CHICAGO — There are many ways that a laundry operation can promote its service to potential clients or end-users, and the marketing method used by more than two-thirds of Wire survey respondents is good, old-fashioned word of mouth.
Subscribers to the American Laundry News Wire were asked by what means do they and/or their staff promote their service. They were presented with 10 choices and could select as many that applied. General word of mouth was the top choice, selected by 65.8%. There was a tie for second (60.5%) between company websites and sales calls, either via phone or in person.
Nearly 40% of respondents also utilize industry association membership and participation to promote their service.
Other marketing tools used include social media (23.7%), print or Web advertising (21.1%), direct mail (18.4%), e-mail marketing (15.8%) and the everything-else “other” (7.9%). Flyers and signage (“my location is on a busy street”) were mentioned as “other” tools.
Approximately 5% of respondents don’t promote their service.
When they do promote their businesses or services, 86.5% emphasize their company’s strengths, 10.8% emphasize their strengths and their competitor’s weaknesses, and 2.7% emphasize their competitor’s weaknesses.
When you learn another laundry service is competing for the same business, what’s your immediate reaction?
Reactions are fairly mixed. The majority—38.9%— is excited, because competition energizes them to make their laundry the best it can be. Another 36.1% are unconcerned, because they’re confident in their laundry’s abilities, so they don’t worry about what others are doing.
Roughly 22% become anxious, because the threat of competition makes them question if their service is doing the best it can. The remaining 3% become depressed, because their laundry can’t compete with another service.
“I have seen a number of my competitors greatly under price their services in order to gain market share,” wrote one respondent about marketing his/her laundry in a tough economy. “I do not understand how selling at such a low profit margin is good for anyone’s business.”
“You need the best product and lowest cost,” wrote another. “Cost is a huge driving factor.”
Subscribers to American Laundry News’ Wire e-mails—distributed twice weekly—are invited to participate anonymously in a brief industry survey each month. While it presents a snapshot of readers’ viewpoints at a particular moment, the survey should not be considered scientific.
The entire American Laundry News audience is encouraged to participate, as a greater number of responses will help to better define operator opinions and industry trends.
Have a question or comment? E-mail our editor Matt Poe at [email protected].