Restroom trailers continue to grow in popularity in our industry. These attractive and convenient products can be a wonderful — and profitable — addition to your product offerings. To further increase customer satisfaction, consider providing restroom trailer attendants as an option to enhance the event for the general public.
Question: Our company has just purchased our first two restroom trailers. We are planning to offer restroom trailer attendants as an option for our customers. What is your advice on establishing policies and procedures as well as training for this position?
Answer: Providing a restroom trailer attendant is a benefit to your customer and to your customer’s customers. Attendants play a crucial role in enhancing a special event by providing customer service, assistance, guidance, cleanliness, ensuring safety and preventing damage to the trailer.
Here are the basic responsibilities of attendants:
Maintain cleanliness and hygiene
Restroom trailers are quite an investment for the customer when compared to standard portable units. Having sinks, toilets, countertops, mirrors, door handles and other high-touch areas cleaned and disinfected on a continual basis is a huge benefit to the customer and enhances the end-user experience. Any spills, accidents or misuse of the facilities can be immediately cleaned and handled, thereby bringing the condition of the trailer back to its original sanitary condition.
Keep the supplies stocked
The attendant should use the storage area, found in most trailer models, for accessibility to extra supplies of toilet paper, paper towels and hand soap. Cleaning products such as disinfectants, air spray, deodorizer disks, etc., should also be kept in adequate supply. We have heard of cases where PROs will also keep several clean bath towels and washcloths as options for use in certain situations.
Monitoring usage levels
It is important to closely monitor the waste tank. If the tank begins to fill at a more rapid rate than anticipated based on crowd estimates and the number of hours left for the event, contact with an on-call route service driver can be made for a service visit thereby allowing the trailer to remain available for use. In instances where a constant water source is not available, the attendant should monitor the water storage tank as well. This is another instance where an on-site attendant can proactively avoid problems at the event.
Crowd management
A trip to the restroom takes attendees away from the event. Waiting in lines can often be irritating and annoying. Having an attendant to help monitor the lines and allow for the proper number of users inside the restroom trailer is an important requirement for this position. Being aware of how many people are inside the trailer is critical as users are not often aware of the number of stalls inside the restroom trailer. They will see one person ahead of them go inside and instinctively wait outside. In some instances, the person who entered ahead of them could be the only person in the trailer, leaving unoccupied stalls available.
Enhanced customer service
An attendant properly trained in handling customer inquiries and complaints is valuable to the success of the event. Attendees often have questions about using a restroom trailer — Is there a baby diaper changing station inside? How many stalls are there for use? Is there running water?
Other questions may pertain to the event itself and this is another opportunity to enhance the attendees’ experience. The attendant can share information concerning event hours, and the location of specific areas like a food court or an information booth, and act as another ambassador for the event.
Immediately handling customer complaints is another benefit to both your company and the event organizer. Training the attendant to be compassionate and as helpful as reasonably possible goes a long way in resolving issues. The fact that there is a person on site who can help to improve the situation is a major part of the solution.
Making minor repairs and adjustments
The attendant can adjust the thermostat, control the background music (if applicable), and make other modifications for the comfort of the users. Depending on the model and style of the trailer, changing a light bulb, or checking if a fuse in the fuse box is turned off or any number of minor issues can be resolved immediately.
Creating sales opportunities
Wearing a company uniform or logoed apparel advertises your company and can lead to future business opportunities. Some PROs have brochures and business cards that attendants can distribute as needed.
Don’t forget the training
The more familiar an attendant is with the restroom trailer itself, the more effective they can be in their job. Having the attendant present at both setup and takedown of the trailer is an excellent training opportunity. Further, being in the yard as the trailer is thoroughly cleaned and inspected makes the attendant more comfortable and effective in their position. As mentioned above, training in good customer service and conflict resolution is also highly recommended.
FINAL THOUGHTS
Restroom attendants are an excellent way of providing outstanding customer service to both your customer and their customers. Having the ability to maintain cleanliness and hygiene while being available to immediately handle any customer or mechanical issues that may arise cannot be understated. With proper training and experience, attendants are valuable additions to your product and service offerings.
