At some time in the past many ordinary cleaners did
a fairly decent job.
But as the economic pressures have increased over the past few
years, they've increasingly resorted to marketing razmataz to
deflect their clients' attention away from the only matter
that really counts for the owners of fine garments: the quality of
their product.
Instead of focusing on quality of product, many ordinary
cleaners shifted their focus to image and style. Using cues such as
color coordinated uniforms, multicolored brochures, logo printed
tissue and poly, (cheap) wood and chrome hangers, granite
countertops and recessed lighting, boutique-style fashion posters
and picture wrapped delivery vehicles to promote the illusion of
true quality cleaning.
So why do ordinary cleaners invest in image and style?
For two reasons. First, image and style deflects attention away
from the quality of their work and fools most of their customers
into believing that the quality of their product is somehow
"superior" to other ordinary cleaners. Second, by substituting
glitz - the illusion of quality - for actual product quality,
they've been able to significantly reduce production costs.
Primarily by substituting relatively unskilled machine operators
who are paid by the piece for well-paid, technically skilled
craftsmen.
The image and style formula worked well for a while. Then the
recession hit and many of their customers sought out cheaper
alternatives.
Much to their chagrin, these customers discovered that, apart
from image and style, there wasn't much difference in "quality".
And that, over the past few years, they'd been paying relatively
high prices for ordinary cleaning.
Clearly, the cubic zirconium strategy wasn't working any
more.
So ordinary cleaners adopted a new approach. Many introduced a 2
tier pricing system, generically dubbed their "basic" and "premium"
service.
The rationale was simple: We'll continue to give customers the
same "quality" they've been accustomed to receiving, but at a
reduced price, say 30% less. We'll call this our basic service and
tell our customers that we've been able to introduce this "new",
lower priced service by eliminating the fancy packaging. We'll also
tell them that they can continue to request our premium service for
their "fancier" garments at our current price levels.
Of course, what we won't tell them is that, apart from the
packaging, there's no real difference in quality between
our basic and our premium service. And we'll gain by
charging a premium price for what is essentially a "bang and hang"
garment dressed up with fancy packaging.
It follows that when you question these cleaners about the
quality of their product and the detailed processes that produce
that quality, they have no choice but to misrepresent, distort or
even lie about what they do and what they don't do.
What they're overlooking, of course, is that clients with a
significant investment in their wardrobe tend to be quite savvy and
aren't easily fooled. These clients know that some glitz
has it's place: as a complement to true quality cleaning,
never as a substitute for true quality cleaning.
How can I help you?