Recently my wife and I had the opportunity to spend some time at a Bed and Breakfast in the Lexington, Kentucky area. I had researched many (about 60) Bed and Breakfasts in the area, and I was quite pleased with the one that we had settled on. We ended up having a wonderful time. The Inn was beautiful, the hosts were gracious, and the food was delicious. It very well could not have happened, though. Why? Because of the Screen Door of Doom.
This screen door was not merely unattractive or uncooperative. This screen door crossed the line into sentient malevolence. You were afraid to turn your back to it because it might lash out at you. It wouldn't open. It wouldn't close, and it was noisy as all get out. If you were wise, you'd avoid it altogether. Only problem is, it's in front of the main entrance. Kind of hard to check in without having to cross paths with the beast. Now I know how the Three Billy Goats Gruff felt.
Now think what was going through our minds (and the minds of all of their customers)? “This is supposed to be an elegant Bed and Breakfast and the main entrance is a threat to life and limb. What is the rest of the experience going to be like?” If it wasn't for the fact that we had pulled in at 1am after being on the road for nine hours, we probably would have considered relocating to a different location. Fortunately, for us, it was late and we were tired, and we decided to stay. Turns out we had a wonderful time and we're hope to go back sometime.
How many of us have Screen Doors of Doom on our businesses? They can scare potential customers away because we give the impression that we can't do what we claim to do. Before we ever get a chance to try to sell to them, they've already made preconceived notions based on their expectations. Now I'm not saying that people expect and will only accept perfection, but we do need to look at ourselves from the other side of the transaction.
We need to look at our appearance and branding, but we also need to make sure that we're doing for ourselves what we do for our customers. It's easy to use the excuse “The cobbler's kids are always barefoot” but it will backfire on us and damage our brand that we are striving so hard to create.
Step back and review what people see about you. Check your business cards, web site, signs, marketing material, work areas, clothing, bathrooms... and screen doors. Look closely at what people see and ask yourself: “Would I do business with myself.” We need to make it as easy as possible for people to form positive opinions about ourselves and our businesses. Get rid of or fix anything that is going to impede your potential customers from dealing with you.
Have you found any “Screen Doors of Doom” in your business. Help the rest of us find our own Screen “Doors of Doom” by sharing what you've discovered and how you rectified it.
Oh, and for the record, I bartered a night's stay and installed a new screen door for the Bed and Breakfast. (Yeah, it bothered me that much!)
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