Pick up a mop

October 9, 2009  |  by Tug McTighe

Improving retail performance is on everybody’s mind these days, what with the economy and lots of stores, restaurants and retail outlets struggling or even being shuttered. So how can you turn your own fortunes around? You could use specialized marketing and advertising programs that might work. But that could take weeks or even months to get off the ground at the cost of hundreds of thousands of dollars. Instead, I’m suggesting something a lot simpler, quicker and cheaper. I’m suggesting that you pick up a mop and start cleaning.
 
Friendly competition raises everybody’s game.
Early in my career, I had the chance to work on one of the major hamburger chains in the U.S. They were such sticklers for getting things right that they asked us to create a national contest pitting every location across the country against one another in games that revolved around food prep, cleanliness and customer service. The program was one of the first of its kind and took a lot of time to create and even more money to execute. But it’s this kind of commitment to getting things right for the customer that drove performance: first among associates, and then – where it really counts – at the cash register.
 
A few years later I worked with a regional restaurant chain that had lots of old stores in older parts of town. Right after winning the account, we took a trip to about 20 of the stores, you know, to check them out. I will never forget what we talked about when we got back to the agency. Signage? P.O.P? What kind of new TV spot we needed to create? Not even close. We talked about the dusty floors, the grimy counters and the peeling paint. We knew that nothing we could do from a marketing standpoint was going to make any impact if we didn’t get those stores spruced up pronto. Our client agreed with our spring cleaning and fresh coat of paint recommendations and the chain began making the cosmetic changes we asked them to make right away. It was literally months before we were able to relaunch the brand or start our first promotion.
 
Convenience is even more convenient when it’s clean.
But it’s not just restaurants that can turn a “Wet Floor” sign into profits. Consider regional convenience store QuikTrip – one of my favorite places in the world to stop for soda, snacks or gas. Every time I stop by I am amazed by the number of employees who are on the floor, keeping things clean. (They wear red shirts, so they’re easy to spot.)
 
Anyway, a couple weeks ago I got out of the house early to meet some friends for golf (I stink if you’re wondering) and stopped by to get a bottle of water. As it was 6:30 in the morning, there were maybe two other customers in the store. And I kid you not, there were at least six employees there. Already cleaning. Two were manning the register, one was straightening refrigerated coolers of soda and the other three were cleaning. One was washing windows, one was wiping down counters and the other was mopping the floor.
 
Not only does this experience make me want to shop that store again, it also makes me love QT as a corporation. I mean, these guys get it. After all, if they care this much about cleanliness when the store hasn’t even had a chance to get dirty – well, then they must care about keeping it clean no matter the time of day. Which I know is true because I’ve been to QT 1,000 times in my life and I have never been there when someone wasn’t mopping. Seriously.
 
McDonald’s is all about the French fries. Or is it?
I’ll leave you with this: A simple story about a fairly successful restaurant chain named McDonald’s. (You might know them.) In the outstanding documentary, “Big Mac: Inside the McDonald’s Empire,” you need to hear what Tyrone Davis, the operations manager of six stores, has to say regarding the number one most important thing about McDonald’s. And, despite what you’re thinking, it ain’t the fries.
 
“Bathrooms. The number one thing,” Tyrone states, simply and without a shred of irony. “If your bathroom is dirty, you’ve lost that customer.”
 
So before you ask your agency for a big new promotion to help some local stores improve their performance, ask them to put a team together and head out on the road to check out some of the locations. They’ll tell you the truth about what’s going well – and what’s going not-so-well – so you can make the right changes and make them fast. Then, urge your operations guys to take a lesson from Tyrone Davis at McDonald’s and grab a mop and get those bathrooms sparkling.
 
You’ll be amazed at what an impact it can make.