How much is attendant worth to your customers?

[Kitty]

Store #2 is slow, not much traffic sales are just over 100K a year. Dec 1 the M-F WDF attendant that worked the 8am - 5pm shift went in for surgery. Stayed out until last Monday 1/27. We tried an experiment to run that mat unattended during her shift, as it is the slowest and with payroll, the store net amount, does not amount to much. Well, as the experiment went, so did sales. The sales went down dramatically each week, the last few weeks were consistently around 300 bucks less than they had been when attended. Well yesterday was the first full week she was back, and so is the 300 bucks in sales! We'll see if it stays consistent.

[Anonymous]

Seems like a break-even proposition. Up $300 in sales but that is probably slightly less than what you pay her. Might be better without her.

[Kitty]

Actually it seems like a draw, but it is better to have a babysitter than let the kids run wild and do things unbeknowst to you, when your not there. :)

[Andy]

Insurance is cheaper when you have an attendant as well.

[Ken]

I like to spend money on machines than attendant.
2 of my closing store attendant no call no show this week, The dayshife attendant doesn't want to mop floor and closed .I am going to fire them all!attendants are pain.If you can run without them,do it!

[ajay]

kitty - it's hard to believe that customers are leaving to go elsewhere when your attendant is not here. have you talked to those customers to see infact they went somewhere else? I realize there's a value to having an attendant, but to this degree, I think not. If I'm understanding you correctly, you lost $300 worth of coin business in a week when your attendant wasn't there? This does not include the $$ she puts in the washers to do the W&F business.

ajay

[Kitty]

Hard to believe and bizzarre!!! But definately what I said, is what has happened. In the course of the 8 weeks she was out, the revenue declined to more than 300 bucks. The first full week count up after her return the count was back to the normal amount. We'll see Wednesday if it continues?

[Lar Hylobates]

Attendants are a pain in the arse, however it is nice to have someone there to deal with the peasants who are a worse pain in the arse. Also I like to bark orders at them and do nothing when I am there except collect my wealth.

[soaps]

Kittty, what strikes me as odd is that it declined over 8 weeks but came fully back as soon as she came back. How did people who had left know that she was back. I think if you have been an attended store, you will loose some customers when you go unattended but something about your scenario sounds fishy. There has to be something else going on I think. Does she have a log of friends who only do laundry while she's there. Hmmmmmmm....

[Kitty]

Tell me, I know it is bizarre. She must have a slew of friends? But the count this week was also back to normal.....it is the craziest thing, as I would not ever think anyone would have an effect that large regarding the revenue.

[Fred50]

Kitty,

Is she running her own WDF business on the side and using your equipment?

[mike]

Kitty, I'm surprised that your surprised !

Why do we have attendants in the first place ?

Because they pay for themselves, if they did not, we would all run unattended !

By the way, does that mean you DIDN'T think you're worth a certain amount to the business ?

Mark, if she has a business on the side, great !! what we are looking for as owners, is more money in our machines !

[Kitty]

I am surprised that the revenue immediately returned. I know the attendants are worth something, but the counts for 8 weeks were off and it all seemed odd.

Im glad the customers are appreciative of her return, but I find it odd, that they immediately returned when she came back. Regardless, its nice to have an attendant there and the revenue back that will pay for her salary.

As fo as my employment is concerned, I have the view of any business person. Every employee is replaceable, this includes me. I am an asset to the business, in my opinion, worht a great deal. But there are many great employees in business today that gets the shitty end of the stick for financial reasons, down sizing or whatever. Does any business truly rationalize that a particular employee may be a positive factor regarding the revenue? I doubt it, change happens everyday, and there is no loyalty to employees, and job security is a thing of the past.

The goal is to increase the bottom line, and if there was a way Dave could efficiently and effectivly change his ways and do without my position, than he would be entitled to do so. The name of the game is making money, no matter how much I feel I am worth to the biz........

[SudsMan]

Hi Kitty, I've been reading this thread ever since you first posted it. The only scenerio that I can come up with to explain the loss in revenue and its magical return is what Mark has asked about. If your attendant was doing WDF on the side, using your machines, that would explain the loss and return of revenue. Other than that, I'm stumped!!

[Kitty]

If she wasn't so damn lazy I would have to agree, but damn she does not do a whole lot. It has me stumped

This particular mat is not a real money maker and the counts are not alot to begin with, however, I will be watching the video a little closer as the suggestion seems to be the likely reasons for such a difference. K

[SudsMan]

OK, so call me paranoid... here's another scenerio... this gets really wierd, so follow me here. Your comment about how lazy the attendant is struck a cord. What if she is skimming, some how, and starting the washers for the customers whom are her friends? Does she have a key to do that? Perhaps a key you don't know about, like the ZB7 key to Maytag toploaders.

Any way, if she was starting the machines for her friends, and she was charging a small fee on the side for her 'personal service', than there would be some take in the machines for you to count, while see gets her own cut.

This could explain the loss and return of revenues, since she would have told her personal customers that she was going to be out for an extended period of time.

It would also explain the low counts you've seen. How long has she been with you? Can you do a comparison of counts vs utilities to see if there is a connection? By that I mean to say, does the counts you see jive with the utilities used, or do the amount of utilities used predict a higher TPD and hence higher counts.

