Lack of quality water
While the quantity of water may not be an issue during off-season, Telangana laundries do face acute water shortage during summer, within city limits. Khadeer says, “The quality of the water in some areas is bad, but can be managed with a good water treatment plant; generally, good water softener is adequate”. Irrespective of the quantity and quality of water, it is vital to recharge and treat water for better washing results. “Short cuts for illogical water saving will lead to disasters in the finished product and final output,” warns Agrarwal.
In-house processing vs outsourcing
The benefits of outsourcing are numerous: no machinery, no heavy investment, no labour cost, no location issues and no power bills. However, Agrawal compares outsourcing to sending one’s own child to a hostel. “In case the hostel management is not able to maintain discipline, life goes haywire; similarly, in a laundry, if correct processes and procedures are not adopted, we will have a series of customers coming in for compensation. Most times, it’s experienced in-house processing that gives the desired and expected results”.
Outsourcing allows for relaxation while ordering and dispatching, but offers zero control over quality and consistency.
Training manpower
Gurpreet Singh, Owner – Fashions Dry Cleaners says that at present, “An entry level worker is assigned under a senior worker who trains him. Training time cannot be specified and varies from case to case. For example, training a person to become a good pressman may take 10-15 days.”
In India, there is no designed curriculum or diploma course for laundry. All training is on-the-job. Agrawal says that people with far too little knowledge during their initial employment become overconfident and burn their fingers. They do not realise that artificial fabrics and tempered finishing of the fabrics make apparel look and feel different, and that they react very differently to normal or unbranded cleaning agents.
He recommends a lengthy period of training in just washing, initially, followed by dry cleaning and ironing. In the B2B segment, processes are uniform and easy to execute, but not so in the retail sector, where every order is unique, with a different texture and finish. Hence, the learning period cannot be defined, but six months of reasonable daily work can be deemed enough for independent handling.
Retaining trained employees is a problem everyone faces. Moogala recommends offering incentives, rewarding good behaviour and offering family benefits like corporate companies do.
What do customers want?
Many customers misjudge a stain as a common one, and use any available means for its removal, causing damage. When this happens, they show up at a laundry, expecting a miracle.
Agrawal says that understanding customer desires properly makes the process easy to execute. He compares a customer’s requirements to individuals who have different eating habits; each person wants something different, and will be satisfied only when his specifications are catered to.
Udaybhasker Theegala, MD – Sunshine Dry Cleaners says, “Consumers are being attracted to laundries that provide a full-cycle approach: easy booking, pick-up and delivery at doorstep, the option to choose a detergent for washing their clothes etc. Moreover, being updated about every step in the procedure is also something that consumers want. This transparent approach is the turning point that has changed consumer behaviour and expectations.”
Unreasonable customer demands
In a service-oriented industry, these are bound to exist. And when a customer starts making demands in a highly competitive market, many service providers bend themselves to their whims and fancies.
These include unrealistic delivery timelines, unusual packing systems, unwarranted attention, irregular followup calls, impossible finishings, and unremovable stains. Agrawal says, “In the service industry, it is very important to say ‘no’ whenever it’s not practical, and better to refuse such orders beforehand.”
Unethical price wars
According to Reddy, most consumers in both the hospitality and hospital segments don’t know the standard costing of the laundering process, which paves the way for competitive underbidding. “If we are trying to give standard quality at an economical price, someone else comes in with an unethical price which makes the consumer think that they are probably overspending on us. They pick him; over time, he fails to serve them, but we have already lost the client by then.”
Amateurs in the business tend to quote very low rates, thinking they can make a profit; later on, they resort to substandard means to cut costs, which reduces quality. Eventually, it is the end-user (hospital or hotel management) which has to invest in new linen. This problem is the most in the B2B segment; in B2C, the consumer generally sticks to one reliable vendor.
A good laundry will offer the lowest possible price for a certain quality standard and will pass on discounts to customers; once they secure a certain client base, quality and not price becomes the trump card.
Dealing with customers who expect one to match the unviable, low rates of a competitor can be tough, but isn’t impossible. As long as one is confident about the quality one intends to deliver and can consistently deliver it, the customer will realise that he is getting value for his money. Owners should take the time to explain to customers that ‘cheap cannot be best and the best cannot be cheap’.
Singh, however, underlines the bare truth: when owners don’t succumb to a customer’s bargaining, they do lose some customers.
Retaining customers
Khadeer compares customer loyalty to a narrow thread; the slightest damage can ruin it forever. When a fabric is damaged, he encourages owners to inform customers proactively rather than them finding out later on their own. And when determining compensation, think from a consumer’s perspective; remember that no one has bills to prove the cost of the cloth. In his experience, 60-65% customers are repeat clients.
Agrawal says, “Customers burn their fingers with shortterm entrepreneurs or unethically operated or short-cut operators and come back to quality providers like us. A majority of our customers are retained”.
Predicted trends
The outlook of everyone at TLDA is very positive. “In the coming years” said Moogala, “The laundry industry is going to thrive but the players who are committed to quality will remain while others will perish. The time has come when instead of just giving expensive clothes for dry cleaning, daily wear is now given too. The mind-set is changing; customers are more informed and are demanding steam ironing”.
Khadeer predicts that in the next 2-3 years, the investment required in technology will deter fly-by-night operators and attract only serious people. In his opinion, “Outsourcing will double, automation will increase and many promotions will be offered.”
His last words are hopeful: “Dry cleaning and laundry is a long-term business, scalable and growth-oriented. This is a sunrise industry, with no dearth of opportunity or profits.”
Mrigank Warrier
