What’s Your “Dirty Bathroom?”
We recently tried a "new" restaurant. We tend to be careful about trying different places because my daughter has serious food allergies. So we are reluctant to test the kitchen's cross-contamination policies.
As I sometimes do, I headed to the restroom before we ordered and found it to be pretty disgusting. As I left the bathroom, I passed the kitchen doors, which were closed.
I took a deep breath and told my wife and daughter. We got up and left because you just can't trust the cleanliness of the kitchen if the bathroom is filthy.
According to a study conducted by Lee Resource International, for every restaurant customer who complains, 26 others remains silent.
Our views on this are not unique.
CleanLink, a leading website for the cleaning industry, says 86% of adults in the United States equated the condition of a restaurant’s bathroom with the condition of its kitchen. And 75% of American adults surveyed stated they would not return to a restaurant where the bathroom was dirty.
A survey conducted by Harris Interactive for SCA Tissue North America indicated that about 50% of restaurant patrons who have a negative experience with a bathroom which can be anything from dirty toilets to foul odors and gritty soap dispensers are likely to relate their negative experience to family and friends either via personal conversation or online.
What sets off your customers?
There are many ways to eliminate the friction that weakens your offer and your value. You have to understand your touchpoints and make sure you eliminate obstacles that will prevent them from "doing the things they want to do." Can they understand within 3-5 seconds what you're selling on your website and how to buy? If customers have a bad experience, they wonder about the other parts of your business. Rude salespeople? Clunky online-purchase experience? Confusing website? Bad job-application experience?
You want to create experiences that are so powerful people go out of their way to share them with others, and avoid those touchpoints that cause them to "click" away from you. It takes very little effort for those customers to share those bad experiences with many other people.
What’s your dirty bathroom?
