SAN FRANCISCO — America’s Best Cleaners (ABC) Affiliates from across the United States gathered in Scottsdale, Ariz., last month for three days of networking and presentations around industry and general business best practices.
The March 13-15 meeting included presentations by consultants from various industries and businesses that support dry cleaning, as well as a tour of local Affiliate Z Cleaners’ new production facility and a dinner hosted by Frank Dubasik of Metalprogetti.
Speakers included Nicholas Regine, technical design and application specialist from Swarovski Crystals, who discussed the latest trends in fashion embellishments and application techniques. He also talked about how Swarovski supports ABC Affiliates across the country and applied a custom ABC’s crystal transfer to a shirt owned by ABC’s executive director, Christopher White.
Tim Johnson, CLG Insurance president, reviewed the Affordable Health Care Act, explaining what Affiliates should know, how the Act will affect their businesses, how to prepare, and what they will need to know about administering the Act. Supporting him were Kevin Davis and Harry Carranza from Select Risk, ABC’s preferred insurance provider.
Mark Jones, SPOT POS Business Systems, reviewed new software and system developments in SPOT’s business operations management software designed specifically for the dry cleaning industry. He also conducted a special “power users” session for cleaners that rely heavily on SPOT’s software to manage their operations, marketing, and customer resource management.
In addition, he and Katherine McGraw Patterson of Smart Fish Marketing, who acts as ABC’s in-house marketing director, gave a joint presentation on a newly integrated ABC/SPOT marketing program.
ABC’s professional team also led discussions on various subjects. White reviewed hiring practices and retention, as well as implementing today’s social media channels to reach the best candidates for a position; ABC founder Ed D’Elicio spoke on attracting high-net-worth delivery route clients; and Patterson introduced real-world marketing case studies and how marketing can solve business operations problems as well as increase sales.
Founded in 2000, ABC considers itself the dry cleaning industry’s leading independent certification organization.
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