Q. A Laundromats owner asks: Dear Marketing Department. I own a Laundromat in a residential area that has many competing Laundryomats in the same area. How can I attract business away from my competitors?
A. Dear Laundromat owner: Have you done your marketing research. Have you gone around to your competition and found out what services they offer? That should be your first step.What are their prices. What type of equipment do they have? How is their parking. What are their hours, are their facilities well lit and clean and is there someone always there to help them?
Then once you have gathered your information, determine what you can do different than what they are doing. Can you offer lower prices or discounts to frequent users? Do you have machines that handle special loads? Can you have slow day or times specials? If so, put big signs in your windows! Are your hours good for the early birds or the late comers.? If not, consider changing them. How clean is your facility?
How about thinking outside of the box! Is your laundromat wireless? It should be? Do you have magazines to read or maybe purchase? Do you sell food and drink? Do you have entertainment for the children. Have you ever considered selling wall space for advertisers? Have you ever considered offering seminars for people to listen to while they are doing their laundry? What about setting up a small library for people to read while they wash? How about offering MP3 music where people can plug in their head sets while they wash!
How do you market your laundromat. Do you have signs or posters? Do you h!ve a brochure about the laundromat with tips about cleaning. Do you do special event and send out press releases. Can you write a newsletter and send it to a mailing list?
The beauty about laundromats is that you have a captured audience for several hours. And they sit there waiting. How can you better that waiting time for them and improve the profitability of your business! Think!
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