PROTECT YOUR REPUTATION: BE HANDSAFE

With market competition stronger than ever, it takes more than delivering a quality product or service to maintain your business’ reputation.

People’s perception of your brand is formed by the experience you give them at every touchpoint. And your washroom is no exception – in fact, 74% of people say dirty washrooms cause negative perceptions¹.

Why you can’t afford your washroom to let you down

When it comes to providing a high-quality experience, many businesses are taking multiple measures to create the best experience possible for their users, helping to retain existing customers and attract new ones. From the big things like quality products, attentive staff and seamless technology, to little touches such as fresh flowers and atmospheric music, many businesses are investing in attention to detail yet still falling short when it comes to the washroom.

Your facility users will see their washroom experience as a reflection of your business as a whole. Imagine a restaurant, for example: if you see a dirty or poorly functioning washroom, you’re not going to be imagining good things about the state of the kitchen. Research shows that over 80% of consumers would avoid a restaurant with a dirty washroom²– not just avoid using the washroom but avoid the restaurant altogether!

And with a growing trend for apps rating washrooms, there’s nowhere to hide. So, what do users really want from their washroom experience and how can you ensure yours isn’t letting you down?

Soap dispensers that work every time

Malfunctioning and grubby-looking soap dispensers, pump top bottles that no longer pump…we’ve all encountered the frustration of poor hand hygiene provision when visiting a company’s washroom and it’s experiences like these that can undermine your efforts elsewhere. More than ever, people want to feel like their health and safety is taken seriously and their surroundings are clean, so if the very products that are meant to facilitate this are falling short it’s going to be problematic.

Add to that the loss of productivity, unnecessary wastage, and increased costs of having to regularly replace poor quality dispensers and soap bottles and it’s easy to see why investing in durability and refill longevity is a must.

Take a look at our blog to read our soap and sanitiser recommendations for different facility types: rubbermaid.eu/en/blog/what-s-the-right-hand-hygiene-provision-for-your-facility

Think total touch-free washrooms

With 66% of people saying they use a variety of methods (including flushing the toilet with their feet!) to avoid making contact with anything in a washroom³, offering a touch-free washroom experience will build your reputation as a brand that takes its users’ experience seriously.

Providing touch-free soap dispensers – which are preferred by 92% of people⁴ – is a good starting point. And it’s not just your users who will benefit – automatic soap and sanitiser dispensers use hygienically sealed refills, meaning they offer better cost in use than ‘bulk fill’ alternatives through smaller, more concentrated dose sizes.

Elsewhere, automatic toilet seat cleaner dispensers and foot-operated nappy and sanitary bins help to maximise the user-preferred touchless washroom experience.

First impressions count

One of the first things people notice when entering a facility is the smell. Research shows encountering an unpleasant washroom smell leaves nearly 80% of people with a negative perception of that business⁵. With 67% of survey respondents saying an unpleasant smell in an organisation’s public washroom would make them less likely to shop there and 60% saying they’d choose to leave immediately or not return at all, a clean and fresh-smelling washroom is essential to create the right impression.

A passive air care system attacks odours at the source, releasing fresh-smelling fragrances to create the ultimate sense of cleanliness and helping to protect your reputation.

Is your washroom letting you down? Take a look at the HandSafe myth buster checklist

For more tips about choosing the right hand hygiene for your people and how to avoid common pitfalls, take a look at our handy HandSafe myth buster checklist: rubbermaid.eu/en/blog/are-you-handsafe-our-myth-busting-checklist-is-here-to-help

Sources

Cintas
Zogby International
Impulse Research Corporation Survey
RCP Facebook Hand Hygiene Survey 2020
Initial Washroom Hygiene: ‘Washroom malodour: Experiences, perceptions and implications for businesses’