Do you know how a stranger rates the directions you give to your establishment? Would-be visitors can go away from your site for all kinds of reasons, including that they couldn’t make your directions work, simply gave up, and went elsewhere. Make sure your guests find you easily and arrive relaxed and cheerful. This gives you a head start on marketing your establishment as a great place. Some ideas include:
- Take a copy of your directions and drive the recommended routes slowly. Look for any potentially misleading turns and adjust the directions accordingly.
- Check for any updates to the directions, particularly landmarks or signposts that have changed, disappeared or appeared.
- Be honest about the current state of the road and whether visitors need to slow down to avoid obstacles.
- Use distance if necessary to guide visitors. For instance, “after 4,5km turn right” rather than “turn right in four minutes”.
- Include approaches from all main starting points – in Durban and Cape Town, for example, avoid giving directions only from the airport and include the city centre or beaches as well.
- Include a panel giving directions in every communication you send to confirmed guests. This makes it more likely they will have a copy with them to refer to when they lose phone or internet signal, and the map app doesn’t work.
- SMS a welcome note on the day you expect a visitor to arrive and include a contact number in case they make a wrong turn.
