Arguably one of the strongest senses is the sense of smell. It’s stored in the part of the brain where psychology and biology meet, which is why a smell can evoke a memory. While the smell of freshly baked cookies or freshly mown grass can bring you back to a childhood memory, what kind of memory could rotting garbage bring back? That brings us to our question – what could the smell in your business be say about you?
What Smells Could Say
- Not Clean: Rotting trash smells can be synonymous with being unclean. Your business doesn’t have to be visibly dirty for people to think it is. The foul smell will put the thought in people’s heads that it’s anything but clean. That can turn people away and even those that do stay and purchase something will most likely get what they came for and leave quickly. All businesses accumulate trash. Routine pickups and keeping dumpster areas and trash chutes clean and disinfected can help but odors will still occur. You may think there’s no way to avoid it, but there are scenting units that can actually neutralize those odors. Not mask – neutralize. They can make the air near your trash cleaner to smell and breathe.
- Don’t Care: To both your employees and your guests, a foul odor in your business may seem like the higher ups or owners just don’t care. We know it’s not true, but perception is reality. If you have become nose blind to it or you’re not around it enough to notice, you may not realize the intensity of the smell. No matter the reason, the perception could be that you either don’t know or don’t care. Apathy is actually preferable to no caring at all, but neither is good and could be what people think if your business has a foul odor.
- Pest Haven: If there’s anything pests love more than moisture and shelter, it’s rotting food. The smell of rotting food alone will make rodents, cockroaches, flies, and many other pests head straight for your dumpsters – and your business. Keep in mind their sense of smell is much better than yours or ours. So, the slightest whiff that may be imperceptible to you, is like a welcome sign to pests. Flies buzzing around your business or worse – a cockroach or mouse scurrying across a hallway or dining room can be a reputation killer! Neutralize the smells to eliminate the attractant, making pests less likely to seek out your business for the other two things they need (shelter and moisture).
- Negative Branding: Scent marketing is real tactic. Hotels use it so to make sure you associate happiness with their lobby, and to make sure you remember that feeling long after you’ve walked out. Hospitals use it to help create a calming scent that could help relax you in a stressful environment. There are scents that can do all of that! What could a foul scent do? It will probably be remembered even more than a pleasant one. That negative perception can follow your brand for years to come. Negative reviews (even if someone can’t exactly pinpoint what they didn’t like was the smell) will come and will lead right into #5.
- Profit Loss: People would rather shop or enter a business that smells good. So, if your business smells bad, they will go elsewhere. There’s just no way around it. A vendor coming in and out wrinkling their nose will definitely tell the company they work for about it. Your employees have to deal with the smells every day, too. It could make them seek employment elsewhere. Your patrons know they can probably get whatever you’re selling from a business down the street that doesn’t smell. All of this could mean lost sales, lost contracts, and losing good employees from the smells in your business. All of that combined can lead to lost profits. If there was ever a reason to neutralize the odor in your business, it’s lost profits.
When it comes right down to it, you want the smell in your business to say, “come in!” and not, “stay out.” It’s an easy fix. All you need to do is have a scenting unit installed that will neutralize the air around wherever you have foul odors. Such an easy way to solve a problem that can say a lot of negative stuff about your business.