The COVID-19 pandemic has presented business owners around the world with unprecedented new challenges. One that has been especially highlighted is the need to provide a safe and secured environment for customers. Even in our personal line of work, we have had to adapt our procedures and how we interact with clients and their homes, to ensure both our staff and our customers are safe and protected.

As lockdown restrictions are lifted, and businesses are once again allowed to take walk-in customers, building trust and security with customers is paramount. It takes a quick Google search to find a wealth of studies and surveys that emphasize the importance of not only making customers feel safe, but ensuring they are.

“On May 14, IMI polled 1,000 North American respondents on what a business needs to do in order for them to feel safe from coronavirus.

For retailers, the most critical action ­they can take – according to 64% of respondents – is providing hand sanitizer at the door. Other key actions include offering curbside pickup (43%), making it mandatory to wear masks in stores (41%) and employing greeters to supply masks and cleaning wipes (39%) – though there was a gender split for these practices, with more women feeling confident about them than men.

The same gender split was seen in things like using protective barriers (50% of women, versus 23% of men) and promoting its health initiatives (48% of women versus 18% of men).

In restaurants and public places, the action with the most impact on confidence (according to 42% of respondents) was for businesses to clean tables before every sitting, followed by providing complimentary hand sanitizer during each visit (37%), sanitizing all equipment before use (34%) and offering no-contact food pickup (33%).

For dine-in restaurants, the most impactful action is for chefs to wear masks and gloves (43%), followed by servers wearing masks (40%) and having hand sanitizer at the table (37%) and reducing the amount of tables (32%). At events, 37% of Canadians would feel more confident if capacity was limited, followed by 33% who said they’d be more confident if there was readily available sanitizer. Signage at the event detailing cleaning and safety was not seen as particularly valuable (with only 15% of Canadians citing it).”

(Source: https://strategyonline.ca/2020/05/21/what-will-make-customers-feel-safe-in-your-store/)

Indeed, having safety protocols in place increases not only the comfort and enjoyment level of the patrons, but also plays a substantial role in helping to mitigate the spread of COVID-19 while being able to conduct business.

The downside to these measures is a matter of cost and labour which is where many businesses run into problems. Months of on and off lockdowns have created a myriad of cashflow problems for many businesses. As a result, the viability of paying an extra employee to continually clean surfaces and purchasing boxes of sanitizing solutions can be economically unfeasible.

This is where specialized businesses can help!

Many new business models have popped up as a result of the demand for sanitizing services. Here at Pestward, we have started up a program that specifically focuses on cost-effective and residue sanitization service plans for businesses to take away the large financial burden and concern from business owners. Much like our great pest control plans, these sanitization plans are set it and forget it. We handle the process of treating with our unique 30 day lasting solution (Yes, 30 days of anti-microbial effectiveness) and your business benefits from our Pestward Protected program. Giving you, your staff, and your customers peace of mind that you are staying protected.

For pricing and more, you can contact us on our Sanitization Contact Form or call us at (519) 913-0716