34 FABRICARE FE ATURE because I didn’t pay enough! This is like if you had customers waiting to get their dresses pressed. “It’ll be just a minute. Your dress is cleaned, it just needs to be pressed.” Meanwhile, six other customers come in and all of their needs are taken care of by the presser. Just as the presser is finally about to press their dress, it’s quitting time and their dress is ignored. MISSED OPPORTUNITY I’m sure that none of you reading this are as mean or bad towards customers as I describe. Good thing. But that isn’t the point. Delta, in effect, said, “You are a very low priority customer. You didn’t pay enough to be treated well, or even ‘average.’ We don’t know you. Just sit and wait until we get to you.” In reality, Delta forced me to realize that United was the way to go for me. I’m sure that Delta takes good care of their best customers just like United does. I unwittingly gave Delta an opportunity to “wow” me, and they failed miserably. They said, “We don’t know you and we don’t want you. Sit down.” They should have said, “Thanks for the opportunity to serve you and to show you why we deserve your business. We are glad to have you.” That is so far from reality that I had a heck of a time just typing it. The lesson, of course, is to be sure that you treat all customers with respect. You just might get them excited about garment care or addicted to shirt service. The last message you would ever want to convey is, “We don’t know you. Go back to where you came from.” The next customer who walks in could be your newest best customer. Best customers come from somewhere. Don’t miss the opportunity to impress. Don Desrosiers has been in the drycleaning and shirt laundering business since 1978. He is a workflow engineer and a management consultant who provides serves to shirt launderers and drycleaners in the United States, Mexico, and western Europe through Tailwind Systems. He is a member of the Society of Professional Consultants and the 2001 recipient of DLI’s Commitment to Professionalism Award. He can be reached at 186 Narrow Avenue, Westport, MA 02790 or at his office by fax (508) 636-8839; by cell (508) 965-3163; or e-mail at tailwindsystems@charter.net. He has a website at www.tailwindsystems.com. The author’s views are his own and do not represent official Drycleaning & Laundry Institute positions. continued from page 32