On the one hand, smartphones and their connection with social media have made customers more demanding, more impatient, and more powerful. However, these phones can also be powerful tools for business as well, increasing customer satisfaction and retention. The SNL skit, it turns out, has some truth in it as well. In fact, in some ways, smartphones can be even more valuable than your laptop. In an article by PC World, Tony Bradley lists five ways in which smartphones are better than laptops. I have taken the liberty of applying them here to the textile rental industry.

1. Always Available

In the textile rental world, the entire business is mobile, and smartphones can always be with your team, no matter where they are – driving routes, visiting accounts, or managing plants. The same cannot be said for laptops. Smartphones allow your team to have constant access to all the information they need about clients and the business.

2. Connectivity

Smartphones are phones first, and provide the best connection at any given time, over tablets or laptops. Laptops often still depend on wi-fi networks and experience poor connectivity in some areas, particularly some of those on textile rental routes. Smartphones’ connectivity make the service rep constantly available for customers when used in conjunction with apps made just for that, such as F-MATIC’s new one, Quick Request.

3. Voice calls

Often a conversation can clarify something faster and easier than a number of emails or online collaboration, especially when a route driver needs something immediately in the middle of a fast-paced route.

4. Text messaging

Texting is “faster than email, but less intrusive than a voice call,” and allows for the quick relay of information when someone, say, a route driver, is in the middle of a busy schedule.

5. Versatility

The smartphone may be a great phone, while just an average camera or mp3 player or GPS device. But, the fact that it can do all of those things and sit in your pocket, make it just that much more useful. Say a route driver can’t find a new location – he can look it up on his GPS map. Or maybe a plant manager needs to photograph a broken piece of equipment and send it to his maintenance manager – he can. Or perhaps a sales rep needs access to price lists and product specs in the middle of a sales meeting – he can get to them on his phone.

So while we may still all need our computers, smartphones are enabling us to make business easier and faster.  Our constant accessibility can keep us better connected with our customers, which in turn allows us to better meet their needs. And meeting their needs helps us to meet ours – success.

Germaphones for Germaphobes

Like most technology, cell phones can have both positive and negative effects on people, their health, and the world. On the negative side, one recent study found that your cell phone may be making you sick. That’s right, the object in your hand can be a culprit for spreading germs, but it may not be entirely to blame.

According to the study by the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine and Queen Mary, University of London conducted in the UK, 92 percent of phones and 82 percent of hands had bacteria on them, and 16 percent of phones and hands had E. coli on them – bacteria found in fecal matter. The experts conclude that people are failing to wash their hands properly after going to the restroom.

It may be that some people are not, in fact, washing at all after using the restroom, but it may also be true that some are simply not washing properly – meaning washing with soap, vigorously, for at least 10 seconds. It may also be true that people are washing their hands well, but then touching a contaminated surface, say, a restroom door handle, and becoming contaminated once again. And chances are, they are touching their cell phones not long after that.

A Solution as Simple as Soap

In an article reporting the study by Infection Control Today, it states that “harmful E. coli bacteria are associated with stomach illness and have been implicated in serious cases of food poisoning.” Not only does poor hand hygiene lead to unpleasant illnesses such as norovirus, rotavirus, and influenza in developed countries, but more often leads to death from diarrheal diseases and pneumonia in developing countries. Every year, the article reports, 3.5 million children under the age of five die from such diseases, which could be prevented by simply washing hands with soap.

While any soap will provide the suds needed for removing germs, it could be said that foaming soaps provide a “more hygienic” wash. While the amount of time people wash their hands tends to be set, starting with foaming suds on the hands could help to facilitate the removal of germs. Soap works as a surfactant to remove germs by the friction of scrubbing combined with suds that remove dirt and bacteria.

Cell Phones: Using Their Power For Good

So the responsibility falls to people, not phones, for preventing the spread of germs. Make sure that you, your colleagues and your family take the time and effort necessary for good hand hygiene, especially before shaking hands, touching a door knob, or using your cell phone.

And while you’re at it, consider using your cell phone as a weapon in improving hygiene in public restrooms. Several smart phone apps have recently been introduced that allow people to find and rate public restrooms, which in turn, will hopefully lead to improved restroom conditions. For example, F-MATIC’s new app, Bestroom, allows users to report supply shortages of say, soap, or paper towels – two essentials for getting and keeping hands clean after using the restroom – and restroom owners get an alert that allows them to restock the supplies immediately.

So wash your hands and then grab your cell phone to do some good in the (public restroom) world.

So go ahead, place an order. Contact your sales rep today or call us at 800.824.9994.

Here were the objections we faced to the door handle sanitizing sprays: First, the door handle sanitizing spray left a wet door handle – something no one wants to touch upon leaving a restroom, not to mention if it were to spray just as you touched the handle. Second, the timed intervals between sprays on the door handle sanitizers left obvious lags in time when multiple people could be touching the handle before you. No matter how much we told our focus group that the intervals were scientifically deduced to cover the most users, nothing we could say could change their perception that the handle may still not be clean. And finally, when compared with paper towels the owner is already providing (and concerned patrons are already using to open the door), the device and its cost seemed a bit superfluous.

