Understanding the Visitor Journey
The visitor journey breaks down the major stages and interactions that a typical person would go through when visiting your organization. Highly successful businesses often make visual maps of this journey and aim to streamline each step as much as possible.
While we find ourselves currently reopening the office with new challenges, we have adapted our software to help you meet those challenges. We can help with a touchless visitor sign-in, prescreening questions, assistance with social distancing, and the option to operate with a reduced staff in the office. The visitor journey is a solid foundation to start with regardless of how close to normal we can operate the office, but check out our COVID Resource Center if you have questions specifically around new reopening measures.
Why Mapping the Visitor Journey Matters
The perception of a customer is essential in identifying potential points of failure or opportunity in a business’s operations. The practice of mapping the visitor journey out may seem trivial, but visitors are invaluable for their fresh feedback. Someone familiar with the ins and outs of the company may be blind to areas of improvement.
The touchpoints between the organization and the customer form the customer’s perception of the brand as a whole. Therefore, making sure that the touchpoints are effective is arguably the most important move for a company. If the brand perception is negative, the actual quality of the product or service no longer matters; customers will probably not move forward.
Steps in the Visitor Journey
The visitor journey will vary depending on the industry and specific company, but there are typically six stages:
1. Pre-Registration
In the pre-registration phase, visitors are scheduled for their meetings. For most modern businesses, pre-registering can be done online or over the phone. The pre-registration stage is not particularly demanding on the company’s side; the biggest requirements are the maintenance of scheduling software systems and organization of the meeting schedules.
2. Arrival
From the moment the guest enters the company perimeter, the arrival stage of the visitor journey begins. The arrival stage includes the first physical interaction with the organization, whether it be signage, parking, or physical accessibility to the building.
3. Check-In
The visitor check-in stage is where the first potential face-to-face interaction occurs. This stage is integral when it comes to workplace security because it is where the identity information of the visitor is recorded (or verified if the visitor has pre-registered.) If any documents need to be signed, that will occur at this check-in point as well. Businesses must follow compliance regulations but, at the same time, meet the visitors’ expectations of short wait time in a pleasant environment.
4. Meeting
Finally, the visitor has reached the purpose of the journey – the meeting point. If this stage has been preceded by positive interactions, the visitor already has a good impression of the organization. This could lead to a better overall meeting.
5. Check-Out
Once the meeting ends, the visitor checks out and leaves the property. This stage does not require much from the visitor beyond a check-out or, sometimes, simply walking out the door. The organization needs to be aware of who is on-premises and who has left, especially in an emergency. Tracking check-out in real-time, then, is imperative for the security purposes of the company.
6. Post-Meeting
The post-meeting interactions are often treated as unimportant but maintaining a line of communication with the visitor after the meeting can be extremely beneficial. If the experience went well, he or she is likely to return and may even be willing to complete a survey. If the experience did not go well, he or she is likely to tell a lot of friends about it. That could be potential clients out the window without even having a chance to speak to them. Clearing up any feedback post-meeting is a crucial opportunity to stop negative information from spreading.
How a Visitor Management System Enhances the Visitor Journey
A visitor management system, or VMS, can make a huge difference in how seamlessly the visitor journey flows from one stage to another. Upon pre-registering, the visitor receives an email with a QR code for them to use upon arrival. On the day of the meeting, the visitor checks in at the iPad kiosk using their QR code and signs any necessary documents, which are stored digitally on the system. The software takes the visitor’s photo, and they receive a badge to wear while in the building. Since the VMS sends an instant notification to the meeting host, long wait times are a thing of the past.
Not only does the clean and professional look of the branded kiosk in the lobby tie into your image, visitors feel welcomed and leave with a memorable connection between themselves and your company. Contact Veristream at 1-888-718-0807 or schedule a demo online to speak with our experts about what a visitor management system can do for you.