The signs that companies place in and around their stores say a lot about what it’s like to do business with them. Are they friendly and welcoming? Do they set reasonable expectations of the customer experience? Or are they unnecessarily full of rules and regulations?
Fast-food restaurants are a good microcosm of retail signage. Remembering that customer experience is defined as “the way a customer feels about every single interaction with a brand,” let’s look at three of the biggest chains and a sign spotted at each:
Wendy’s: “Quality service that doesn’t cut corners is our recipe.”
What’s great about this sign is that it tells the customer – before they even walk in – that the service at this restaurant is going to be great. No doubt the company is creating high expectations which it will need to at least meet if not exceed, but a company is not going to put that sign on the side of its building if it isn’t committed to creating a great experience.
Notice that Wendy’s doesn’t talk about its food on this sign (the company leaves that to its Twitter account), but rather how customers should feel when they are eating the food.
Subway: “We cannot provide any courtesy cups.”
This sign was spotted inside a Subway restaurant in New York City, and it is the first thing customers see upon entering the restaurant. How does that make you feel? First of all, the sign is technically incorrect – it’s not that they cannot provide any courtesy cups, it’s that they will not. But more than that, this sign communicates that the restaurant does not have the customer’s needs in mind. It is so focused on the bottom line that it is willing to degrade the customer experience just to save a few pennies.
If that’s the case with the cups, who knows where else it might be the case? Maybe there is less meat on the sandwich, or those tomatoes that should have been thrown out two days ago are still in the cooler. Maybe the bathrooms aren’t clean – or the sandwich maker’s hands – because the owner didn’t want to pay for hand soap. Grossed out yet? Is that how you want to feel when you’re getting ready to order your lunch?
McDonald’s: “Drink/Refill Rules”
Is it really necessary to have six different rules governing the refilling of soft drinks, all containing some variation of the word “no”? Does McDonald’s really have to threaten its customers with the line, “Violations will be considered theft and may be handled as the law allows”? This sign is not the least bit customer friendly, and remember that soft drinks are likely the single-most-profitable item on the menu.
Even if the problem of customers abusing free refills is real, there are much kinder and friendlier words that could be used to convey a similar message. For example: “One free refill per person, please.”
The winner of this battle, clearly, is Wendy’s. Signs like the ones at Subway and McDonald’s are just unnecessary. Even if we give the benefit of the doubt to the owner/operator of those restaurants and assume that there was a rational reason for creating signs prohibiting courtesy cups and refills, it is the wrong message to send to paying customers.
Treat your customers with respect and trust, and they will respect and trust you back.
(Excerpts taken from Winning at Social Customer Care: How Top Brands Create Engaging Experiences on Social Media, used with permission.)
