In business image and appearance of the building are inextricably linked. The optics of neglected building maintenance reduces the number of customers your business attracts. Reduction or loss of customers reflects negatively on your bottom line.
Neglected Exterior Building Maintenance
If the building’s exterior has a shabby, unkempt appearance, the negative effect is loss of impulse customers and negative customer attitude.
It may also imply a lack of public safety. For example, a building exterior that has flickering lights invites liability due to an increase in potential for customer injury. Fix flickering lights for safety but also to prevent theft and vandalism. Make sure cracks in sidewalks are repaired as well as damaged siding, windows and doors.
Neglected Interior Building Maintenance
Many is the customer who ventured into a building with a well maintained exterior, only to notice an 8 ft LED tube in several overhead lights are unlit and/or flickering and floor tiles are cracked or dirty.
Bathrooms that reek of odor, have leaky faucets or bathroom fixtures that need replacing, all send the wrong optical message and affect your business image and your bottom line.
Neglecting Adequate Staffing
It may surprise business owners that word of mouth is still alive and well and is the ruination of many businesses for lack of adequate staffing.
Time is money is a phrase all business owners recognize. Yet, many do not seem to realize customers place the same high value on time as a business owner. Long lines or staffing that is inattentive to customer needs impacts the bottom line because a negative customer experience in your business will go viral through word of mouth or worse, on social media.
The Dollar Value to Your Bottom Line of Fastidious Maintenance
Every business owner needs to create a regular maintenance check list at the time of startup of business. If you are the building owner, assign the duty of building maintenance projects to an office manager who can outsource most of the maintenance to vendors and suppliers.
If you are not the owner of the building, you should discuss building maintenance with the leaser so your business is not negatively impacted by a neglected building. Keep in mind when neglect continues for a long period it is not cost-effective to your bottom line. Generally, neglect over long periods of time add to the cost of repairs and replacements and increase potential for liability for lack of public safety.
Once all of these major areas of maintenance are regularly inspected and repairs, replacements and upgrades are made, your bottom line remains stable and healthy and your business grows.
