Visitor experience guide

Welcoming visitors to a company is a critical step when setting the tone for the relationship. A positive first interaction can establish a solid foundation for a future partnership, while a negative encounter can permanently damage it. Strategizing the visitor experience allows you to get ahead of this problem, ensuring your guests feel comfortable and confident in your organization at all times.

While many companies put thought into the customer experience, they often spend less time considering their approach to visitors. This guide will explain every aspect of the visitor experience, including what it is, how to manage it, and what technologies can help optimize it.

What is the visitor experience? #

The term visitor experience refers to all the interactions a guest has with an organization, including both digital and physical contact. These moments inform the visitor’s perception of the business and often determine whether they form a more lasting relationship, such as becoming a customer, partner, employee, or service provider.

Components of the visitor experience #

The visitor experience encompasses every stage of the guest’s journey, beginning with their initial contact. These are some of the most significant elements:

• Pre-arrival: In some cases, the visitor interacts with the company before they arrive on-site, often via pre-registration or an introductory phone call or email.
• Arrival: When the visitor reaches your site, they form an immediate impression based on how welcoming and organized the environment feels.
• Navigation: Guests who enter your premises should be able to easily find where to sign in and get in touch with their host.
• Interactions with staff: Employees who treat visitors with respect and kindness rather than impatience will positively influence the overall perception of your brand.
• Access: Guests will also form opinions about your organization based on whether they face accessibility issues, including locked doors, long wait times, and unsafe surfaces, such as sidewalks and entryways.
• Comfort: Visitors judge their experience based on whether the space was comfortable, particularly in terms of lighting, temperature, and cleanliness.
• Security: Security solutions, such as access control and video surveillance, convey to the visitor that you value their safety.

Addressing all these parts of the visitor experience is essential to eliminating hurdles and gaining trust from your guests.

The importance of visitor experience management #

Organizations can oversee the entire visitor experience and prevent negative interactions through proper visitor management. It involves the policies, tools, and strategies you use to shape how guests perceive your brand.

Rather than leaving the visitor experience up to chance, you can guide them down a carefully designed path. This will improve their initial impression of your organization, make visitor processes more efficient, strengthen your security, and ultimately improve your relationships with clients, partners, stakeholders, and other guests.

Creating a visitor experience plan #

Visitor experience planning is an involved process that requires you to define and implement policies, technologies, and training. The final result should clearly identify what visitors should do, and how employees should assist them, at each stage.

Mapping visitor journeys #

Before you can write policies, procedures, and expectations for the visitor experience, you need to fully understand it. A visitor journey map is a visual representation of the steps guests take when interacting with your organization. Developing this map gives you a comprehensive picture of what actions they take and what responsibilities your employees have in supporting their experience.

When mapping the visitor journey, look not only at guests’ actions but also at how they will feel and what challenges they might face. For example, you can reasonably assume that long wait times are a potential obstacle during the check-in process or that guests might become confused when trying to complete an unfamiliar pre-registration process.

Recognizing these issues in advance allows you to take a proactive approach to resolving them. By identifying the areas you need to improve, you have an opportunity to find solutions and select appropriate tools before negative experiences have a long-term effect on your relationships with guests.

Choosing the right technology #

With your visitor journey map complete, you should have a better understanding of what technologies your organization needs. For many businesses, proper visitor management requires these solutions:

• Access control systems: With an access control system, you can provide visitors with pre-approved temporary credentials, track their entries and exits, and prevent them from entering restricted areas. Access control makes their experience more secure and efficient.
• Intercoms: An intercom system allows you to communicate with visitors before they enter the building. Many intercom systems have remote capabilities, so you can speak to people at the door even if you aren’t currently on site.
• Visitor management software: This software allows you to handle visitor sign-ins electronically with mobile devices or a check-in kiosk rather than using a paper sign-in sheet or log. You can also send host notifications, collect documents, and analyze visitor data.
• Digital signage: Digital signs give vital directions to visitors who are unfamiliar with your building layout. You can update these signs to display reminders, announcements, and emergency notifications.

As you select technologies for your visitor experience plan, keep in mind that integrated systems are typically the easiest and most effective. For instance, connecting your access control and visitor management solutions allows you to handle authorizations, badge printing, and visitor analytics from a central dashboard.

Visitor management that fits your needs

Enhance visitor experience, maintain a secure environment, and ensure compliance with seamless visitor management.

Preparing staff #

Your employees will interact directly with visitors, and they should have all the tools and solutions they need before each one arrives. Many organizations have adopted user-friendly visitor management systems, which assist employees with every aspect of the visitor experience. You may also need to ensure employees have physical supplies, such as logbooks and badges, so guest visits are as smooth as possible.

