SERIES: Let’s Get Social

SMRT Systems
www.smrtsystems.com
Denise Goldstein, Marketing Manager
General questions: sales@smrtsystems.com
Direct email: denise.g@smrtsystems.com

SMRT (stands for Systems Management in Real Time) was developed by a San Francisco-based dry cleaner who tried and failed to find modern software for his operations, so he built his own. He envisioned software that would elevate the customer experience, make inventory management a breeze, drive business success through data, and be easy for employees to learn and use.

When the system he built caught the attention of other dry cleaners, it became clear that there was a pent up need for better software solutions for the dry cleaning industry. SMRT launched in 2015, becoming the fastest growing dry cleaning software provider overnight, and leading the industry in innovation and customer satisfaction ever since.

Today SMRT’s focus is on empowering dry cleaners to harness dynamic automations for their operations and increase their productivity and profits. Our products and services have expanded to include digital marketing, data analysis, hardware, conveyors, heatseals, scanners, and more.

What is the name(s) of your software program(s) for the dry cleaning and laundry industry?

SMRT is the name of our software. SMRT encompasses a POS platform, a web-based customer portal, a driver app, and is cloud-based, allowing administrative staff to login from anywhere in the world that has wifi. Our digital marketing program is called SMRT Marketing and offers two powerful marketing tools built directly into the POS (trigger-based marketing and review management). We also offer a web-based social media management platform and web design services.

How does your software make communication with customers easy? Give specific examples.

Our software is uniquely positioned to make customer communication easy. SMRT features:

Two-way SMS and email communication, instant texting and responses

• Automated route opt in through SMS
• Automated notifications for orders, billing, and delivery reminders
• All messages are logged in the customer’s profile
• Unlimited pictures can be taken to notate damage/alterations etc.
• A central area in the customer portal for messaging between a cleaner and their customers
• Drivers can communicate with route customers in real time right from the SMRT mobile app
• Slack-like Notification Center on the SMRT dashboard set up with the ability to create multiple chat channels with select staff

Do you have Social Media options as part of your software package? If so, how do they work?

We offer a social media marketing subscription called SMRT Social. A subscription includes access to a web-based content management platform and three SMRT-designed posts per week, every week of the year, uploaded right to the dashboard and scheduled to post automatically. SMRT Social is perfect for the busy dry cleaner who wants to engage on social media but doesn’t have time to plan, create, and manage their own content. We encourage our users to connect to Google through our platform since all business activity is logged by Google’s local search algorithm and helps with SEO.

While our social media content does not integrate with SMRT’s software, it is possible to add social media links within the marketing module so they can be easily added to marketing emails and SMS messages.

How much training does your software take? How do you manage that? (In person/over the internet/via video training, etc.)

Our platform is intuitive and easy to learn, and much of the training occurs virtually. New clients have a dedicated project manager who spends as much time as needed to provide business owners with complete training on the system. For front counter staff and drivers, learning the system is generally quite fast. For production, managers, and owners, training can be a bit longer as we dive deeper into reporting and analytics to measure the ongoing health of the company.

Be honest — what percentage of your customers utilize the customer communication aspects of the software? How many use the Social Media aspects?

All of our customers use the built-in customer communication features. As a matter of fact, when clients decide to switch to SMRT from using an “app-based” customer communication tool, they typically experience a 700% increase in adoption on the Customer Portal when compared to a downloadable app. Higher adoption equals greater retention, better rapport/trust, and increased sales.

Since our social media software is an add-on service, not as many customers use it.

Do you have plans in the future to incorporate more Social Media options in your software versions? If so, how will it work?

SMRT is built to be adaptable to changing markets and needs. Our Social media platform does a good job of covering the most requested social media tasks, but if there are additional needs that arise we are ready to provide solutions as the market dictates.

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