How often do you assess your laundromat reputation management abilities? 

Here’s why I ask:

Managing your laundromat’s reputation is just as critical as providing an operational laundromat for your customers. 

You may have a service and a brand that you want customers to identify with, but it’s very possible that your customers — and the community around you — view your business differently. 

That means you need to do a little digging. Start by asking some key questions:

• What do your customers think and feel about your laundromat? 
• How have their experiences shaped how they perceive your laundromat? 
• What have they heard about your business, and what are they saying about you? 
• How does your reputation affect customer loyalty, value perception, and willingness to pay your services’ price? 

These are critical questions you need to consider when thinking about your laundromat’s reputation. 

But even if your answers are good, it’s in your best interest to keep your laundry business’s reputation on the up and up. Let’s take a look at six tactics you can employ for improved laundromat reputation management. 

1. Bridge Any Gaps Between What You Say and What You Do 

How many times have you interacted with a business that failed to fulfill a promise? How did you feel afterward? Frustrated? Disappointed? Deceived? 

Your customers feel the same way. They expect you to fulfill promises and choose to either move to a competitor or lose trust in your business when you fail to meet their expectations. 

When you ensure that your services are available to the customer at their convenience, and within a reasonable time, they begin to trust you and perceive you as a reliable business. They’re more likely to give a referral to a prospective client if your services meet their expectations.

Here’s the key: Ensure that you don’t make promises you cannot keep because your client will hold you to your word. More importantly, always aim to deliver exceptional services to retain your customers’ trust with your laundromat. 

2. Move Beyond Basic Expectations 

While your business exists to solve fundamental laundry, cleaning, drying, and folding problems for everyday customers, it’s essential to hold yourself to a higher standard. 

That means you need to ask yourself: What sets your laundromat apart from competitors? Going out of your way to make both customers and employees comfortable in the laundromat speaks volumes for your reputation. 

Assist all customers inside your laundromat and encourage your employees to listen and be polite. Don’t rush or shut down customer problems, but find a way to provide solutions instead. Follow up on time, and send “thank you” notes to loyal customers to show your appreciation.

Give your employees proper uniforms and make them feel comfortable in their presentation. Ensure they’re also well-fed during their working hours to create a hospitable ambiance in your laundromat. Remember that your workers interact directly with customers, so if they’re always looking unpresentable, tired, and hungry, your customers may begin to question their work environment, and consequently, seek laundry services elsewhere. 

Also, if your employees are frustrated, they take it out on your customers, which negatively affects your reputation. Treat all employees with respect, ask and listen to their opinions, offer rewards for excellent services, and avoid micromanaging them for a better work environment. 

3. Be Consistent 

To create a good reputation, you need to be consistent in your service delivery because one wrong move could ruin years of work. Unfortunately, people tend to remember and share the negative experiences with your laundromat more than the positive ones. Inconsistent customer service frustrates clients because they become tired of guessing the quality of services they’re likely to receive on different occasions. 

Consistency will save your reputation on bad days when you’re not feeling motivated or inspired. Your customers are more willing to rely on you if they know that you’ll deliver in all circumstances.

4. Encourage Your Customers To Leave Reviews 

While there are several tactics to handle laundromat reputation management, it’s best to ask the clients what they want. You can collect reviews either in handwritten forms, on your website, through message surveys, or on social media. 

Reviews not only provide an excellent basis for working on your reputation but also legitimize your laundromat, mostly when left online. Prospective customers are skeptical of businesses without reviews on platforms such as Google My Business. As more customers review your business positively, they improve your star rating, making your laundromat noticeable online.

Positive reviews are free marketing, while negative ones are a chance for you to prove your customer service skills by apologizing to a customer, following up, providing a solution, and asking them to review you once more. 

However, don’t get caught up in seeking five-star reviews. While consumers want online reviews, they seek trustworthy ones. A perfect star-rating may seem fake to consumers. While bad reviews may seem unnecessary, they also show prospective clients the worst they could expect from your laundromat and measures you take to correct wrongs.  

5. Always Respond To Negative Experiences 

When a customer has a bad experience with your services, whether during the washing and dry cleaning, folding, packaging, or delivery, respond politely and promptly. Don’t expect the problem to disappear because it can quickly escalate. 

If a customer reviews your business negatively online, respond to their comment. It’s a great idea to have sentiment analysis tools in your business that help you analyze your business’s mentions, whether on your social handles or independent posts. However, this doesn’t mean that you should ignore positive reviews. Comment to show your appreciation and encourage the customer to continue seeking your services. 

6. Manage Your Online Presence 

An informative and easy-to-use website, reliable contacts, social media profiles, and active responses are great ways to improve your online presence. Consumers are always reviewing your online presence to verify your credibility. Ensure that your online footprint is always available and ready for positive review to maintain your good reputation. 

Ready To Improve Your Laundromat Reputation Management? 

Your reputation precedes you, and ensuring that it creates a positive impression is the ultimate goal. Fortunately, with the right team and impactful tactics, you can ensure that you always improve your laundromat’s reputation.

Which is where Spynr can help. Your online presence is often your first impression these days, and it pays to be aware of how you impact people online. Spynr can help you build a professional and attractive web presence that boosts your reputation and wins customers in your local area. We’d love to chat with you about how you can improve!