How Not to Lose a Guest in Less than 10 Minutes

My husband and I recently visited a well-known outdoor recreation retailer for the first time. The store is enormous, impressive, and meticulously themed, no matter what kind of outdoor pursuits you’re interested in. It feels like an attraction, and it’s obvious that a tremendous amount of thought and investment went into creating an environment people want to explore.

But despite how impressive the store was, I left thinking I probably won’t be back. Read on to learn what went wrong, and how you can safeguard your experience from costing you business.

No. 1: First Impressions Matter

The first interaction with a guest should set the tone for everything that follows, and unfortunately, the staff I encountered missed that opportunity almost immediately. Within seconds of walking through the doors, a team member approached us, not to welcome us, ask if it was our first visit, or find out what brought us into the store, but to pitch what she described as their club.

At first, I thought it was a loyalty program, which can be a great way to garner information on your guests, learn about their spending habits with you, and reward them for their loyalty. As the conversation continued, it became clear she was actually talking about applying for a store credit card, which is a hard no from me. There was no attempt to understand who we were, what we needed, or whether we had ever experienced the store before. This turned us off completely, and even though we went further into the store, my husband and I both commented about how off the interaction had seemed and how it made us unlikely to want to return. A simple greeting, a question about what brought us in, or even a quick recommendation about something we shouldn’t miss would have completely changed the tone of the experience.

No. 2: High-Pressure Sales Tactics Are Risky

There is absolutely nothing wrong with them offering a store credit card. The mistake is making it the very first thing a guest experiences before you’ve given them any reason to trust your brand. A loyalty program is a low-commitment invitation to continue a relationship. It gives guests value through rewards, offers, and personalized communication while giving the business permission to stay connected. A credit card is a financial commitment, and that’s a much bigger ask.

In your venue, you could potentially make this mistake by trying to push a high-dollar membership too soon without getting to know your guests a little more. If a guest approaches and you immediately push something, it can be off-putting. If, however, the business had taken time to learn about us, invited us to join a low-level club to receive some perks during our visit, they might have gotten us to sign up, thus giving them the chance to build a relationship.

No. 3: Team Members Should Watch for Signs

After our initial entrance, the staff largely went through their tasks without acknowledging us. We were searching for specific items and had to approach multiple team members to find them. No one approached us, and they were very heavily staffed. When you have a lot of people on shift, and they don’t engage with guests, it can be perceived even more negatively by your guests. Train staff how to spot first-time visitors, people who are confused, or those who are having issues with a game so they can proactively help them and make their experience better.

No.4: Keep a Tight Handle on Inventory and Upkeep

Unfortunately, the items we were looking for were out of stock with no restock date, and we were forced to order online from another supplier. Supply chain issues continue to plague brick-and-mortar businesses, so there will, of course, be times when you have to remove items from your menu, put games out of service, or run out of prize inventory. Sometimes that will be beyond your control. But if you don’t have a tight handle on your inventory and maintenance processes, it’s likely to happen more often than it should.

No. 5: Give Guests a Reason to Return

If I’d been able to complete my purchase, the checkout experience would have been a great opportunity to try and sell me on their club. If they had offered me a low-level loyalty program to join, I probably would have done it because I like to see new products related to activities I enjoy, so it would have given me a reason to return.

There were multiple opportunities for the team to salvage the relationship, even though I ultimately left empty-handed. If they had asked, “Would you like to receive special offers, be notified when products are back in stock, and hear about upcoming events?” I might have still opted in. The lesson here is that one interaction has the potential of making a difference with each and every guest.

Take a fresh look at your own guest journey this week and ask yourself a simple question: if you were visiting for the very first time, would you leave excited to come back?