Clean = Good, Spotless = Five Star. 

I’m writing this chapter on a train. It’s big, seats hundreds of people and can travel at well over 100 miles an hour. I’m sitting in First Class, which is a privilege I never take for granted, and your eyes (like mine) would water if you knew the cost of the tickets.  There is a challenge though. It’s a bit dirty.  There are crumbs on the table from the last traveller, an unidentifiable stain on the window and the Guard – sorry Revenue Protection Officer – has dirty nails. The latter was pointed out by Christine, who spots nasty nail fungi at fifty paces.

It’s not nice is it?  I have a friend who got off a plane because his seat table was filthy. His thinking was, ‘if that’s how they treat the tables, how well do they look after the engines?’

And it gets worse.  My friend Tom decided he didn’t want to buy a £50,000 product because the salesman had dirty shoes.

There’s a famous story that Michael Eisner, the then Chief Executive Officer of The Walt Disney Corporation, was showing a group of international executives around the Magic Kingdom. He walked across the street, picked up a piece of litter and threw it in the nearest bin. When one of the group suggested he must have staff to do that he replied, ‘the cleanliness of Disney is everyone’s responsibility’. 

I’ve heard the story so many times that there’s a little piece of me thinks they must plant the litter for every tour so he can make that point.  And the point is obvious – isn’t it? Or is it?

The level of cleanliness around your product or service has to be immaculate. Not good, not left to the next person, not ‘it will get better tomorrow’ as I’m talking about immaculate now.

And I’m talking about you as well your environment.  You only get one chance to make a first impression and customers make judgments with their eyes long before they have experienced the service.

Here’s a list of 8 things you must consider.

1)    Take a good hard look in the mirror. Honestly, how do you look? And what could be better?

2)    Check your immediate environment. How is the entrance to your building?  I know it’s ‘not your job’ to keep it clean but it’s not Michael Eisner’s either.

3)    Nasty one. How are the toilets?  If you don’t think they are peachy then what do you think your customers will think of them?

4)    Surfaces, signs and stationery. If they are dirty, your customers will subconsciously associate that with your offering.

5)    Smells. If NCP car parks can do a brilliant job eliminating and replacing some of the challenging smells their venues are faced with (and I don’t think I need to explain any more here) then what can you do with your environment?

6)    Tidy. Make it easy for people to be neat by giving or getting the right storage and encouraging a bit of basic feng shui thinking.

7)    Hands. Bitten or dirty nails, picked skin and nicotine stains all add up to a poor personal service.

8)    Body smell. Bad breath, BO and Festering Feet.  If you think you have a bit of a body odour issue then the chances are you have! If you’re worried that you may have bad breath you will be the last person to spot it! And if you think your feet smell a little, it’s more than likely they’re lifting! You need an honest Joe who’ll tell you (and you can tell them) if there’s a nasal nuisance to sort out.