You never get a second chance to make a good first impression. This is especially true when it comes to the perception of cleanliness in facilities. From restaurants to retail stores to hotels, customers judge the environment as soon as they step foot in the door, taking note of what they see and even what they smell.
Many facilities rely on air care systems to help eliminate malodors that may affect customers’ first impressions of their space. Globally, air care products account for $9.5 billion annually, making odor neutralizing products one of the most important parts of a facility maintenance plan.
How Smell can Affect Sales
With our sense of smell so closely linked to memory, a pleasing aromatic experience, or a negative one, can have lasting effects on a business’ bottom line. Facility managers should consider the following reasons to invest in an eco-friendly air care system that eliminates odors instead of just masking them.
• Positive customer reviews: If a customer enters a facility and is greeted with malodors, they are likely to associate that negative memory with the business. Some may vow to never return and may even write negative online reviews that disparage the business’ lack of attention to air care and customer satisfaction.
However, if a facility invests in an odor elimination system that continuously and consistently delivers fragrance into the air, they are more likely to leave customers with a pleasant sensory experience. Fresh air, especially in restrooms, maintains the perception of cleanliness, and clean facilities are more likely to score positive reviews compared to those with odor issues.
• Improved brand recognition: Positive scents have the power to unify a brand or place with a customer’s emotions. If a facility installs an air care system offering pleasing fragrances that have been tested for popularity and appeal, customers will come to associate the business with that olfactory experience. They will remember the brand for future visits, increasing both brand recognition and loyalty. Returning customers typically spend 67% more than first time customers, so it’s important for brands to make their facilities a must-visit destination – and scent is one way to do just that.
• Longer customer visits: When a facility does not have an air care system in place, foul odors can hurry customers’ shopping trips or encourage them to leave a store without making a purchase. Alternatively, just like soft, calming music can encourage shoppers to take their time, so can the right scent.
Many brands are jumping on the “slow-shopping” theory, as they believe that it results in higher customer spending. To enhance the shopping experience, facilities should consider an air care system that uses high-quality fragrances in calming scents like lavender with spicy herbs and orange with warm spices. The right scent in the right place allows customers to lose themselves in a pleasant sensory experience that can lead to bigger purchases.
• New customer acquisition: Word of mouth is an important marketing strategy upon which every business hopes to capitalize. It’s crucial to ensure customers leave a business with a positive impression, as they’ll be more likely to tell others about their experience. This is where odor elimination comes into play. A pleasant scent can add to the allure of a business and encourage new customers to visit. Facilities can achieve this by selecting safe, effective and environmentally friendly air care products.
Finding the Right Fit
Making sure your facility is free of unwanted malodors is an important step toward protecting your brand and bottom line. Consider the following when looking for an air care system:
• Continuous odor elimination. Finding an odor elimination solution that delivers continuous and consistent fragrance for the entire duration of the cartridge life is essential to keeping your facility smelling fresh over time. Intermittent spray systems, fast fading solids and passive air freshening systems do not consistently deliver fragrance, making them unreliable in comparison.
• Eliminates odors effectively. Many air care solutions simply mask odors. New technologies on the market today eliminate a wide range of malodors like urine, feces, body odor, tobacco, pet malodors, kitchen malodors, mold and mildew through the use of agents that lock in malodor molecules, neutralize them and release a pure, fresh scent into the air.
• Eco-friendly air care. Choose odor eliminating systems that release fragrance safely and effectively without propellants like carbon dioxide or nitrous oxide. Make sure the system also refrains from releasing chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) and volatile organic compounds (VOCs) like acetone, butane, propane, toluene and ethanol.
• Customizable scent durations and intensities. Innovative air fresheners allow users to choose 30, 60 or 90 days of air care. Incorporating oxygen fuel-cell technology ensures that these solutions continuously emit a fresh aroma at the same intensity over the entire period. Different durations allow facilities to manage the intensity of the fragrance; a shorter duration results in greater scent intensity while a longer duration offers a less intense fragrance.
• Variety of high-quality fragrances. Choosing a suitable fragrance for your facility has never been easier with 14 options of refreshing scents, all user-tested and designed to ensure the customer’s experience is a positive one.
The Bottom Line
Underestimating the impact scent can have on a customer’s experience in any facility can have a negative impact on customer satisfaction, brand reputation and the bottom line. The science behind smells starts with a visitor’s first impression and making a positive one every time starts by investing in a simple, reliable and effective odor elimination system. Remember to look for a system that truly eliminates odors, allows for various scent delivery durations and offers a wide range of fragrances so that you can select a scent that will shape your brand’s image.