Donna Genie tells campground and retail owners to ditch handwritten signs and use professional printed ones with your logo and park name. Bad signage makes people think less of your place and won't pay what you're worth. Include your phone number with area code for emergencies.
Let's talk about one of my pet peeves for business owners, whether they be campgrounds or any retailer. I want to talk about signage. Let's make sure that you have professional looking signage and professional appearances from top to bottom. When I enter your park, I want to see a sign that says what your name is. I would also like to see a phone number there in case of emergencies or making sure that people can get in touch with you if your office is closed or can contact people in a normal fashion. Also make sure that your phone number lists your area code. I can't tell you how many times I've seen phone numbers listed on billboards that people have paid thousands of dollars for. I don't live there. I don't know your area code. An area code should be included in the phone number in every case now, so don't forget that little tidbit. And secondly, when we're talking about signage, make sure that all of your signs are professionally printed. If it's worth putting up a sign, it's worth buying a professionally printed sign. So these signs where I've walked into retailers and seen signs on the door that said that are handwritten. A lot of cases there are misspellings, sloppy writing, they just don't look professional. So make sure at an absolute minimum, if you need an emergency sign, print one with your printer. Make it look professional as it can be. And if a sign should be up and running for more than a day or two, have one professionally printed and use your logo on it so that it looks like it belongs in your park. It's not just an afterthought. Okay. Also, watch your signage in the tone of language that is on the sign. I can tell a lot about a park owner and their tone by looking at any kind of handwritten signs. For example, there was talk about a restroom situation, about people smoking near a restroom. If you're going to put up a sign about no smoking near a restroom, have it professionally done. Don't make a sign that says don't smoke here. It just looks tacky and it doesn't look professional. It does not exude the price that you want to charge for the rates on your park. So make sure that your signage within your park is professionally done so that you can charge a professional rate of your guests. If you are a cheap park that's looking just to make 10 bucks to keep the park alive, that's the place where I expect to see those handwritten signs. And honestly, they don't do a thing for me. I automatically downgrade a business. In any case, whether it's a park or any other retailer, when I see handwritten signs, and especially if there's misspellings or poor grammar, I can't tell you how horrible it looks to the general public when we see those kinds of signs. So make sure that you have professionally done signage all throughout your park so that you can support a great guest experience.
