When a potential client visits your website or your place of business, what do you want them to do? Buy something, sign up for your mailing list, give you an order? Without a clear idea of what you want to happen, it isn’t easy to give a clear call to action.
Even when the desired outcome is clear to you, do your customers know exactly what you want them to do and how to do it? Ask yourself “If someone walks through my physical or virtual doors, are they guided along the marketing path I want for them?”
Silly question maybe. But the other day I went to Chucky Cheese with my family and wasn’t clear what to do there. It’s a restaurant, so we sit down and order food, right? Not so easy. It was a Saturday and the place was packed. Children and their parents at all of the activities. We expected that, I’d been there once before.
What I didn’t expect was the reserved sign on every empty table. There were eight of us and we were planning to buy food, drinks, and tokens for the games. After walking through the whole place a few times, we could not find an unreserved table. Was the place booked with birthday parties that hadn’t arrived yet? We asked one of the employees if there were any empty tables. “We’re really busy today” she responded. “You might find one near the back”.
After twenty minutes or more of trying to find a spot to sit, we decided to leave. After all, more people kept coming and there were no tables. Or so we thought.
Once back at home, we told the rest of the family that Chucky Cheese had been too crowded. Not one table without a reserved sign. That’s when my son told me what we should have done. Apparently, once you order your food, the reserved sign is removed from one of the tables and you are seated. I guess that keeps people who don’t order food from taking all the seats. Even though those same people are paying for game tokens.
Sorry Chucky Cheese, your call to action wasn’t very clear. If a hostess had mentioned the seating policy when she greeted us, it would have made a big difference. Or even when we left, if she’d asked whether we enjoyed our time. But now my experience has left me less than eager to visit again. Too bad, you missed out on a big order and we would have loved to be your customers.
Put yourself in your customer’s shoes and walk through the steps. How can you make sure there is a clear call to action?
Carol