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“Never give your customers a reason to not buy.”
That should be the golden rule of your c-store.
Now, if your restrooms aren’t clean and fresh, that’s certainly not going to put you out of business. But customers do remember if your restrooms fail to smell fresh or look clean.
So much so, in fact, that there’s at least 6 apps which help people find the cleanest public restrooms.
And there’s also a story of one investor in the financial sector who based multimillion dollar decisions on the cleanliness of the prospective company’s bathrooms. This is not a joke. The reason he made his decision after a personal visit to the company’s bathrooms was that he knew companies who kept restrooms clean and fresh cared about their employees, who in turn provided customers with exceptional service.
Dirty restrooms meant poor customer service and bad financial performance. So he opted not to invest in those companies!
So yes, your c-stores bathrooms are a big deal. And here’s how you make sure they stay clean:
1. Create Clear Standards
First, establish how frequently a restroom should be checked and how often it needs cleaning. Typically, c-store bathrooms should get a look every hour and cleaning at least once per shift.
Next, make it obvious as to what “clean” means. Create a checklist for employees to follow. Shoot a video showing each of the points in action so there’s no uncertainty regarding what “clean” means.
2. Motivate Employees for Good Performance
This is psychology 101. Providing a reward for desirable behavior makes it much more likely you’ll get that behavior more in the future versus punishing undesirable behavior.
Then, to get your employees to buy in even further, have them choose what their reward should be for meeting an agreed-upon standard.
3. Create an Anonymous System for Customer Feedback
You can make this a phone system or encourage customers to talk to a manager on duty. However, that takes effort and a bit of a risk. Customers worry about how your manager might react.
You can go old-fashioned and create a drop-box for notes that sits inside or outside your bathrooms. You might also create an app that customers can download.
Anyway, it’s easier to get feedback via these less-confrontational methods, which makes it more likely you’ll get more feedback, and more honest feedback.
4. Use Maintenance-Reducing Fixtures
The wonderful thing about technology lies in automation. It can remove much of the manual labor your employees would otherwise have to do.
For example, you can get a combination low-flow faucet, soap dispenser, and high-efficiency hand dryer. This may be a little fancier and something you can only put in your bigger c-stores, but every little bit helps.
That’s just an example. The point is to go out and look at available options which can make keeping your restrooms clean much easier.
In the war against germs and visual cleanliness, you don’t have to be the loser. And these tips will help you in your struggle to impress customers.[:]
