You know that wonderful smell that fills your hooter when you walk into the Bodyshop or Lush that unleashes a tidal wave of memories and a feeling of recognition?

Like me you probably thought that was the natural effervescence of the butternut squash moisturiser – turns out its just a box of smelly stuff stuck beside the air con. Companies do this because the next time you get a whiff you will remember it and draw positive associations with their brand. This subtle recognition breeds trust and ultimately more sales of those crazy exploding bath salts. Driving instructors can take advantage of this clever ploy by following our list of five handy tips.

Japanese companies regularly pump lavender fragrances into their office blocks during the mornings to keep staff calm and use citrus after lunch to keep productivity levels up. Why not try something slightly more subtle but equally pleasant and relaxing in your driving instruction vehicle? Your learners will appreciate the ambiance (which is good for your brand image) and you could have a more pleasant and certainly more fragrant working experience while giving your driving lessons.

Some of you will get a professional valet service each week for your instruction vehicle but these companies tend to use chemical cleaners and bottled scents – typically eau de nouvelle voiture. This scent comes from chemicals used in the hide treatment process of leather and even die hard fans of this synthesised fresia would admit that ‘new car smell’ does getting a little ‘old’ after a while. Equally the smelly trees get nasty on your nose and after your first few driving lessons of the day it will probably get binned.
Here are our top 5 tips to make your call smell better. Follow these for a If you have any great ideas add them in the comments below.

1.  Clean the inside of your car properly. This means; vacuum the seats and mats regularly, shampoo/steam clean out stains, afterwards use a light dusting of citrus de-scenting spray on the carpets and seats (never on plastic or leather). Use some non-waxing polish on the plastic to finish off. Don’t use things that are designed to make surfaces shiny. Nobody wants to be blinded by your dash.

2. Get rid of any long term bad smells using a cup of vinegar. Fill it up, stick it in the car (remembering to put it on a level surface) and leave it over night. For enduring smells leave it another night and take it out. This will suck the offensive smelling enzymes right out of the air.

3. Use the base of a used scented candle/a sheet of scented fabric softener/ a couple of drops of aromatherapy oil or even some nice smelling flowers under the front seats.  If you have to use the smelly trees stick them in the glove box or the boot. Hanging stuff from your mirrors in not a great habit to get into.

4. Still not smelling good or a persistent smell that won’t go away? Sometimes water in the intakes can condense and cause a scuzz to form on the inside of the vents and on your A/C unit. Air passing through here with attract all sorts of air pollutants and dust along with evaporating water then into your face. To remove this open all your windows and your hood then spray some water and highly diluted non chemical cleaner into the air intakes and the heat if it uses a different register. Then run the engine with the windows down to get rid of any residue from the cleaning process.

5. Keep a bottle of Febreez under one of the seats to spray on any spills or mess made after each driving lesson. You can’t be expect to do a full deep clean every evening but a bottle of emergency Febreez on hand can help out during busy periods of the day.

Fragrance is a powerful thing it is an excellent talking point for your pupils when they talk about their driving lessons, remember though – don’t go overboard on the strength of the smell! Your aiming for a subtle effect not the ‘SPRAY MORE GET MORE’ mantra.

Got your own top tips? Then let us know about them in the comments.

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