Tell Your Visitors Clearly Where to Go – They’ll Thank You

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Last week I visited Sea World for the first time.

That sounds kinda normal, but it’s actually a little bit strange, seeing that I’ve lived in Central Florida on and off for 32 years, and raised 5 kids here . . .

Well, the day turned out to be a little more interesting than we had planned, reminding me of a powerful lesson for my business.

I’ve been to all the Disney parks, and both the Universal parks, dozens of times. Maybe hundreds. I’m very familiar with their layouts, what’s there, and how to plan what I do to make the most of my time while I’m there.

Sea World? Not so much.

My daughter-in-law decided it was time for me to visit the park she loves taking her toddler twins to, and I didn’t do anything to prepare. Didn’t go online to look at park maps, or even to see what they offered. All I knew was they had some roller coasters, which I wasn’t going on, and they used to have Shamu.

On arrival, instead of kiosks with paper park maps I expected to see, there were signs telling visitors to scan the QR code to download the maps and show schedules to their phones. Since I had my daughter-in-law as guide, I didn’t bother.

She led me to the first group of attractions she thought I’d like, and we browsed among the sting rays and admired the dolphins’ antics. It was a lovely day – warm but not too warm, with sunshine, blue skies, and fluffy white clouds.

Then came the big OOPS!

Her phone pinged, and suddenly she was frowning. One of the kids (they were both in preschool that day so she and I were enjoying an adults-only time) was sick, so she needed to go pick him up.

I prepared to leave with her, but she persuaded me to stay and enjoy a few more hours in the park. She made it very clear she’d be upset otherwise.

So she set off for the parking lot, and I stayed behind.

Only now I was lost. I didn’t have my guide, I didn’t have a map, and I had no idea what I was doing.

Have you ever felt like that, in business or in life? Yeah, it’s unpleasant, to say the least.

A Map – At Last!

After wandering around for a bit I found a large-scale park map on the side of a building. It was helpful, but not much. For one thing, there was no little “you are here” icon so it took me several minutes to locate myself on that map.

They could easily have included the magic QR code on it, but they didn’t. And when I went to the Sea World website on my phone, I couldn’t find a park map. (Big mistake, Sea World. . .)

Then I had to scope out what I wanted to see, and figure out how to get there on my own.

As I walked around more, consulting the occasional map that I came across, I became more comfortable and confident that I could find what I wanted, and started enjoying myself again.

There’s a Lesson in This. . .

This morning, while I sipped my bulletproof coffee, I started thinking about this little Sea World adventure in terms of my business.

Have there ever been times when I’ve promised a certain experience, then left people to flounder on their own in the middle of it? I sincerely hope not, but maybe. . .

Have I mapped the journey clearly enough that readers can follow it on their own? Do I have enough signposts on the way?

What’s the ultimate goal — for the visitor, and for my business?

And I have to admit (and this is wicked hard to do!) that I’ve fallen short. So I’d love to hear from you — where are you on your Anywhereist journey, and what kinds of signposts and maps and guidance would be most helpful to you along the way?

I’ve created a short survey I’d love it if you’d take 2-3 minutes to fill it out.

Tips & Tools

Start your customers off right with a good onboarding process

Your onboarding process is the equivalent of that missing park map and show schedule I mentioned above.

John Goodman and Jason Beinhacker claim that:

“Based on our assessments of over 200 organizations in the past five years, customer onboarding is the most poorly performed function in most companies.”

Their article makes for dry reading, but it’s worth wading through.

Read: 6 Steps to Successful Customer Onboarding, a Critical CX Activity that Most Companies Fail 

Here’s a more interesting read, and good synopsis of what onboarding is, why you need it, and how to put it together.

Read: How to Create a Kickass Onboarding Process 

Be aware of these trends for 2021

IoT, Cloud services, augmented reality, big data — unless you’ve slept through the pandemic you’ve probably been hearing about them.

Along with growing concerns about privacy, 5G, this article summarizes what they are and why they’re likely important to your business and/or personal life in 2021 and beyond.

Read: Tech Trends Set to Reshape Business in 2021

More countries welcoming remote workers – here are 17

The number of countries putting out the welcome mat for remote workers is growing. Here’s a list of 17, ranging from dirt-cheap to pretty pricey, from tropical to temperate to downright chilly.

In other words, something for everyone.

Read: 17 Destinations Welcoming Remote Workers

In Case You Missed It. . .

I just listened again to one of our old podcast episodes, and I have to say, damn, we were good. . . 

In this episode, co-host Kitty Navias and I discussed the most important ingredients for choosing and implementing a successful — and satisfying — portable career.

Read and Listen: How to Choose a Remarkable Portable Career

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