Time is of the Essence: Making Your Business Hours Known

Misleading business hours can lead to missing customers.

As a consumer, I’ve recently and frequently found myself in a very frustrating situation. As a night owl, I’ve been known to frequent McDonald’s late at night, often around 3 a.m. There are three McDonald’s in my area, two of which claim to be open 24 hours, according to their Google page.

Hungry and tired, I drive fifteen minutes to the closest all-night McDonald’s; the lights are on inside, the drive-thru speaker automatically plays a message about some weekly special, but after waiting for 10 minutes, I realize that there are no employees inside. There is no message printed anywhere apologizing for closing early, nor is there any visible indication that the store is closed, as all the lights are still on and none of the chairs are up on the tables.

I drove around the building looking for their hours posted somewhere outside but found nothing. Annoyed, I drive to the other McDonald’s that claims it will be open for another two hours.

I double-check the hours on Google, even triple-check them. But yet again, I find myself in the exact same situation- waiting in a drive-thru for an employee who will never come. This has now happened to me half a dozen times, traveling to a McDonald’s that claims to be open online and ending up wasting my time. While this may seem a little trivial and silly, I was so frustrated by throwing away nearly an hour of my time that I decided I would never visit these locations again, no matter the hour.

Initially, I believed that staffing or other emergencies necessitated an early closing of these businesses, but after experiencing the same thing several times at the same location, I realized that clearly, the business has just not updated their hours online. This shows a lack of respect for the customer’s time and as my experience proves, can result in lost business and revenue for your business.

Here are a few ways to ensure that your business hours are clear to your customers.

1. Update the hours on your business’s Google profile frequently. If your hours change seasonally, be sure to update as soon as your hours change. Be sure to update any other social media, like Facebook or Yelp. Most customers rely entirely on a business’s online presence to determine its open hours, so keeping all information online accurate is key.
2. If your business uses social media, post any deviation from your usual hours there to ensure that your customers can see it before traveling to your business. If you send out emails to your customers through a mailing list, consider sending one to advise of the change in schedule. If you have to close early on short notice, hopefully your customers will be advised in some way online before they leave their homes.
3. Post your regular and holiday hours clearly on your website. Google profiles do not usually show updated holiday hours, and patrons shouldn’t have to guess if your business is open. Upload a list of holidays (ex: Christmas, Thanksgiving, Easter, Memorial Day) that your business will consistently be closed yearly.
4. Post your business hours clearly on your storefront. This should be written at the entrance in large, legible font. If your business is closed, it should look closed; the lights should be off, and there should be an obvious “closed” sign to reduce confusion. A customer shouldn’t feel the need to try the door to figure out if the business is open or not, it should just be clear.
5. Record your business hours on your phone’s answering machine. Again, be sure to update this if your hours change. While most customers check online to see if a business is open, some people will call an establishment first, so covering all these bases will minimize frustrations.

Emergencies are unavoidable, and sometimes your business will have to close early for one reason or another. However, consistent deviations from a posted schedule can lead to frustration from your customers. I’ve read dozens of one-star Yelp and Google reviews from angry customers who tried to go to a business that was supposed to be open, but after driving significant distances, found it to be closed. Customers don’t like to feel like their time is being disrespected. These simple tips can help avoid frustrations and keep your business running smoothly.