Signs of Satisfaction!

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!

Frankly Bizarre

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