5/26/08

Your Bathroom Tells Me A Lot About Your Company. . .



This is true of every business I think, but since my commercial truck blog deals mainly with dealerships, I will focus here. I have been in a lot of dealerships over the years and I have learned that the condition of the bathroom will speak volumes about the whole company. A clean bathroom is a minimum expectation of a good business by customers and prospects.



Some years ago I read the book, "Moments of Truth" by Jan Carlzon who was President of Scandinavian Airlines. It is a book I highly recommend and is thin and very easy to read. One part stuck in my mind all this time was that they found that if the ashtrays were not emptied (back in the day. . .) and the plane spruced up between flights, the customers would think that that might be how they handle the maintenance of the engines on the airplane. Jan thought that every single contact with a customer was a "moment of truth" and how that moment was handled would determine to a large extent the success of the airline in general. It is a great book to add to your success library.

I can think of many dealerships that I have been in that just do not pay attention to their bathroom and consequently, they don't pay attention to a lot of other details that are also important. I also know many dealerships that have very clean and well kept restrooms and they make it a point to inspect them hourly and even have a checklist for the customer or prospect to see. That tells me how well they care for customers in general. I know full well which one I am doing business with and why.

The bathroom is one indicator. What about the customer lounge or customer waiting area when someone is in the service department? What about the showroom? The lot? The landscaping maintenance? Each communication with a prospect or customer on the phone? At the service drive? At the cashier window? There are many, many opportunities around the dealership every day to give the prospect or customer a good feeling about your business. . . or a not so good feeling. All moments of truth.

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