by Brianna Crandall — November 20, 2017 — It doesn’t matter how good the service is or how wonderful the employees are, it’s how clean and fresh a hotel, restaurant, salon or office is that matters most for 92% of consumers when deciding if they will become a repeat customer. In fact, 9 in 10 (91%) agree that they are more likely to have an overall negative opinion of an independent business if the public spaces (lounges, restrooms or lobbies) are not clean. These are just some of the results from the 2017 Consumer Cleaning Insights Survey, recently released by P&G Professional, the away-from-home division of consumer goods giant Procter & Gamble (P&G).
There are many things customers notice immediately when entering a business, and they aren’t all good. Nearly all respondents (96%) agree they would ask to be moved to a new hotel room if the bedding was not clean. If a restaurant’s restrooms are not clean, 88% of customers wonder about the safety of the food being served. And these feelings are surely mirrored when entering other types of businesses.
But it’s not all bad news. Fully 95% of consumers agree that cleanliness can elevate a good business into a great business, and 92% agree that if a restaurant is clean they are more likely to recommend it to friends. In addition, nearly three-quarters (74%) say they are more willing to overlook slow service if the business is noticeably clean.
Paul Edmondson, commercial director, North America, P&G Professional, stated:
This survey shows the importance customers place on cleanliness often has a much greater impact than business owners may believe. Cleanliness can actually be a source of revenue through repeat business. It’s easy to feel like cleaning is just a necessary cost of doing business, but it actually can be a money maker. No matter how big or small the business, every experience a customer has at a hotel, restaurant, day care facility or office affects their perception and inclination to come back.
The high standards that today’s consumers hold for both restaurants and hotels can bring insight into what those same consumers are feeling when they visit a medical facility to look for a practitioner or an office facility to conduct business.
Consumers have high standards for cleanliness in restaurants:
- A majority (51%) agree that if the restaurant is really clean, they are more likely to overlook poor service.
- More than half (57%) say that a clean table that is not sticky or does not have evidence of the last guest is more important than the quality of the food.
- 73% report that a smelly restroom is worse than receiving the wrong food order.
When consumers travel, they expect their temporary homes to be clean and comfortable:
- 38% of travelers check for cleanliness feedback through ratings or reviews before booking a hotel.
- 35% of visitors have considered bringing their own toilet tissue from home because they feel the products offered by hotels/motels are so bad.
- 77% of respondents say that it’s a pleasant surprise to find a quality toilet tissue in their hotel room, and another two-thirds (66%) look forward to coming back to a hotel when given a quality toilet tissue in their room.
The P&G Professional 2017 Consumer Cleaning Insights Survey, based on responses from 1,008 adults over the age of 18 from across the US, was conducted online in partnership with Ipsos Public Affairs in 2017. For the full report, visit the Ipsos Web site.
P&G Professional features such brands as Tide Professional, Dawn Professional, Mr. Clean Professional, Febreze Professional, Swiffer Professional, Comet, Spic and Span, Bounty, Safeguard, and its own brand, P&G Pro Line.