Through all these tests, we kept asking ourselves, “Why not just keep using a paper towel to open the door like we always have?” It’s dependable, easy, and cost efficient for the owner. The more we looked at the door handle sanitizers, the fewer benefits we saw that they had to offer end users or our customers. What we did see was unreliability, mess, hassle, and increased costs.

In a previous blog post, we also highlighted some of the sanitary advantages of using paper towels over electric hand dryers that were cited in a study by the University of Westminster. Additionally, in the event that the faucet is not of the touchless variety (which many still are not), the towel can be used to turn off the faucet, as well as open any kind of door. In our focus group, we didn’t see one door handle sanitizer that could reach over and turn off the faucet.

According to the telephone survey, which queried 1,000 US Adults over the age of 18, 94% would not return to a business simply because of a dirty restroom. Ninety four percent! If that doesn’t make you get out the mop and bucket, check your air freshener, and refill your paper products, I don’t know what will.

For years we’ve been talking to our customers about another survey indicating that more than 80% of restaurant patrons would hesitate to return to an eating establishment because of a negative restroom experience, but the Harris Survey went further, asking consumers about how an unclean restroom in a variety of establishments would affect their desire (or lack thereof) to return. What they found was significant.

The survey confirmed the previous results, proving that 79% would not return to a restaurant with an unclean restroom. Other businesses who would lose a percentage of customers as a result of dirty washrooms included Hotels (79%), Healthcare Facilities (77%), Supermarkets (50%), Retail Stores (45%), Gas Stations (45%), and Car Dealerships (39%).

These results not only bolster the value proposition for businesses that provide facility services (such as textile rental companies, building service contractors, etc.) and janitorial products, but also for our newly introduced Bestroom mobile app and web service.

With Bestroom, users can use our exclusive iPhone app (an Android app is coming soon) to find clean restrooms in the nearby area, and easily rate those restrooms for the benefit not only of future customers but also for the benefit of restroom owners. Restroom owners receive instant notification of cleanliness, odor, plumbing and other critical restroom issues so that they can attend to these problems immediately, thereby ensuring that customers know that bathroom cleanliness is a priority of management. Product and service providers (those who help restroom owners ensure that they have clean, well-stocked restrooms) also receive alerts when their customers’ restrooms need attention, aiding restroom owners in keeping their bathrooms neat, clean, and odor free.

The Harris Survey should be a wake-up call for all those who own businesses with publicly-accessible washrooms. If you want to ensure that your customers will return, go clean your bathrooms. Right now. But don’t just take the single immediate step of cleaning your restrooms today, sign up with a service or product provider who cares equally about and takes a partnership interest in the cleanliness of your restrooms. And finally, download our Bestroom mobile app and sign-up for an account on our Bestroom web interface to ensure that you get instant feedback from your customers, thereby enabling you to keep your restrooms clean, odor-free, and ensure that your customers return again and again.

LEHI, Utah – June 1, 2011 - Bestroom™, a digital platform developed by restroom sanitation products manufacturer F-MATIC, Inc., uses a mobile app and web interface to give service providers and restroom owners instant feedback to streamline janitorial services and inventory management.

“There are a plethora of rating web sites and apps covering restaurants, travel services, and even restrooms. However, none of them provide a connection between users, owners, and those who provide products and services,” said F-MATIC COO David Bernstein. “Bestroom allows the people who own, maintain, service and supply restroom facilities to not only receive feedback in real time, but to act on that information and interact with partners throughout the supply and service chain.”

The Bestroom mobile app provides users with the next evolution of restroom rating capabilities, allowing not only general rate and search functions, but also the ability to sort by category, attributes and proximity to the users’ current location. Users can also provide specific feedback for facility owners, right down to specifying a lack of soap, a plumbing problem, a dirty floor and more.

That feedback is instantly sent to restroom owners and service providers so they can request janitorial services, place orders or restock the facility. Once fixed, the reporting user will get a notification and the response speed will be recorded so future users can see how important clean facilities are at various locations.

In addition to the mobile app, a website (www.bestroom.com) interface will allow owners and providers to access advanced features and streamline inventory based on feedback and instant interaction with clients and restroom users.

Restroom owners can sign-up and place QR codes in as many restrooms as they like, without charge, via bestroom.com or receive codes from their product distributor or restroom service providers, then access an online dashboard to monitor feedback and place re-fill orders with suppliers.

Distributors and service companies will be offered tiered monthly subscription options — including free options — to access more advanced features to better serve their customers’ needs. Upgraded services include alerts when customers’ restrooms need service, promoted listings in the Bestroom supplier database, the ability to receive orders from their customers through the app (in a forthcoming version), lead generation opportunities and more.

The free app will initially be available in the iTunes App Store for iOS devices, but will soon also be available in the Android Marketplace for Android-powered handhelds and tablets as well.

For more information about the Bestroom platform, visit www.bestroom.com.

About F-MATIC

The first shipment of our latest F-ONE fragrance, Mango Mystique, arrived last Friday and is now stocked on our shelves. But it’s itching to get into your customers’ hands, or should I say, noses.

