CHICAGO — It is very important for laundry operators to learn about their customers and even potential customers, shares Jo Dekmak, member services manager at Metropolitan Detroit Area Hospital Services Inc.
“Outstanding customer service distinguishes your laundry from other laundries,” she says. “Building those relationships will not only improve agreed-upon service levels but will also improve communications and resolve issues promptly.
“Learning about each other will build partnership, loyalty and will create positive experiences that might also be shared with other potential customers.”
But how can industrial and institutional laundry operators learn more about their customers and potential customers?
American Laundry News asked Dekmak and customer service/experience guru Shep Hyken to find out more about the process of enhancing relationships with business-to-business (B2B) customers.
IMPORTANT INFORMATION
When it comes to the information a laundry operator should learn about its customers, Dekmak first recommends looking to see what is working well and what can be improved.
“Receiving feedback from customers will help you better understand their needs,” she says. “For example, completing a survey periodically will assist in making sure your expectations in the laundry are aligned with the customers’ expectations. Goals and expectations should be defined to properly address customers’ concerns.”
It is equally important for the customer to be transparent with laundry operators, continues Dekmak.
“Expectations and goals should be visited regularly to make sure everyone is on the same page,” she says. “Sometimes customers don’t think to share information about space or any structural changes happening at the facility. Another potential issue is increasing or decreasing product quantity expectations without proper communication.
“A laundry is also interested to learn more about other products obtained by the facility. For example, a laundry would need to know if there are disposable items being used as this can ultimately affect laundry handling. Product fill rates, soiled to clean ratios, are some of the metrics that can be used to empower the customers to do better and track their activity.
“It is important for our customers to also understand their performance and what they need to achieve so the laundry can better service them with their needs.”
Hyken agrees that it’s important to understand who the customer is and what they need. Not all customers are going to be the same in the B2B world.
“We have to adapt to the different types of customers that we have and the different needs,” he points out. “Some customers are large; some customers are small. Some customers need more frequency than others, so understand what that is, what the cadences are, and adapt and react. Some customers are very seasonal, meaning they’re going to need us during certain times of the year more than others.
“Understanding all of that and working with them to deliver the experience that absolutely meets their needs every time is paramount to not just getting your foot in the door but making the sale and then more importantly retaining that customer.”
RELATIONSHIP-BUILDING METHODS
Dekmak shares that every single person who is hired into the Metropolitan Detroit Area Hospital Services laundry is labeled as customer service, and operators are constantly working to enhance and improve customer service, which ultimately is improving and achieving customer goals.
“One way to learn more about your customer is to assign a designated representative to do a walkthrough at their facility and have them do the same,” she shares. “Always ask questions. Laundry operators should take pride in the work that they do and must not shy away from always educating facilities about laundry services.
“Laundry production staff should meet regularly and continue to stay up to date on their customer needs. Value open communication and transparency. One person alone is not responsible for customer service. Everyone is. Everyone should take equal responsibility and come together to achieve the outcome for customers.”
Hyken says that he learned a “magic question” from his own business coach of 20 years, Dan Sullivan.
“I’m paraphrasing the question a bit, but it’s simply this, ‘If we were to get together a year from now, what would have had to have happened for you to feel that I was the right choice for you?’
“This allows two things to happen,” he says. “No. 1, the customer defines what success looks like, and success is going to look like, ‘I don’t want this to happen and I do want this to happen and this is what I want to experience.’
“It also plants me or whoever the company is into the future of that customer. They’re thinking about if I hired Shep, or if I hired whatever the name of the company is, what would that look like a year from now? I really like the idea that they’re planting me in their mental future.”
Hyken also suggests, if a laundry operation is taking over from a competitor, asking questions about the previous business relationship, including, what did you love about that competitor? What did you not like about that competitor? Why are you considering me? Who else have you considered or who else have you used in the past? What do you love about those companies? What did you like about them?
“I think that’s a real important piece of information that you want to have especially as you follow up with a proposal, putting some of these answers to the questions that we’re posing,” he points out. “Answers that in some form paraphrase the actual customer’s words. Let the customer know that you’re listening to them.
“You want to make sure that that customer knows that you have heard them specifically.”
Check back Tuesday for the conclusion about ways to use information to improve, adapt services for customer partnerships. Click HERE to read Part 1 about the value of getting to know customers.
Have a question or comment? E-mail our editor Matt Poe at [email protected].
