Give Your Visitor Experience its Greatest Show this Season

You’re in the business of making people happy and getting the basics right to support the main attraction can lead to the standing ovation you all deserve. The great news is that the basics don’t have to be boring and there’s no need to break the budget with the latest high-tech fad or by sending the team off for trapeze lessons. Here’s some tips and ideas to put the crowd-pleasing, feel-good factor into the routine elements of your visitor experience this season. Find out how to... Tackle the Heckler Add the Novelty Factor Become the Ringmaster of Queues The Big Top In out-of-home leisure and entertainment, the big top begins and ends where visitors arrive and leave the entire estate. That includes car parks, walkways and pavements which lead to the main entrance too. It’s widely cited that we form our first impression of another person within 7 seconds of meeting them. In fact, 55%* of that first impression is determined by visual cues so the extra 45% really does have to work very hard! The first impression is critical to shaping the visitor experience that follows and tackling those annoying, let’s call them ‘hecklers’, will definitely set their journey with you off on the right foot. Tackling the Heckler...Litter Just like hecklers, litter and overflowing bins are eye-catching and attention grabbing for all the wrong reasons. Personalise Your Litter Bins As well as ensuring your litter bins look smart, clean and well positioned around the estate, have you thought about adding a creative touch? Personalised Community Litter Bin It could be brightly coloured graphics, clear messaging or branding to attract attention and ensure litter is disposed of correctly without any excuses. Find out more about how to Personalise Your Litter Bins. And if you hear visitors ask "Have you got a bin?", look again at their placement. Are they located appropriately and are they obvious enough? A well-designed litter bin should work with and enhance its surroundings. If you find you are hiding them from view, it may be time to look at a new design that you will want to bring out of the wings. Take a look at some indoor and outdoor litter bin designs for inspiration. Add the Novelty Factor A great way of encouraging younger visitors to dispose of their litter in a responsible way, is with a cute, novelty character. Froggo Novelty Litter Bin Novelty litter bins are fun and attractive while also providing a helpful distraction where you might need it. Froggo™ is bound to catch the eye and raise a smile, even on the rainiest of days! Get more Novelty Litter Bin ideas here. Turn Your Litter into Gold More of us now expect to see separate bins to dispose of our single-use plastic bottles, cans and more when we are out and about. Electra Duo Recycling Station Providing highly visible recycling bins and recycling stations for different waste streams will definitely give you gold stars in the minds of your customers. Helping them to dispose of their recyclable waste responsibly will make them feel good and demonstrate that you care about the environment too. Save space with versatile and compact duo (Electra™ Duo pictured), trio and quad recycling bins and stations. Check out the Glasdon range of recycling bins for all budgets and waste streams including food waste. Need help with a waste audit? We offer free, no obligation advice and assistance, whereby a member of our team is available to visit you on site to help assess your requirements. Please request your free waste management audit here: uk.glasdon.com/waste-management-audit Arm Your #Litterheroes Every member of your team can be a litter hero and with this Keep Britain Tidy hashtag you and they can champion the campaign and spread the word too. Being a Litter Hero is more than just picking up litter. Your big top is a litter-free eco-friendly zone, so educate and remind visitors to look out for and use the litter and recycling bins. And then arm your team with the right tools like the Litta-Pikka™ and Skipper Multi-purpose Cleaning Trolley to visibly back up your litter-free mission. You're Going to Need a Bigger Bin If outdoor bins are filling up too fast and overflowing, especially in areas of high footfall, there are now solutions available which house up to 360 litre wheelie bins. Wheelie bin housings are designed to look like a standard litter bin but cleverly conceal the larger capacity wheelie bin, while making manual handling of larger quantities of waste much safer for your team. Become the Ringmaster of Queues Queues are sometimes unavoidable at peak times and so the way to keep your audience with you is to employ techniques which bring the waiting time into the customer journey. Illusionist Illusion and Distraction Disney are undoubtedly the forefathers of effective queue design, but even without a Disney budget and the space for hidden themed switchback queues, you can make your visitor waiting line a happier place to be. Can you move some of the welcome/ticket desk processes to be completed in a different location or while the customer waits? This will help to give them the impression that they are in the process and not actually waiting. Use TV screens or place activities along the way to provide entertainment and the opportunity to promote your offering. Provide free “Wi-Fi” access so they can easily fill any ‘empty time’ themselves. Maybe you could link it into your offering? Could they participate in a competition or other on their mobile while they wait? Advocate™ Poster Display Sign Connect through Empathy Reduce anxiety by providing clear and simple information about waiting times at the beginning and during the queue line. Under promise and over deliver by giving longer than expected waiting times, so their actual wait is shorter than they expected. Look out for visitors who may require further assistance or the use of accessible facilities and provide additional signage for comfort facilities. Your All-Star Cast The personal touch goes a long way and a smiling, helpful and naturally enthusiastic team are the key. Do you have a mascot or historical character linked to the attraction that can appear and provide photo opportunities to create a buzz and break the empty time? Can members of your team be on hand to introduce themselves and greet visitors? Build rapport by providing helpful information about the facilities that are available and any programme times or ‘star attractions’ that they recommend they should make time for during their visit. So here’s to your next blockbuster season and crowds of very happy customers too. Glasdon are here to help you make the best first impression. We design, manufacture and directly supply a wide range of litter and recycling bins, smoking control products, outdoor and indoor seating, water safety, grit bins and grit spreaders, road safety and bollards, GRP Kiosks and more. Visit Focus on Leisure for a selection of our products. Talk to us today on 01253 600410 or Live Chat with us on this website.

For more information on Give Your Visitor Experience its Greatest Show this Season talk to Glasdon UK Limited