I know it's old school, but I decided to go to an actual store this morning to buy a Christmas present. Busy day, so I decided to get there early. Called them up to find out when they opened. No one answered the phone. No recording with hours. No nothing. So I went on their website. Nothing about opening hours.
Brick and mortar retailers are in trouble. The online shopping experience is marked by greater selection, more convenience, and generally lower prices – a good recipe for success. If they're not going to be open 24/7, brick and mortar retailers should at least let us know when they will condescend to serve the ever-decreasing set of patrons they will have.
(By the way, when I did get into the store today, they did not have the item I was looking for. But they did offer to order it for me from their website and waive the shipping charges – provided I could live with a 5-7 day delivery time – 2 days before Christmas!!!)
Do you publish your opening hours?
As you're bringing new employees on board, do you tell them when you're going to be in the office, available by phone, text, email, etc? Why make them guess? The same question applies as you take over a new leadership role. You'll be evaluating your team members on several different dimensions. Focus on the important ones. How well they can guess your opening hours is not one of them.
