If you own or manage a restaurant, you know that cleanliness and pest control matter to your customers. What you may not realize is that, in today’s electronic communication world, cleanliness and pest control are even more important than ever before.
That’s because it’s easier for customers to share bad experiences via social media and online review sites, taking word-of-mouth reviews to new levels and putting your restaurant’s reputation on the line every business day.
The Importance of Word of Mouth
Consumers are increasingly turning to the internet and online reviews to help them make purchasing decisions. In fact, according to Forbes.com, 90% of consumers say that reading a positive online review influenced their buying decision. Consumers also read and pay attention to the opinions shared on social media sites by their friends and other users. Facebook reported 1.13 billion daily active users on average in June, 2016, Instagram over 300 million daily active users, and Twitter 313 million monthly active users. According to Pewresearch.org, half of all adult Facebook users have more than 200 friends in their network, which makes a significant potential audience for every post.
Consider this hypothetical example. A customer is eating in your restaurant when a pest scurries by. Just a few years ago, that customer might have mentioned his or her bad experience to a few people. Today, that same customer likely has a camera phone at their fingertips, and with just a snap and a few clicks, your restaurant (possibly along with a picture of the offending pest) is presented in a bad light on your customer’s social media accounts and online review sites for hundreds (maybe thousands) of people to see. The people who see the negative posts and reviews are the same people who might have been planning a visit to your restaurant next weekend, or maybe who have never visited your establishment before (and perhaps never will now).
How Pest Control Companies Can Help
Customers who spy a single bug or rodent will immediately question your restaurant’s sanitation and quality. The last thing you want is to have it splashed all over the internet that pest control or cleanliness is a problem in your establishment. While customers can oftentimes look past one bad food or service experience, the report of a single cockroach, ant, mouse, or other foul creature can turn them off for good and turn them away from your restaurant forever.
That’s why pest control companies are so important for restaurants. Working discreetly and quickly, professional pest control treatments can be customized to address your restaurant’s specific problems. In addition to saving you lost business, professional pest control treatments may also save you regulatory fines because experienced technicians are familiar with federal food service regulations as well as with local health codes. Professional pest control experts also know how to identify structural and sanitation threats to remove pest risk. Besides addressing infestations, having a professional pest control plan can help with proactive prevention and monitoring strategies to stop new pest problems before they start.
Ultimately, you can’t control what people say about your restaurant on social media and the internet. That’s why it’s important to control the things that you can, like helping prevent pests from becoming a problem for you and your customers. You never want to read a social media post or an online review saying that your restaurant is pest friendly.
