YORK, Pa. -- For most people, a red button would call for an emergency stop on a bus or a call for help when trapped in an elevator. At Rutter's and other c-store operators, it means, "Can someone please attend to the restroom?"
A writer for the blog York, Pa.-based "York Common Cents" walked into a Rutter's Farm Store earlier this month and noticed near the restroom door "was a placard and a red button, like the kind they put in hospital rooms for patients to use when they've fallen off the commode and can't get up."
The sign read: "If our restroom does not meet your expectations in any way, please push this button" (click here to read the full blog and to view a picture of the button).
The blogger asked himself, "What happens if I push that red button? Does a white knight barge in and whisk me away from the dirt and grime?"
Fortunately, he said he had no excuse to push the button, since the restroom was clean.
He contacted the York, Pa.-based Rutter's and reportedly spoke with Alex Henry, Rutter's marketing director, who said, "If a customer is unhappy with the conditions of the restroom, they should push the button. This will alert our staff to the issue so they can attend to it. We want our customers to be completely satisfied; 't's another way for us to make sure of that."
Rutter's is not alone. C-store consultant Steve Montgomery of B2B Solutions, Lake Forest, Ill., said he's seen at least one other chain with red-button alerts at its restrooms.
With c-stores emphasizing food and wanting to appeal to the female shopper, the condition of restrooms has become paramount, Montgomery told CSP Daily News. "The customer's perception of the store is positively or negatively impacted by the cleanliness of the restroom," he said. "You can have a large, beautiful, stone restroom or a small one, but regardless of size and quality of the fixtures, fundamentally what the person is looking for is cleanliness."
The red button is a strong idea because in essence, the chain is asking for customer feedback, Montgomery said.
"Anytime you ask a customer for feedback, their perception of your service level goes up," he said. "The double-edged sword is that employees now have to respond to the alert."
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