22  FABRICARE
COVER STORY
medical leave, the kiosk would take a lot of the load off their 
shoulders so they could be cleared to come back to work 
sooner than they otherwise could.
“It coincided with someone breaking their leg in another 
store, so we explained that they would be able to come back 
to work sooner because they wouldn’t have the same walk­
ing and weight restrictions,” Machesney said. “We did do a 
lot to get buy-in from the employees and involve them in 
the project and how we could make it more successful. We 
guaranteed everyone their jobs.”
To get a buy-in from customers, Machesney also had to 
guarantee people were still going to get the same level of 
service they’d become accustomed to from the employees 
they had grown to like. 
“The biggest concern was from customers thinking they 
were going to lose their team members who they had seen 
for years and had relationships with. We pointed out that 
they’re still back there. They’ll pop out and say hi, but they 
have more time to go see their kids’ baseball games and be 
home for dinner, which most customers understood,” said 
Machesney. “My advice for getting customer buy-in is to 
really reassure them that employees aren’t going anywhere 
and explain that it’s a positive for everyone.”
Keeping well-liked team members also has a positive 
effect on helping older customers become comfortable with 
using a kiosk. Although they may have spent decades doing 
business with their favorite drycleaner in the traditional 
way, working with staff members they’re familiar with can 
help them become more receptive to the technology—and 
ultimately even enjoy using it. That’s where the employee 
buy-in further comes into play because the team’s attitude 
about the kiosk can make or break customer acceptance 
of it.
“What I noticed is you may have older people who are 
really curious and excited, but that takes the right individual 
working at that store who has the right attitude,” Waterstraat 
said. “If customers come in and you’re unsure of yourself or 
you’re more concerned that the customer isn’t going to like 
it, you’ve already created a negative environment.” 
Avoid signage overload. Using signage strategically can 
be a great way to help instruct customers on how to use a 
kiosk if they come when there are no employees working. 
However, this won’t be effective if there is too much signage 
in the kiosk area for customers to read, said Wash Respess of 
Dry Cleaning Advisors. 
“You can put up signage to tell people how to use a kiosk, 
but then if you put up too much signage, it becomes noise. 
There’s a fine balance, so a lot of people have been putting 
in videos that run on a loop to show them how to use it, 
and that’s probably the best way to do it,” Respess said. “I’ve 
been to several locations where they’ll have signage up and 
then another sign. You can tell that they put up that sign 
because the first sign wasn’t working. Then you have signage 
overload, and no one looks at anything.”
continued from page 21
Customers have the option to work with a representative or use the locker system at a Sudsies location in Miami, Florida.

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