Staying lean, competitive and relevant in the restaurant business isn’t an easy thing to do. Consumer palates are fickle and can change on a dime. What was hot and new one day, becomes a fad the next day.
Restaurants operate on small profit margins and have been struggling to turn a profit since the Great Recession of 2008. Average net profit margins dipped to a paltry 0.4% in 2008 but has grown steadily since then.
Total sales has also grown between 5%-7% annually since 2011 and is poised for even higher gains going into the future. Let the good times roll, right?
Well not so fast apparently. Darden Restaurants Inc, the parent company of Olive Garden and Longhorn Steakhouse is looking to cut costs to the tune of $100 million dollars a year.
Olive Garden’s corporate bosses are leaving no stone left unturned in their quest to cut costs. After “pulling every single invoice” they came to the conclusion that they could save money on carpet cleaning.
While cutting carpet cleaning might seem like an attractive solution in the short term, it could actually turn out to be a very bad decision.
Commercial Carpet Cleaning: Image Is Everything
The three ingredients to a successful restaurant are decent prices, good food, and a clean environment. Delivering on all three on a consistent basis is the key to staying in business.
To the consumer, image is everything. A clean restaurant shows that cleanliness and health are a top priority.
A study by GOJO industries found that “clean and neat employees” and a “clean and safe restaurant” ranked as the most important issues when dining at a restaurant.
What was fascinating about this study was the fact that 79% would leave a restaurant without complaining about uncleanliness and 70.5% would be hesitant to return!
Restaurant operators only have one chance to impress customers, miss it and the sale is gone for good. Developing a reputation for uncleanliness is bad for the bottom line.
Online Reviews Matter
All it takes is a couple of bad online reviews on Yelp to cement the idea that an establishment is unclean. Online reviews matter and people are increasingly using them to make buying decisions.
Did you know that 88% of consumers trust online reviews as much as personal recommendations?
Commercial Carpets: A Breeding Ground
Commercial carpet just like a residential carpet is a magnet for all types of contaminants. Living in the desert means commercial carpets will attract dust, dirt, pollen etc…Many consumers are allergic to these contaminants.
When combined with contaminants such as salmonella riding on the shoes of a waiter, you can begin to see why cutting back on carpet cleaning isn’t such a great idea.
Imagine if a customer had an allergic reaction or came down with an foodborne illness because the carpet wasn’t cleaned on a regular basis.
Along with bad PR, lawsuits wouldn’t be far behind. The risks outweigh the benefits of cutting back on carpet cleaning. Olive Garden is making the wrong call.
Commercial carpet cleaning is a worthwhile investment that shouldn’t be overlooked.
Commercial Carpet Cleaning+Phoenix Carpet Repair & Cleaning= Business Success
Phoenix Carpet Repair & Cleaning can take care of all of your commercial carpet cleaning needs!
We offer two types of commercial carpet cleaning services based on the level of foot traffic that your facility receives.
We recommend a truck mounted high-powered water cleaning for heavily soiled commercial carpet. For low traffic carpet, we recommend our dry powder waterless solution.
Our carpet cleaning technicians can be in and out of your facility very quickly. All you have to do is give us a call today at 602-688-4186 for a free estimate or to set up a cleaning schedule!
Don’t have time to call?! You can book your appointment with us through our online scheduler.
Our goal is to make this process as quick and easy as possible. We focus on your carpet so you don’t have too!
We look forward to serving you soon!
We service the following areas: Goodyear, Avondale, Phoenix, Peoria & Litchfield Park
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