by Steven Rosenblatt

I have managed arenas, convention centers, fairs, performing arts theatres, etc. for 15+ years and have learned several things about customers and cleanliness.

First of all, your customers deserve a clean facility! There is no question about it. There is little so bothersome to me as to be one of the first to walk into a facility and find the place in an unclean state. That issue itself, sends a message to me and your customers. Unfortunately for the facility, that message is they don't care enough about me - the customer - or themselves - the facility - to spend the effort to make a good presentation.

I remember when I managed arenas and we had two, sometimes 3 performances of family shows in one day. I made the effort to bring in enough people to make sure the common areas - hallways and restrooms - at least - were clean for the next crowd. I know it's a little thing, but it is important to people! The people are your customers. The live in and around your community and the condition of the building is a reflection on you - the manager.

Early in my career, during one family show, I noticed one of the first things many people did when they got to the event was to take their children to the restroom. I happened to be standing near a group of young mothers one day and overheard them talking about the condition of the restroom. One Mom said, "We were one of the first people here and the restroom was dirty. I wonder if they didn't clean it from last night."

She didn't know she was at the third show of the day. I started to walk over to her to explain that this was the third show of the day and that's why it wasn't clean when I realized I would just be giving her an excuse. She didn't really care why the restrooms was dirty, she cared that it was dirty. I did go over to her and apologized that the restroom was dirty and told her we would do better. She thanked me for talking to her and from then on, I learned a valuable lesson and we did do better. It affected our bottom line a bit, but the rewards of good customer service certainly outweighed the nominal cost.

Steven R Rosenblatt is:

• a veteran public assembly facility manager
• a member of the International Association of Assembly Managers (IAAM)
• has written many articles related to facility management and operation

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