WorldExecutivesDigest.com | Making Your Business Appeal to Footfall Traffic | These days, much of the world’s business is handled online, whether it’s paying your bills via the local council website, purchasing gifts from the many online marketplaces or simply networking with other likeminded business owners. Nowadays, brick and mortar stores, restaurants and centres need to carefully consider how they are going to attract the attention of their potential customers and encourage them into the building.
Luckily, for new businesses owners or business owners wanting to undertake a refresh, there are plenty of options available from eye-catching window offers and sale posters to making use of the forecourt area. Read on for further inspiration into making your business approachable.
First Impressions Are Still Important
When a potential customer approaches your business, the first thing they are going to see is your window display, store front or forecourt and it’s important to keep these areas tidy and well-maintained throughout the year. If you keep flower displays, ensure these are regularly tidied and deadheaded and repot fresh plants and flowers when the previous ones are starting to look tired or dying off. Facias, outdoor furniture and structures should get regular paint touch ups to prevent the building looking old or run down and windows should be kept pristine, rather than messy and smudged with fingerprints.
Either you or a staff member should step outside every day and consider how your business looks to someone that has never seen it before. Evaluate the quality of windowsills, doors and doorframes and have a task list of things that could do with daily, weekly or monthly attention to keep your property looking friendly.
Keep Staff Busy but Not with Tedious Tasks
There’s nothing more off putting than going to walk into a store and seeing the staff looking bored or uninterested. Keep your customers intrigued by ensuring staff have plenty to do, whether it’s tidying and maintaining the store, showcasing and presenting different products or out and about on the street encouraging customers to visit with samples or offers. Talk to your staff about potential ideas for attracting customers so you aren’t trapped in a cycle of the same ideas and potentially explore options for additional staff training that can be extended to their role in the business.
Happy staff that feel heard are not only more loyal, but are more genuine in their selling and will often use their initiative and go above and beyond to help customers that come into the store or provide consistent, quality service to those in restaurants and cafes.
Implement Something Quirky That Supports Quality Customer Service
People can go crazy for an aspect of your business that offers something different to norm. Take for example colour-coded shopping baskets that indicate whether you would like in-store service or whether you prefer to shop unaided or mirrors in changing rooms that let you make use of ‘augmented reality’ technology so you can flip through various pieces of clothing available instore without having to hunt down your size on the racks. Not only are these great for getting people in the store but they are excellent talking points and regularly get shared across social media, encouraging more footfall and potential customers.
This can be extended to notifications that get pushed to smart devices when a new customer enters your store, welcoming them to your location and offering them a discount for shopping with you today. Be careful not to go overboard though and keep push notifications to only one or two when entering and browsing the store so not to annoy and put-off your customers.
These days, there is more to running a business than a simple ‘if you build it, they will come’ approach and you need to get inventive and innovative to stand out in a competitive market either through physical or digital strategies. Talk to your staff, existing customers and friends and family about the sort of things they’d like to be able to enjoy from a dining or shopping experience and consider how you can add these attractions to your own business.
