PEMBROKE, Mass. — Dry cleaners lose customers all the time. There’s a fight and the cleaner knows the customer will never come back.
A wholesale account calls to complain about pricing and announces it will find somewhere else to do business.
A customer is so annoyed that the cleaner didn’t have the order ready as promised that she’ll never be seen again.
Most dry cleaners shrug, and say they’ll do better next time. They also feel they tried their best and nothing more could be done.
This is the wrong approach. The dry cleaner should resolve to make up the lost customer by replacing her with new business. In fact, this should become the dry cleaner’s mantra: I will not let business go without replacing it.
This tactic will stop you from accepting of whatever the market brings, and could propel you forward. It should. This practice could be called “determined progress.”
