As a business owner, it’s important to remember to put yourself in your customer’s shoes occasionally and not forget that experience is everything!
Approaching the end of 2023, people’s attention spans are becoming increasingly (and terrifyingly!) short. It’s estimated that approximately 40% of people will abandon a website if it takes more than 3 seconds to load. So with that in mind, it’s vital to remember that if people don’t get a great experience from any part of your business they will very quickly go elsewhere to spend their money.
There are so many touch points for a potential customer to check you out – Facebook page, Google profile, website, office voicemail, QR codes on leaflets… and if they’re met with out-of-date information then it can leave a bad first impression and find an alternative.
For example, if your office voicemail says the office is open until 5pm and yet rings out at 4pm with no option to leave a message, your customer will almost definitely take their money elsewhere!
Similarly, during COVID, a lot of businesses updated their website with notices about measures to keep their customers and staff safe and how delivery times would be longer, which of course now is no longer needed! It gives the impression you don’t update your website as well as using the pandemic as an excuse to give poor customer service. So check your websites opening times and pop-ups to ensure all those COVID 19 mentions are gone!
Also during 2019-2020 a lot of businesses updated their Facebook and Google pages to say ‘temporarily closed’ with mentions of home delivery or order online. If you rely on footfall to a showroom or shop then this could be devastating for you and your business! Ensure all your online presences are up to date and are a true reflection of opening times and the service your business provides.
As well as online check that you don’t still have notices around your shop or showroom about social distancing.
Also do a regular audit of your website – you could ask someone to move around it and give an honest opinion of how it feels as a user on the outside of your business. Do all the links work? Is there ‘News’ on your website that’s dated 3 years ago? How easy is it to find what they need? Be critical of your own online shop window and improvements will only make your business better.
If you print and deliver leaflets or hand out brochures/business cards is all the information still correct? If they include a QR codes that go to a website, make sure that page stays active AND has all the information on it that a potential customer might want. Ensure all the email addresses with staff names are still current. And if there’s an offer available, does it still apply?
And lastly if you have a physical premises don’t become blind to the approach that customers will see when they arrive. Is all signage up to date? Is it clear where they enter your office or showroom?
Checklist for your business:
✔ Website
✔ Google business profile
✔ Facebook business page
✔ Instagram business page
✔ Leaflets/brochures
✔ External signage