Painting Around Indiana’ Customers During the Holidays: How to Not Deter Shoppers

It is safe to say 2020 has been nothing like what any business owner would ever have expected. And now that the holiday season is rapidly approaching, all you want to do is try to recover as best you can from the economic challenges of the year to date.

But in order to do that, you also know your store needs to look its very best. And that is not what you see when you look around your building. You want your store or restaurant to inspire confidence and trust in your customers. To do that this holiday season, you really need to tend to that long-overdue repainting job you planned to do earlier this year.

How will you manage to schedule a complete interior repainting job without having to close your doors again? If this is the challenge keeping you up at night, then this is the article you need to read now.

These five tips will help you have your repainting job and keep racking up those sales, too.

Start By Reviewing Your Business Liability Insurance

If you want to keep your normal business hours while the commercial painters are on premises working, the first thing you need to do is ensure you have adequate liability insurance.

In other words, all the sales in the world won’t make up for even one slip-and-fall case that happens while you are having your business repainted.

Your insurance provider can let you know if any extra coverage is required to protect you and your company during your repainting job.

1. Be Sure Your Signage Is Clear

Once you have your business liability coverage sorted out, the next step is to plan out your painting job from start to finish.

Set the project dates. Talk with your commercial painter crew about the work flow so you know how your signage and staffing needs to change from one day to the next.

Identify which areas will be painted first and next and how the job will proceed from day to day. Remember to build in extra time for the paint to dry!

If you have historically had very slow sales during certain hours of the day, you may want to think about closing during those hours to get your painting job done faster.

Most importantly, consider how best to keep your customers and your contractors separated at all times. To do this, you will need signage, barriers and staff.

You will need three sets of signs: one set for telling your customers which areas are off limits, one set for telling your customers where they can park and enter, how to navigate through your store from entry to exit and one set for indicating alternate emergency exits. This last should include a picture diagram with the emergency exits clearly marked.

Prepare your signs in advance. If your customers speak more than one language, have signs made for multiple languages.

2. Plan Out How to Cordon Off the Daily Work Zones

You will need to use a variety of signs and materials to keep customers (especially kids) out of the work zones.

Safety cones, construction zone tape, modular gates and similar barriers will serve to make it clear which parts of your building are being repainted. When you are choosing the barriers, make sure they are as child-proof as possible since kids can often slip between or underneath barriers made for adults.

Designate a lockable, secure area where the painters can store their paints, materials and supplies at the end of each workday. You never want to leave paint, primer or supplies unattended while customers are on the premises.

Some customers may be more sensitive to odors from paint or cleaning supplies. So you may also want to consider adding extra air circulation or ventilation to air out your building and expedite the paint drying.

3. Try Your Best to Schedule Painting During Off-Peak Hours or After Hours

Unless you run a 24-hour business, you will probably want to schedule the biggest chunks of the painting to be done after hours. This way, the paint can dry overnight, and you can get more done in less time.

Smaller areas with less foot traffic can often be painted during your open hours. On slow sales days, you can even start preparing for the after-hours painting work before you have closed your doors for the day.

Consider adding extra on-site staff to monitor the work zone areas and re-route customers away from wet paint sites.

4. Keep All Tools, Supplies, Tarps and Other Materials Secured

Your commercial painters will need a variety of equipment, tools, materials and supplies to work quickly and effectively to complete your paint job.

Wherever possible, you will want to establish a minimum of an eight-foot perimeter between the start of the work area where the painters are painting and the start of the sales area where your customers are shopping.

This is for your customers’ safety and also for the safety of your business. Children in particular may be curious about ladders or paint brushes and want to investigate, especially if they get bored while their parents are browsing. You always want your staff to be on the lookout for young patrons who are headed in a direction they shouldn’t be going in!

It is vital to keep staff nearby to help with customer flow. Never assume that customers have seen and read the signs or that they have understood them. The best approach is to have staff right there to direct customers and answer questions as they come up.

5. Offer Your Best Customer Service Ever

If at all possible, consider offering online or phone orders with concierge curbside pickup while your Noble IN commercial interior painters are inside working.

If this does not fit with your products and services or your business model (such as if you have a restaurant), consider having white glove service inside your store. By adding extra staff, you can help customers quickly find the items they need and expedite checkout and departure.

You may also want to consider offering high-value extras or freebies to customers who shop with you while the painting is in progress. By going the extra mile to thank your customers for their patience, you can build goodwill that may lead to future sales.

Contact Dutchpopp Painting in Noble IN for Commercial Painting

Our professional, highly trained commercial interior painters can tackle even your toughest jobs to get your business ready for the holiday shopping season. Do you need help selecting the right colors and textures to entice your customers to linger and spend?

We use the latest cutting-edge application and finishing technology to get your job done quickly and right the first time. Dutchpopp offers safe, contactless invoicing and payment options and we are happy to work with your schedule to minimize business disruption. Give us a call or visit us online to schedule your free consultation.