and your team. They might not even like you. When one of your competitors offers a better “deal,” your transactional client will likely leave your business and check out your competitor to see if they are any better. You can turn this around and fix it. 
 
One easy way to re-engage your lost clients is to send them a batch text with a special offer or discount. This will give your business a revenue boost, but it will do little to turn the transactional client into a relationship. The reason is that good relationships require listening so you can correct one of the five issues above, or maybe something else. Clients will not see the text as you listening or caring about them.
 
Here are more meaningful ways to re-engage clients, where you can say you miss the client (shows you care) and ask if you did something to disappoint them (shows you are willing to listen to any concerns or problems): 

1. A phone call from you or one of your managers
2. A personalized video, sent by email or text, using the client’s name
3. A handwritten, personalized note
4. A video, not personalized, sent by email or text

 
Re-engaging lost clients is much easier and requires less resources than trying to attract and acquire new clients. It is the low hanging fruit you can easily access, just by showing you care and offering to listen to any client concerns.
 
If you need help creating a bridge (a reliable system) to get your lost clients back, please send me an email at dave@maverickdrycleaners.com and we can help you create a plan. The more personalized and humanized your client outreach is, the better. We have proven strategies that can be plugged into your business, and the high seasons (which most of the country is experiencing right now) are the best times to install these systems.
 
I hope you have a great week!
Dave