Challenge: Remote work during pandemic drives down sales

Karin Newhouse, account manager at Hubbard Broadcasting, has a standard AdMall routine that came in handy when she approached a dry cleaner who needed help adjusting their business model during the COVID-​19 pandemic.

“The [dry cleaner] has 27 locations and specializes in all things dry cleaning,” said Newhouse. “They do mostly residential, but also some commercial. The challenges they were facing was that most of the work force has been working remotely and people were not needing dry cleaning services due to the COVID-​19 pandemic.” 

“They had to shut down two of their five plants. They have pivoted and created a new service called the ‘Wash Club.’ The wash club is a subscription service where you simply put your dirty laundry in a bag, they pick it up and return it cleaned, folded and in a sanitized package.”

Solution: Use AdMall to get the word out about the dry cleaner’s new subscription program

Newhouse knew that using AdMall’s Account Diagnosis tool would help her specifically pinpoint what the dry cleaner’s advertising needs would be.

“AdMall gave me questions to ask the [dry cleaner] in regard to commercial vs. residential, since I knew residential services would be down significantly,” said Newhouse. “I wanted to learn more about their commercial services and AdMall also helped me develop open-​ended questions to get the client talking about how they’ve overcome some of their challenges and how they’re developing a strategy for 2021. AdMall also helped me understand the seasonality of their business.” 

“I used AdMall to develop a robust diagnosis call for the dry cleaner, which helped differentiate me from other TV stations in the market. The local account intelligence report helped me become an expert at talking with the prospect about what's most important to them, their business and industry. This ultimately led to the client opening up about what they are hoping to accomplish with a spring campaign.”

Result: Dry cleaner changes advertising partner

The dry cleaner business was eager to get started with Newhouse and they decided on buying traditional 15-​second television ads.

“The [dry cleaner] has always used the competition in the past, but she said to me that all of my questions during our initial meeting and coming back to her with ideas specifically relating to that first conversation was why they decided to go with our station this year,” said Newhouse.

Like other Sell Smarter! Award winners, Newhouse has some advice for those looking to utilize AdMall more in their daily routine.

“I’ve been using AdMall for about five years,” said Newhouse. “I really like the local account intelligence reports and the diagnosis call forms that are customized for each client.” 

“I would recommend using AdMall to someone because it really helps you become an expert in specific categories and gives you the information to ask the right questions so you can develop a campaign that will be the most effective for the client.”