BES Xtras Plus

First impressions are crucial to your center. While you can’t stop people from making a snap decision on your center – you CAN understand how to make good first impressions with your customers.

First impressions are heavily influenced by nonverbal signs. Studies have shown that nonverbal signs have four times more impact than verbal signs.

Staff nonverbal signs play a big role in creating a positive first impression.

Below are a few things your staff can do to show positive nonverbal signs:

• Exhibit a positive attitude
• Stand tall, with shoulders back and head held high which are all signs of confidence and competence.
• Smile! A smile is like a welcome sign that says, “I’m friendly and want to help.”
• Make eye contact. Making eye contact indicates interest. Bad at this? Try making a point to notice each customer’s eye color.

Just as staff can show nonverbal signs to create a positive first impression, so can your center.

• Curb appeal. Remember, the first impression can be spoiled by simply entering the parking lot.   Don’t let the customer get the wrong idea of your center by having a parking lot filled with trash or filled with potholes or landscaping that needs attention.
• Make sure the center is always clean and orderly. Every customer should get the same experience as the first customer of the day.
• Do a daily walk through of the center to make sure nothing is in need of repair.
• Upbeat music can set a fun tone and should be tailored to the type of customer at the time. For example, play Mom approved music that is not too loud during family open play times. This will definitely make a good impression with Mom!
• Your nose, knows! It is important that the center always has a clean, fresh smell and NOT the smell of rental shoes or smoke…those days are long gone!
• Professional looking marketing material to include animated and static ads and other BES X marketing kit material showcasing the wonderful experience that awaits the customer. Marketing Kits are available for download from Conqueror>Utilities.
• A signature welcome screen for your event, letting them know you are prepared and ready to host their event. If you are not utilizing BES X Signature Welcome Screens, don’t miss this valuable feature that will blow your customer away. Welcome Screen can be customized with two lines of text and a 1280 pixels X 720 pixels photo.   Download the Signature Welcome Screen White Paper and start making a great first impression with ALL your events.
• LED Color Effects provides a sophisticated way to help the customers find their way to the lane AND creates a fabulous effect in the center by providing a choice of over 16 million colors that are displayed on the pedestals and surrounding floor.

Many times customers feel compelled to share their first impressions on social media, which is amazing free advertising if that impression is a positive one. However, remember that a bad first impression can often go viral in a matter of minutes causing lasting damage to the center’s reputation.  Creating a great first impression doesn’t cost you anything except being aware of the things that matter to your customers.   Pretend YOU are the customer…what is YOUR first impression of your center?  What do you see?  Don’t wait until someone brings something to your attention…most times that is too late and the damage has already been done.

Have a great weekend!

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