See, I told you this was going to be a good one!!!

[SudsMan]

OK, now you've REALLY got me thinking, or rather my wife is thinking on this too.... You said you left the mat unattended during the hours the attendant would have worked, M-F, during the day. Was there any time that you had another attendant work in place of the person who had surgery? Or could another attendant been on duty without your knowing it? If so, could that 'replacement' person have pocketed money? The practice would have stopped when the prime attendant came back to work.

Do we need to ask Stephen King about this situation???? :-)

[Fred50]

Now I'm thinking about a parallel universe! Uninvited attendants? Now that should make quite a cover story in the Journal.

Kitty,

Keep us posted.

[Kitty]

Thankfully I am very sure there has been no key access by attendants, and I am quite sure she would have no clue as to how to advance a machine via the ZB 7. She is lazy only because there is so little to do there and she has no desire to increase the WDF service. Even though she probably could if she was into it, but she is not, or is she? She is extremely dependable, never misses a day and she has been with the company for 9 years. She is sometimes crotchey but usually pleasant to customers.

She has a huge family, 17 brothers and sisters, a zillion neices and nephews as well as aunts, etc.....however, I cannot imagine they all chose not to come because she was not there? It is weird.....and I don't get it. But there may be something to the wdf thing you suggested, that very well may be something to look into. As I have said on several occasions to BD I felt she was going through more product than what the revenue suggested she should be using. When ever I think something is "fishy" I get the lecture that I am being unreasonable and doubted. .......but I have been on the side that can confidently tell BD, I told you so. :) I will keep that thought in mind though, it still befuddles me as to how it all is!

On another note, at the same store the propane usuage seems out of whack, especially for the revenue that is collected. The revenue is fairly consistent from the dryers, with the exception of the past 8 weeks. But the bills seem to be more than they should. Even with the increase in price, it seems high. We got the evolution in the spring, and even thought the heater is running periodically I think the bills and the amount used is off. Is it possible the tank has a leaK? I know the propane charge went up, from .76 to .99 cents per gallon........do the drivers ever check for leaks when filling the tank? Is there a way to tell if there is a leak? BD is out of town for 10 days. I received two invoices for gas filled in the past two weeks and it seemed strange. Is it something I need to check out tomorrow or just wait and call the gas guys?

[Anonymous]

Bills are probably high because it has been go f__ing cold this winter. The dryers use more fuel as the make-up air is that much colder, and the store heater is running much more to.

[Kitty]

The bill was 1200 for 6 weeks to end the year out, then 550 or so to end Jan with the exception of the invoice dated the 22. I have gotten another invoices dated Feb 2, and I am sure there is another bill coming. I cannot remember the total but one invoice was probably 800 and another 400-500. I may not have counted that much in dryer revenue for the same period.

[Kitty]

The gas rates have increased and looks like they will continue. What are you guys going to do about the increase, it is hard to absorb such an astronimical increase. Several years back when the rates skyrocketed, we absorbed 100% of those increases, it hurt tremendously. Shouldn't the increased be passed to the consumer? And if so, how. Kirby, you have it made with the card system regarding this problem, however, how should the coin-operators combat this?

[CharlieS]

Kitty - I recently took another Kirby suggestion and purchased a gas leak detector (gas sniffer). It was about $160. I used it to go over both stores. At the older store, where we just put in the new Maytags, I found 8 leaks in the new installation. Paid for the unit right then and there. My other store was tight as a drum, no leaks. I will admit some piece of mind in knowing this.

You can buy these at your plumbing supply wholesalers. However, Kirby is also right, in that you will use lots more gas with the cold temps we are having. My gas bill is up significantly (in usage). Its not just your store, the dryers need to burn more gas to get up and maintain running temp with the cold makeup air.

Kirby - Thanks for all the suggestions (gas sniffer, replace all dryers at once) which I have taken solely from your posts. Both were very good and paid off.

Charlie

[Kitty]

Kirby is a smarty pants and everyone should listen to his suggestions as he is usually right on the money!

[Anonymous]

I'm always glad to take credit when it is due, and even somethimes when it is not - BUT I cannot claim credit for the gas sniffer, that one was not one of mine- Damn!

[CharlieS]

I would have sworn it was you, Kirby. I did a search and found that again, you were right and I was wrong! The actual varmint responsible for the gas sniffer advice was

SUDSMAN !!!

I still like your advice, anyway, Kirby. I sure wish I could afford one of them fancy card systems like yours.

Charlie

[SudsMan]

Thank you, thank you.... Thank you very much....

[Fred50]

Kitty,

Why don't you do what big chains do all the time? Send in some secret shoppers. Have someone go in with a WDF order and see how this attendant handles it. If she doesn't issue a correctly numbered receipt or charge the full amount, then you have your answer.

Good luck!

[mike]

let me get this straight,

When the attendant is there:
there is more money in the machines,
the utilities are less,

and the problem is ????????

[Kitty]

When attendant was not there less money, gas costs climbing

[anonymous]

Get some cameras in there and find out what is going on.

[Tim]

Or maybe its repeatable. Try adding another attendant, and see if revenues continue to climb and utilities continue to go down.
Tim