The
“Premises” category is one of the 5 P’s in The International Customer Service
Standard that The International Customer Service Institute offers to
organisations on a worldwide basis. Within that category is a section regarding
signage. I am sometimes asked both how Premises generally affect customer
service quality and specifically about the role of signs. Setting aside the
need to manage potential liability in a world ever becoming increasingly litigious from the all-pervading
influence of health and safety, the role of signs is to help customers optimise
the usefulness of their interface with the organisation. Good signs should communicate
to customers to either:-
Inform,
Direct,
Assist,
Persuade,
Propose,
Clarify or
Confirm
with
information that helps them have a satisfactory experience.
Seems simple
enough, or is it?
The
following examples may, in an amusing way, illustrate that not everyone gets it
right every time.
Good Direction?
Stupid but Honest
You Have Been Warned!
Refreshingly Different
The Last Word In Customer Choice?
The serious question to ask yourself when producing a sign for your customers is whether or not it clearly communicates what you want your customers to know.
So do all
the signs in your organisation make sense, if they don’t we would love to see
them before you change them.
Philip Forrest
