Keep It Clean In Talking to Staff

About five years ago, Kevin Peters asked, “How often do you go to the bathroom while shopping for office supplies?” His answer was, “Almost never.”
     That’s the same Kevin Peters who resigned this week as Office Depot’s president for North America. The occasion for Mr. Peter’s rhetorical question was what he saw as a need to change the metric by which Office Depot stores were graded. Mystery shoppers were assessing the cleanliness of the rest rooms. But more important than bathroom cleanliness in an office supply store are factors like in-stock position, logical locations for products, and prompt checkout.
     Still, a survey sponsored by Cintas Corporation reminds retailers of the danger to profitability of dirty restrooms. Cintas Corporation sells cleaning supplies, so you might suspect a bias. However, the survey was conducted by Harris Interactive, a respected evaluation firm, and the methodology seems sound.

• About 80% of consumers said they’d actively avoid future business with a restaurant or hotel where they encountered a dirty restroom. A shopper psychology explanation for this high percentage is that people think of a restaurant or hotel as being an extension of home. Therefore, there might be significance in the fact that about 20% of consumers would give the place a pass in spite of encountering a restroom they considered to be dirty! For these 20%, Mr. Peters may have been correct in thinking that factors other than restroom tidiness weigh heavily in a consumer’s decision where to shop. 
• For 77% of consumers, experiencing a dirty restroom in a healthcare facility would be a turnoff. Again, it’s worth noting that the percentage isn’t higher. 
• For general retail stores, it was 45%, and at car dealerships, about 40%. 

     The wording of items on the Cintas survey asked people the results of encountering a dirty restroom. Mr. Peter’s point of view was that, even if an Office Depot bathroom is filthy, few store customers care because few are using a bathroom. What this reasoning overlooks is that many of the employees will be using a store’s bathroom. What’s the message if management gives filth a pass there? Conscientious employees won’t want to work in this sort of store, so the consequences influence every shopper and, thereby, the store’s bottom line.
     Don’t talk dirty to your store staff. Talk instead about the importance of cleanliness throughout, including in areas visitors to your store never or rarely visit.

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