MARCH/APRIL 2018 23 FE ATURE I DON’T WRITE ABOUT CUSTOMER SERVICE VERY OFTEN. I don’t talk about it much either. It’s not that I don’t think it’s important. Quite the contrary, in fact. I just don’t think it’s up for discussion. Garment care is a service business. That means we need to service our customers. We take care of their garments and we take care of the people who bring them in. Making customers feel special, remembered, and important are the things the best cleaners do to raise the bar. Many drycleaners I have worked with give their best customers gifts during the holiday season. I’ve seen tiers of customers treated differently; the best customers get the best gifts. I heard the owner of a prominent Mid- Atlantic cleaner proclaim their unique strategy was to remember their customers with a gift on a non- traditional holiday like Flag Day or Halloween. What a great way to get your customers talking about you! GREAT CUSTOMERS ARE A TREASURE We all want more great customers. When we identify them, we often treat them like royalty, or at least, how we think royalty should be treated. All drycleaners have their share of “whales.” I have a client whose #1 customer spends more than $20,000 per year. Unfortunately, they have no clue who it is. All they have is the maid’s name. Big customers are often called whales or “big tunas,” but do they start out that way? Where do they come from? I don’t think a whale is a customer who used to be a bit player but, little by little, sent you more and more items. Eventually, they crossed the line to become a big customer. I don’t think so. I think there is a relatively small group of people who are whales by design, and we are understandably inclined to coddle them and treat them very well when we discover or obtain them. But suppose a big tuna moves to your zip code from somewhere else? Suppose your home delivery driver, while casually knocking on a new door, stumbles upon what will turn out to be your biggest customer? The fact is, you too can stumble upon a new whale. Maybe today. FLASHBACK Forty-five years ago I was in High School. In my class, there was a very popular classmate named Henry. He had a flashy car at a time when half of his friends were continued on page 24 Every Customer Is Royalty Customer Service Is Job One By Don Desrosiers, Tailwind Systems, Inc.