Maybe one of the reasons we’re so excited about this new arrival of ours is because it was so difficult to formulate in a liquid form. Sure, there are mango fragrances out there, but none with Metazene® odor neutralizer, which last 60 days in a passive refill without batteries! But we were determined that we weren’t going to settle for anything less than perfect. After so many requests for a mango scent, we couldn’t disappoint our fans. We sent back scores of samples: some were too Mango and not enough Mystique; some had too much Mystique and not quite enough Mango. But finally, we found “the one.” We love it and we’re sure you will, too.

Be sure to get your share of the new Mango Mystique F-ONE refills by ordering today! They’ll be packed and shipped and in your hands before you can say “mystique.”

I am trying to imagine how it came to this for this young diplomat: maybe he worked his way up from paper clips and sticky notes, then perhaps just a few of those nice pens, and then finally it dawned on him, “I sure could use some toilet paper.” He says: “I’m not paid enough. I’m practically a volunteer…. How do they expect me to afford cable and toilet paper? Besides, it’s just a big rich company anyway; they can afford it.” Well, it’s not really a company, it’s a government! Sorry buddy, but it seems you ran out of excuses with that last one.

So how can town halls or companies deal with this kind of restroom pilferage? Good old fashioned lock and key, just like with all other valuables. I don’t mean a bank vault, I mean a lock and key commercial paper dispenser. Designed just for this kind of thieving activity, locked paper dispensers protect valuable toilet tissue from these costly would-be villains. And as well as these specialized dispensers work, I am personally still hoping for the addition of a feature that would record the thief’s failed attempt on video and post it on YouTube with the caption “Thief Has Tissue Issue.”

When David returned from his trip he shared our customer’s question with the team and I started to do some research. It turns out that our customer’s assumption wasn’t far off from the thinking of the general public in the United States.

In a recent survey, “nearly three-quarters of American consumers (74%) use antibacterial soap (56% use it regularly), finding it a very useful tool to prevent the spread of germs,” and “by an eight-to-one margin, consumers would rather have the choice to buy antibacterial soap over removing it from the market based on alleged health and environment concerns.” It seems that we Americans don’t like others telling us how we can or can’t wash our hands.

Despite wanting our Freedom of Choice, the survey also addressed some health and environmental concerns. It seems that there is a subset of the populace calling for the U.S. government “to ban the use of antibacterial agents in personal care products.”

Why would these groups want to ban antibacterial soap? Some fear that the more we as a society use antibacterial hand soap and other hand care products, the stronger germs become as they resist and evolve in response to the antibacterial agents. Evidence of this type of phenomenon is present in new types of staph infections that are resistant to the antibiotics we commonly use to fight them. Opponents of these worries, however, contend that there is no conclusive evidence that antibacterial agents specifically cause bacteria to become more resistant to antibiotics.

For both groups, it may be interesting to note that although some studies show that antibacterial agents can help reduce bacteria on hands, the FDA has asserted that certain antibacterial soaps offer no notable advantage over washing hands properly with regular soap and water, which involves lathering soap and scrubbing for at least 20 seconds.

Because the evidence appears somewhat inconclusive on this controversial topic, or in other words, because there is evidence to support either argument, we will leave it up to you to decide for yourself what type of soap to use. Perhaps more importantly, knowing about this controversy will keep you in touch with your customers if they are weighing these very issues when deciding what soap to buy.

In an effort to accommodate as many of our customers as possible, we have decided to offer both antibacterial products and general purpose soaps. And since the jury is still out on the subject, you will be able to make a reasonable defense of either product.

F-MATIC creates new website for greater customer accessibility

Lehi, UT — F-MATIC, Inc. has launched a new version of their company website. The website is updated in design and function and offers easy access to product and service information.

The new website comes after months of planning, designing, and editing to make the site design more modern, the organization more user-friendly, and the information more readily accessible to F-MATIC customers and potential customers alike.

One of the new, user-friendly elements of the website is the easy-to-navigate product categories with concise information on each product. Each product page has buttons that link to sales sheets for more detailed information, Material Safety Data Sheets for technical information, high resolution images of the products, instruction sheets, and an easy “share” button to share information about F-MATIC products through social media networks. In the near future, also included among these buttons will be one for related videos on the products and their installation.

Other features of the new website include an easy login for online ordering, which can save customers time and money in the ordering process and help ensure order accuracy. Viewers can also read the company’s blog, news and information articles, and keep current on promotions or specials.

“We’re very excited to get our new website into the hands of our customers and potential customers,” says David Bernstein, COO. “The new and modern design reflects the direction our company has taken to make technology work for us and our customers. The easy to use and practical organization of information reflects the professional service we strive to offer. We look forward to any feedback our customers may have on how the new website has helped them get the information they need and saved them time and money.”

With its headquarters in the heart of Utah, F-MATIC has been in business since 1981, with the mission of providing broader and more effective solutions for odor control and restroom sanitation to the Textile Rental and Jan/San industries. For more information on how F-MATIC can work for you contact F-MATIC at 801.768.2000 or visit www.fmatic.com.