by Carmen Gass

Shared from Jeff Toister of Toister Performance Solutions, Inc.:

It shouldn’t be hard to do business with your company. This week’s tip is
about making things easier for your customers.

Make Directions Easy to Follow

Many of us have to give driving directions to a customer or show customers
how to walk to a particular place within our store, restaurant, or hotel.
Here are two great ways to do that.

Driving Directions
Verbal directions can get confusing after three steps, so offer your
customers a map or set of written directions instead. This is very helpful
even if you have to draw a map or write down the turns on a piece of paper.
Make sure you provide some visual cues to help your customers know they are
on track, such as “You’ll see a gas station on the right. That’s Ash street –
turn right there.”

Walking Directions
Whenever possible, walk your customer to their destination yourself so they
won’t get lost and you can offer extra assistance. If you can’t do this, give
them clear, concise directions and visual cues just like you would if they
were driving. Write it down if it takes more than three steps so your
customer doesn’t get confused! Bonus Info: One challenge with verbal-only
directions is that information can quickly fade from our short-term memory. Take
this fun challenge (https://faculty.washington.edu/chudler/stm0.html) to see.