Visiting a new place is a sensory-rich experience. When you walk into a facility for the first time, your eyes will take in the sights. Is it dimly or brightly lit? Neither is necessarily good nor bad, but it should communicate what you wish to intentionally communicate. While a dimly-lit medical office may make people feel nervous about how sanitary the location is, a brightly-lit spa might be a turnoff to those looking for a relaxing and rejuvenating atmosphere.

While taste, touch, and sound may also play key roles in someone’s perception of your facility, one of the greatest factors besides sight that is worth taking inventory of is smell. And unlike a little flexibility in lighting, there’s no question about how people hope a building smells! A recent poll of over 2,000 Americans revealed that a bad smell would negatively impact their first impression. How many people reported this, exactly? Turns out, the large majority (93%). If you’re wondering what the nose knows, the answer is, “Quite a bit!”

More than half of respondents said that a malodor would cause them to assume the facility was unclean (some going so far as to say that it would be cause to find another facility). Half would hasten their exit. Just short of half would tell friends and family about the negative experience. Finally, more than one third would be persuaded by their nose to never return. I dare say that’s the kind of data that will grab you by the nose and consider how your facility fares!

So what causes foul odors? The usual culprits to indoor odors include bodily fluids (think bad bathroom smells from toilets or diaper receptacles), mold or mildew, pets, trash bins, and even kitchens. I worked at a church for a while that battled bad odors originating from drains. When you stop to consider it, there are many places that can cause malodors in your facilities. Now before you let this get you down, the good news is that there are a myriad of ways to eliminate and even prevent many of these odors in the first place.

Sonlight Cleaning Services is a full-service, fully-customizable cleaning company in the Dallas – Fort Worth Metroplex that is no stranger to smells. We’ve done battle with many a nose nemesis and won every round! Our approach is to eliminate odors, then prevent them from returning. We are a supplier for Jan San cleaning supplies, including fragrance machines and refills. When it comes to eliminating odors, fragrance is a good last step, but the cause of the smell must be first eliminated… otherwise it’d be like putting a bouquet of roses on a table that’s piled with dirty dishes! Our team members are trained to evaluate the causes of malodor and treat the source. Moldy bathroom grout giving you grief? No problem. Overflowing trash bins by midday? Nothing a day porter service can’t handle.  Whether you manage the facilities for a church, school, office, business park, or financial institution, your visitors and customers can smell success or failure when they open your front doors. Sonlight Cleaning Services can make sure that every first impression is scent-sational!