Smell your bathrooms

Note: The following is an excerpt from 30 Ideas to Build and Live Your Brand. For a free copy of the complete book, click here.

Everything about your financial institution communicates something about your brand – even how your bathrooms look and smell. Think about it this way. When you are on a road trip, are you selective about where you take your pit stops, or will you stop anywhere?

I realize nobody is going to stop at your financial institution just to use the restroom, but if they don’t trust your bathrooms, they may not trust your ability to handle their money, either.

When Toys R Us was rebranding, it brought in a third party expert to lead the process. One of the first things the consultant did was walk the CEO all the way to the back of the store where the restroom was located and ask if his wife would feel comfortable using that bathroom. Why? Because it’s important to look at these details from the customer’s perspective. Women are the toy retailer’s key demographic. If they won’t use the bathrooms, or more importantly, if they won’t let their kids use the bathrooms, they aren’t going to shop there very often.

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