I decided to change dry cleaners the day that several of my “go to” garments disappeared. Disappeared. Not over-starched, torn, or just a little burnt around the collar. I had been there before, and I was admittedly a sucker for the “fair wear and tear” argument. This time, my clothes were nowhere to be found.
Even so, I was still pliable. I could only imagine how many garments make it through a cleaners in a day or week. I was fine getting the search on and sorting things out. But several days later, still no clothes and the line of questioning turned to me. Are you SURE you brought them here? Please give us a complete description. It sounded faintly like the “wear and tear” arguments I had heard before, “it’s not us, it’s you!” I just wasn’t having it.
Trying Something New
My wife and I have friends who had great experience with home pickup and delivery. We decided to give it a try. Michelle of Lapels Dry Cleaning came to our home one day to pick up our first order, run through the drill, and equip us with our bright yellow pickup bag. I was not expecting a master class in building durable bonds with clients.
Michelle stepped inside our home with a smile and gratitude for the new business, despite the pesky protesting our 12 pound Cavapoo, Roy. Roy is afraid of his own shadow but puts on quite a show with intruders, kind of a Bruce banner thing. He is not the growling type. He tends to cock his head back and peal off a string or nearly inseparable howls. Of course, we were embarrassed but it appeared to be nothing new to Michelle. She leaned down calmly with her hand extended and quickly made a friend in Roy. We went through the drill and parted ways. Roy’s tail was wagging.
A Little Something Extra
Michelle works our house in the wee hours. Several days later I rolled out of bed to make coffee and noticed the dry cleaning hanging on our front door. As I lifted it and turned inside the house, I heard something hit the floor – a bone-shaped dog biscuit perfectly sized for our 12 pound dog. My eyes popped wide when I examined the bone and saw the name Roy embossed in it. Okay, okay! That part I learned is purely coincidental – was unaware of the “Ol’Roy” line of dog biscuits at the time. But imagine my astonishment in the moment, and how far I had come since my grilling at the former dry cleaners.
The coincidence of the name is nothing compared to the consistency of the effort. I have not seen Michelle in person in over a year now. But every Friday when she delivers, Roy gets a biscuit. We are to the point that Roy EXPECTS a biscuit on Fridays. He knows when clothes are hanging on the door to go out and when they are hanging on the door to come in. And, when they are coming in, he sits and waits in our foyer while his groggy master fumbles around with the front door lock.
The Bizzics Bonding Formula
That’s a cute pet story, but it speaks to a bigger principle in the Bizzics business model – the Bizzics Bonding Formula. It is not enough to interact with our customers. It is not enough even to say thank you. We must BOND with them through an intentional process: listening, understanding, remembering, and acting upon those things that stir our clients’ hearts. If you are like me, dry cleaning is a bit of a “sticky” service – not something I routinely shop and even willing to sustain occasional mishaps. I did finally get my garments back from my previous dry cleaner several weeks later. No real explanation as to what time dimension they traveled through. Just, “your clothes are here”. I have never been back and never will. Now, I will have to run everything by Roy if I want to make a change.
Stay tuned for my next several blogs, in which I will go deeper on every aspect of the Bizzics Bonding Formula, and how you can make it work for you.