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Website User Experience Tips from a Vehicle Inspection Parking Lot

Written on . Posted in Blog.

If you keep your eyes open, you can see good (and bad) examples of customer experience management everywhere you go.

This morning I found an example of what to do at a local central Texas Sticker Stop store. Upon arriving on-site to get my car inspected for my Texas vehicle registration renewal, a series of questions immediately came to mind, such as: “Where should I park my car, front or back? And, once I park, should I pull straight up to the bay or should I choose a parking spot?” (After all, I wanted to get in and out in 10 minutes, as their sign promised I would!) No sooner did I start to wonder these things than I noticed a friendly sign ushering me to the back. Boom – question answered.

Then, once I had pulled around back, I saw several more user-friendly signs that took all the guess work out. I was directed as to where to park, where to enter the building . . . I even saw reminders about bringing my proof of insurance inside. Wow! All of the stuff I needed to get me in an out quickly.

I complimented the owner of the store?(Sticker Stop on US-183 in Leander) for his marketing savvy and went on my way – all in under 10 minutes. This guy gets it. His signage made both his life and my life a little bit easier. No-brainer. Yet most businesses just don’t take the time to do this – and customer experience suffers.

This is not only true for brick-and-mortar businesses – this is just as true for your website. Want to see how well you are doing? Ask a stranger to take a look at your site with a fresh site of eyes and ask them if it does these things:

  1. Tells the first-time visitor within 5 seconds what you offer/what you do, at least at a general level
  2. Tells ANY visitor (first-time or repeat) where to go next, within 10 seconds, based upon their current needs
  3. Includes helpful instructions that guide them on their path. This can include shortcut banners to popular pages, answers to commonly-asked questions, and a clear, unambiguous site menu structure.

Do this and you will at least be one step closer to being the kind of business communicator your customers and prospects wish every business was.

customer experience, website design