Is Your Disgusting Floor Costing Sales?

Here’s a pic of a buzzing little bar at chucking out time. It’s called The Drop Of Wine, in Logroño, the biggest town of Spain’s Rioja region.

Like most places around there, a selection of delicious finger food is readily available at the bar. They had an amazing mini cup of a tomato stew among the more usual meat-on-bread pintxos.

I just couldn’t get over how horrible the place looked though.

The locals – and it is in every bar in every town – are happy to throw their used serviette on the deck after their snack. One pretty much for each bite in fact.

It just looks disgusting.

Now, I realise that a restaurateur ought not as a matter of etiquette sweep up whilst a diner is still in situ. But in a bar like this? Maybe they should.

It wound me up quite a bit. Especially as the owners seemed such a cool couple.

I couldn’t help thinking what you should do when a customer – or worse, a prospect – is making your work look just as shabby.

I think I would be compelled to make a move. I’d say, ‘hold up a mo’, I just gotta sweep up around us here and make things feel nice and tidy again’.

This goes well beyond simply making your prospect demo space spick and span.

If that presentation isn’t tailored enough, if the buy-in from on high seems slightly unsecured, if the budget string remains tightly knotted, then have no hesitation in cleaning the dirty napkins from the floor.

..and to prove the malaise afflicts too many a floor there…