A useful place to start / 20-minute check
A customer-ready
checklist.
For your shop, café, studio or service in Ghent.
You've got a shop to open, a workshop to fill or a service you want more people to hear about. Before the next post or flyer, try following the route a customer will take.
Set aside 20 minutes. Use your phone, choose one thing you sell and start wherever you normally send people: your website, social profile or booking page. Keep a note of anything you have to explain out loud.
Check 01
Can I work out where and when to come?
Check the address, entrance and opening hours. For a Ghent studio inside another building, would a first-time visitor know which door to use? For a café, are the kitchen hours different from the opening hours? If you haven't opened yet, is that clear?
Compare your website with the profiles, signs and flyers you control. Mark any conflicting details. Don't guess missing accessibility information: check the actual entrance and describe it plainly.
Check 02
Can I choose without sending a basic question?
Pick one offer. Can you find what it includes, what it costs and anything the customer needs to bring or arrange?
For a workshop, that might mean the duration, materials and how finished work is collected. For a repair service, it might mean what happens after someone asks for a quote. Use the details of your own business.
If the answer needs a conversation, say what information you need to give a useful answer.
Check 03
Does the next step actually work?
Tap the button on your phone. Follow it all the way through using a clearly labelled test, without making a payment or taking a real appointment slot.
Can you read the fields, correct a mistake and finish? Does the button lead to the thing it promised? If it opens an email draft, is it clear that the customer still needs to send it?
Keep “request an appointment” and “appointment confirmed” distinct. The customer should know whether anything is booked yet.
Check 04
Does the message reach someone?
Check that your test arrives where you expect. Decide who answers and how you notice an unanswered enquiry. If you work alone, a simple daily inbox check may be enough.
Read the reply as a customer. Does it answer the question and explain what happens next? Give a response time only if you can keep it.
Check 05
Will the information stay right?
Write down where you publish hours, prices, booking links and collection details. When something changes, work through that list. Keep one checked reference for the current information.
Over the next week, tally repeat questions without recording customer details. See whether the question you addressed still comes up. That gives you a useful next conversation; it isn't proof of extra sales.
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