A Complete Approach To Restroom Maintenance

Euclid, known as the father of geometry, once said, “The whole is greater than the sum of its parts.” Of course, the Egyptian mathematician wasn’t referring to restroom sales, but prudent distributors nonetheless apply the wisdom of his axiom whenever they sell systems, rather than products.

“Everything has to be assessed,” says David Frank, president of the American Institute for Cleaning Sciences (AICS), Highlands Ranch, Colo. “There needs to be a succinct process that trains people to use the best practices that deliver the best results. About 15 to 20 percent of the labor for a facility is dedicated to restrooms, so distributors need to understand that and take a system approach to selling. System selling will make their customers more efficient.”

In terms of restroom cleaning, system selling means taking the time to examine janitor closets, dispensers, floor-care items, sinks, toilets, worker schedules and everything else that goes into ensuring that building occupants enter a clean restroom. It means, for example, that when a customer places an order for restroom waste receptacles, the distributor knows if — and how — those new receptacles will fit the overall restroom plan.

In Aspen, Colo., Kevin Harris knows that customers value a distributor who can implement a restroom plan. “If all I do is replace product when they run out, they’re going to be nervous that I don’t understand their needs,” says the president of Aspen Maintenance Supply. “We definitely system sell, and that means we look at a customer’s entire approach to the restroom.”

Floor Your Customers With Quality
When Frank gives seminars on implementing restroom programs, he emphasizes two things. “People measure restrooms by how they look and how they smell.” Regarding the first part, he says, floors are the key to a restroom’s appearance.

“Any company that has gone bankrupt, their floors are the first things to go downhill, and it’s obvious to everyone that the company is in trouble.”

A gleaming, clean floor can potentially overcome problem areas in a restroom, but if a floor is dirty, it will always leave a bad impression on users. For this reason, savvy distributors often make floor care the central component of their restroom programs.

“The biggest area of concern is the floor,” says Harris. “Having proper techniques and proper equipment for restroom floor care is a must. If there are grout lines, then you have to know how to get in there and clean effectively. That’s a big part of establishing the right image for your customer’s building.”

Traditionally, distributors have tackled floor-care concerns by simply selling mops and buckets in addition to chemicals, but now there are more options. At Aspen Maintenance Supply, for example, sales reps advise customers to invest in specialized equipment that will fit the restroom needs.

“There are all different kinds of floor surfaces and for most of them, mopping is not your best application,” says Harris. “You obviously have to mop some, but that’s not going to get into the grout lines. Actually, the mop can do more damage than good if that’s all you’re doing, because if it’s holding a lot of dirt, it will hit the uneven floors and cause the soil to become displaced instead of removed.”

“Nothing looks worse than a restroom that has been mopped and dirt has been spread all around the baseboards or in the grout lines,” Frank adds.

Another alternative to mopping is the pressure-washer. For certain customers, a small or large pressure-washer can be an effective alternative to mopping.

For industrial buildings that experience heavy foot-traffic and lots of dirt — factories or parking garages, for example — power-washing is a terrific solution, says Jeff Spicker, a sales representative for August Supply Inc., Burlingame, Calif. “But mopping will probably still play a role, and you always have to be cognizant of any paper products that shouldn’t get wet [when using a pressure-washer]. The important thing is to use it primarily on the floors and lower walls.”

In tandem with mopping, Harris recommends another option: a mini-buffer or mini-scrubber that can serve as an agitator while picking up soil in hard-to-reach places. “That’s just one solution, but the key to having the right restroom program is becoming educated about different floor surfaces — marble, slate, grouted tile, other natural stones — and selling the program that will work best.”

Understanding Customer Concerns
In addition to appearance, odor is another major concern for end users, and distributors need to train their customers in the best methods of odor control and odor prevention, says Frank. “Distributors should know that 50 percent of all complaints by building patrons have to do with odor, appearance or product — or a combination of the three,” he says. “Bad odor is a major problem in a restroom, and it can’t just be covered up with scents, although air fresheners have their place in the restroom. It has to be dealt with and removed through the implementation of the cleaning program.”

Another major concern of building patrons is cross-contamination. Increasingly, people don’t want to touch faucets, dispensers or flushers in the restroom. However, concern about cross-contamination depends entirely on the type of building, says Harris.

“The types of customers we have in Aspen are more concerned about restroom materials than specialized solutions that prevent cross-contamination, even though I know that it’s a growing concern nationally,” he says. “Our customers would rather have porcelain dispensers or cloth towels, than a plastic hands-free dispenser of paper towels.”

In California, Spicker’s company is waiting for a manufacturer to step up and design a touchless paper dispenser for high-end customers. “I think that if someone came out with a nice stainless-steel paper dispenser that was touchless, it would really sell,” he says. “Maybe it’s because touchless technology is still fairly new, but there are limited options that don’t work for every customer.”

On the Horizon
When it comes to products that will really sell, distributors can help their customers employ smooth-running restroom programs by following Spicker’s example and staying on the lookout for the newest solutions.

Right now, manufacturers are unveiling a host of new restroom product lines, and distributors can take advantage of those innovations.

Frank recommends that distributors start by researching the newest all-purpose cleaning chemicals. “Disinfectants don’t clean,” he says. “They just don’t. After a period of time, there is dirt and soil on the floor, even though the disinfectants are killing the bugs. Distributors can look for a heavy-duty cleaner that will be more effective.”

For Harris, he predicts that new toilet-seat chemicals will be a hit. “Those are the big things that are being requested,” he says of the new alternative to toilet-seat covers. “Anything plastic-wrapped is not popular — it is easy to apply and it works like a hand sanitizer, except it’s on the toilet seat.”

Distributors are wise to pay attention to the newest cleaning solutions available, so that their customers can purchase the best restroom programs possible.

The Color of Sales
In addition to providing the right equipment, a distributor can ensure that customers employ a total restroom program effectively by helping them organize their janitor closets.

“Typically, the first place we’ll go with customers — even before going to the restroom itself — is the storage closets, so we can see what kind of system and products they’re using,” says Spicker. “That gives us a reference for what we can offer.”

Too often, customers don’t have any kind of system in place, and that’s where distributors can really prove their worth, says Frank. “There’s a global color code that distributors can use to help their customers be safe and organized in their approach to restroom care,” he says. “Red is for most of the restroom — toilets, urinals and other high-risk areas that really need to be cleaned effectively. Yellow is also in the restroom, because that covers sinks and mirrors. Then, you also have green for foodservice and blue for all-purpose cleaning.”

Using the right colors that match up with the global color code for cleaning really isn’t what’s most important, adds Frank: “I don’t care if they use those colors or not, as long as they know that [a particular] brush is to be used in the restroom only.”

Who’s In Charge?
Finally, when approaching a particular facility with the purpose of selling restroom supplies, it’s vital that a distributor contact the key decision-maker.

“The first thing you do is go to the boss and ask him or her about the restroom plan that’s already in place — if there is one in place,” he says. “Honestly, it doesn’t matter what the janitor is saying; the head of the organization needs to believe that restroom hygiene is a top priority.”