Cintas offers strategies to ensure restrooms exceed customer expectations

by Shane Henson — September 28, 2012—A company’s customers and employees expect all areas they enter to be clean, but perhaps no other area is noticed more quickly than the restroom, making ensuring that it looks and smells hygienic a necessity no matter what industry a company is in. To assist FMs in enhancing the appearance, functionality and cleanliness of their restroom facilities, Cintas Corporation has released a free white paper titled Becoming America’s Best Restroom.

According to Cintas, the paper provides businesses with a multi-level approach to creating an exceptional restroom experience for customers. Inspired by Cintas’ annual America’s Best Restroom contest, it highlights key components and maintenance strategies of the most distinguished restrooms in the nation.

For a restroom to become one of “America’s Best,” the paper recommends these restroom maintenance steps:

• Define “Clean” for Core Customers: Through an independent survey of restroom users, Cintas identified the main factors that influenced customer satisfaction of a restroom, which included the availability of restroom supplies such as toilet paper and soap. Consider who visits the restroom and identify potential priorities for them. For example, mothers will be concerned about the cleanliness of the facilities and baby changing areas, whereas young adults might be more concerned with amenities and supplies. Through a comprehensive restroom maintenance program, FMs can ensure the specific needs of customers are met.
  
• Develop a Checklist for Cleaning Protocols: To ensure that a restroom consistently exceeds user expectations, establish and document cleaning procedures. An effective cleaning strategy will include a recurring combination of spot cleaning, daily cleaning and deep cleaning methods. Schedule cleanings between peak business times to ensure restrooms are maintained throughout the day. By establishing a regular cleaning checklist and properly training employees on procedures, even the busiest restrooms can maintain high levels of cleanliness.
  
• Use Products That Perform: In addition to supplies such as soap and toilet paper, select products to protect, maintain and deep clean restroom surfaces. This includes products that will keep the restroom looking and smelling clean during use, such as air fresheners, auto flushes and urinal screens. Restroom products that maintain include cleaning solutions and tools such as mops, wipes and chemical dispensing systems. Finally, use deep cleaning services that combine chemicals, agitation and extraction to remove all contaminants and debris from restrooms on an ongoing basis.
  
• Measure Cleanliness: To validate the effectiveness of cleaning methods and products, qualify cleaning efforts with tools such as adenosine triphosphate (ATP) meters or black lights. An ATP meter quickly detects the presence of microbial contamination on restroom surfaces to determine if the correct solutions and procedures are being used. Blacklights can also detect surface contamination throughout the restroom.
  
• Partner for Success: To simplify the restroom cleaning process, businesses will often form strategic partnerships with a facilities services provider. Typically, in-house employees will perform daily maintenance tasks while service providers ensure that restrooms are constantly stocked and regularly deep cleaned. Since facilities services providers handle all restroom supplies, the need for timely inventory management and messy stock rooms is eliminated. Additionally, when deep cleaning is executed by trained technicians with professional-grade equipment, the process is performed quickly and effectively.