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Survey: 77% of Dry Cleaners Satisfied with Their Distributors

Many rely on them for operational advice, equipment maintenance/installation

CHICAGO — Approximately 77% of dry cleaners polled in this month’s American Drycleaner Your Views survey are satisfied with their distributors, results show. Among those who are satisfied, 32.3% say they’re “very satisfied” and 45.2% say they’re “somewhat satisfied.”

Approximately 21% of respondents are “neither satisfied nor dissatisfied,” while 1.6% of respondents are “somewhat dissatisfied.” No one who took the unscientific survey reported they are “very dissatisfied.”

Distributors offer a wide variety of services for dry cleaners, so the survey asked subscribers which of the services they depend on (respondents could choose any or all from a list of six choices). Results were mixed: operational advice was No. 1 at 49.0%, followed closely by equipment maintenance at 39.2% and equipment installation at 37.3%. Training (15.7%), “other” (15.7%) and plant layout services (13.7%) were the other options offered in the survey.

When asked if they could get their distributor(s) to improve some aspect of their services, respondents mentioned things such as customer service, pricing, response time and inventory.

One respondent noted that “most reps have a large service area and do not have additional time to provide additional services.”

If the opportunity to change distributors arose, 18.3% “would not make the change” and 30% “doubt [they] would make the change.” Roughly 37% aren’t sure what they would do. Ten percent “would strongly consider making the change,” and 5% “would make a change.”

More than two-thirds of respondents are “very interested” (21.0%) or “somewhat interested” (48.4%) in attending distributor open houses, service schools, etc. Approximately 9.7% are “neither interested nor disinterested,” 6.5% “have little interest,” and 14.5% “have no interest.”

While the Your Views survey presents a snapshot of readers’ viewpoints at a particular moment, it should not be considered scientific. Percentages may not add up to 100% due to rounding.

Subscribers to American Drycleaner e-mails are invited each month to take a brief industry survey they can complete anonymously. The entire trade audience is encouraged to participate, as a greater number of responses will help to better define owner/operator opinions and industry trends.

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Have a question or comment? E-mail our editor Dave Davis at [email protected].