I have a challenge for you... tomorrow morning before you go to work I want you to pretend you’re a customer visiting your location for... you guessed it - the first time!
Start this process even before you leave your house. Google your business name to find the address and directions to your location. Use the SatNav in your car or on your phone to direct you on your journey.
As you draw close to the destination is the entrance to your premises clearly marked? Can the signage or building number be viewed from a distance whilst approaching in your car? Did the SatNav take you the best way? Try and be aware of all these things.
Once at the premises is easy to find a car park? If there was offsite parking were you aware of this from the Google listing or from the on-site signage?
Once you get out of your car is it clear where you should go? Is the Reception or Customer Entry clearly marked? Is it inviting?
When you enter the building how does it make you feel? Warm, lively, interesting, professional…?
If you have a reception area or waiting room do your customers spend much time in this space? If so, what can they see, here and feel? Is there any marketing material for them to read? If so, is the content doing your business any favour?
This may not be specific to all businesses but... where are the toilets? Are they easy to find? Do they have signs?
After being in the premise for a little bit do you have a good understanding of everything the Business does? What about the Core Services? Based on face value would you recommend this place to a friend or colleague?
Going somewhere for the first time can be a little scary and sometimes even cause a bit of anxiety. You want to make this process as simple and welcoming for your customers as possible.
You can start with your Google listing, if your premises is hard to find be a little more descriptive on your contact us page. If the SatNav took you in the wrong direction let people know it may not be their most efficient solution. If you have off-street parking in a hard to park area - tell your customers! It will make their experience much easier. Are there any landmarks in the neighbouring properties or on the street that you could use to help describe the position of your location?
Your entrance, reception area, waiting room, in fact, anywhere your customer may go at your premises should be screaming your brand message in the voice and tone of your brand. This doesn’t mean you’re necessarily selling at them everywhere they look but more that your brand has a personality and style that’s consistent throughout. This can be reflected in the colour palette used to paint the walls, the furniture choices, the way the phone is answered and the tone of voice used, you see, your brand is everywhere, it’s everything… the biggest misconception around brand is that it’s your logo - it’s not! The real question here is how do you want to be perceived? And are you living up to their (and your) standards?
It can be a scary, eye-opening experience when you mystery shop through a first time customers eyes… It truly is amazing what you don’t see when you show up to the same place every day.
At Sign network we offer brand audit service where we basically do all of the above steps as well as check over the rest of your marketing collateral from your Website and Social Media pages right through to your Printing and Signage. We check for consistency not just in fonts, colours and layout but also in the tone of the message, the strength of the brand and penetration or effect it has on your target market.
At this stage we only offer this service to our Christchurch clients that are looking to improve or would like some ideas. The service is free and comes with no obligation - because of this we only offer limited spaces per month.
If you’d like to secure a spot email hello@signnetwork.co.nz with the subject line “brand audit”.
Happy Shopping :)