A Clean Shop is a Green Shop

We all know the place. A local business that offers a needed item at a convenient location, yet every time you visit something seems amiss. It could be defunct lighting, weeds in the parking lot, dusty and disorganized product offerings; could this be why they are only surviving, instead of thriving? In today’s market place it’s all about creating a customer experience and this should be applied to your business too, whether you are selling BBQ tank refills or custom outdoor kitchen designs. Providing your products and more importantly, the actual on-site experience in fun, attractive and clean settings is an important business practice that too often isn’t given enough consideration.

Now think of a few of your favorite spots. Why is that your preferred experience for buying the product or service? It could be the friendly staff, well-lit store, cool music always playing, or maybe the discount club card you get punched. Take these successful tactics back to your store. Next time you head into work, go past your store and look instead of just pulling in. As you come in the door, look at everything through the customer’s eyes. Work hard on this fresh perspective, it’s not easy. You stop in those places and think of all the things you WISH you could change, take those ideas and attack the things you CAN change in your own store or business.

The daily routine of a day’s work can truly create a blind eye to the simplest things that can hurt our customer’s perceptions. If your employee coffee station is visible to customers it should be clean and tidy, not a scene forensics could study. Better than that, move it out front and provide it to your interested customers. Use these changes to present your store and customer experience in a new exciting way, it could even have an impact on your daily routine and provide even more fresh perspective.

It’s up to you to set the stage for success. Have the mindset that your operation is For Sale because ultimately it is! It isn’t what you are selling but how you go about providing that good or service that defines your customer experience. An enhanced experience is much more likely to create repeat visits and solid referrals from now loyal customers. You may not have control over who comes through your doors, but the environment they encounter you do and it’s a very powerful sales tool, maximize it! Now stop reading this and go change that light-bulb already!!