Training is equally important to your employees’ success when interacting with visitors. Make sure they know how to use any software involved in the experience. In addition, provide regular training in appropriate visitor interactions, emergency response procedures, and security protocols.

Maintaining consistency #

Treating visitors differently from one day to the next can tarnish your organization’s reputation and create distrust. As much as possible, every guest should have the same experience each time they visit your location. While you may have variations in specific processes, such as identity verification or document collection, the general process should remain the same for each visitor type.

To provide consistent, high-quality experiences for visitors, perform periodic reviews of processes and employee interactions. In addition, create and distribute clear policies and procedures. Be clear with all parties, and use pre-registration communication, signage, or website information to inform visitors of what they can expect when they arrive.

Inviting feedback #

You may need to update your visitor experience plan over time due to changing circumstances, complaints, or new regulations. Visitors and employees can both offer helpful insights into how you can improve your plan. Take their recommendations seriously and consider whether implementing the adjustments they suggest would enhance the visitor experience in your workplace.

Planning for different visitor types #

Although a general visitor experience plan is vital, creating a customized plan for certain visitor types can yield even better results. Some of the most common kinds of visitors include:

• Interviewees
• Clients
• Customers
• Delivery personnel
• Event attendees
• Family members or friends of employees
• Contractors
• Vendors
• Business partners

Certain elements of the experience may differ based on which of these visitors you’re expecting. To address these distinctions, determine which types of visitors most frequently come to your site and create an end-to-end plan for each one.

For example, companies often welcome interviewees differently than business partners, clients, or customers. Job candidates are often greeted with special recruiting or hiring teams. In other instances, you might have vendors use digital systems with self check-in capabilities when they arrive on-site. Business partners, on the other hand, might have to complete a non-disclosure agreement (NDA) and pre-register prior to their visit.

Tailoring your visitor experience may seem overwhelming, particularly if you see high levels of visitor traffic with many different kinds of guests. However, solutions like Kisi’s visitor access management can automate many of the specific steps for each visitor type. For instance, Kisi allows you to create different group workflows and require steps only for particular groups of visitors.

How to improve the visitor experience #

Modern technology, combined with time-tested tools, have made it easier to simplify the visitor experience, making it effortless for both employees and guests. Try these strategies to optimize the experience for your visitors:

• Clear signage: Signs should be specific and posted in obvious locations so guests don’t waste time wandering the halls. Use signs not only to direct visitors to your check-in location, but also to indicate where they can find employee offices and building exits.
• Mobile pre-check-in: A visitor management system with pre-registration options allows guests to enter their personal details before arriving. They can also sign documents, such as NDAs, and use a mobile app to check-in when they arrive, preventing long wait times and lines.
• Video intercom: A video intercom allows you to assess whether you want to grant access to a visitor. When paired with an access control system, you can speak to and see your guest and unlock the door while off-site or in a different part of the building.
• Visitor access QR codes or branded badges: If you know in advance a visitor will be coming to your location, you can issue a temporary QR code to streamline their entry process. When guests are on-site, branded badges make their identities clear and create consistent messaging for your organization.
• Meeting reminders: A missed meeting can upend an otherwise stable relationship. Use automated reminders to remind employees and guests of any upcoming appointments or events.
• Seamless host notifications: A visitor management system with automatic host notifications saves guests’ time and alleviates the workload for security personnel and receptionists. As soon as a visitor checks in, the host will receive an alert and can immediately proceed to greet them. 

When enhancing your visitor experience, remember to keep your guests’ specific pain points and the unique details of your building front of mind. For instance, if you know your business layout is confusing, take basic steps, such as adding directions to your pre-registration process, to prevent any unnecessary frustration.

Visitor experience policy checklist #

Creating a practical and cohesive approach to security is often challenging. This checklist will help ensure you don’t miss any crucial points when developing your policies and plans:

• What are your access rules to define restricted areas, identification requirements, and visitor escort procedures?
• Who can invite visitors to the site and under what circumstances employees are authorized to grant access to guests?
• Do you have visitor privacy policies outlining how you’ll collect, store, and protect visitor data to maintain compliance with privacy regulations?
• Do your check-in procedures list what documentation or identification visitors need to provide and whether pre-registration is required?
• How will hosts receive notifications when visitors arrive, and will you use an automated system or a manual message, announcement, or phone call?
• Are there certain individuals or groups who are not allowed on the premises, and do you have a list or database with names employees can easily reference?

When your visitor experience policies are complete, you should be able to easily answer these questions. However, you may need assistance throughout the process. The team at Kisi can help you navigate the complexities of the visitor experience. You can also learn more about Kisi’s visitor management tools, which support a smooth, secure, and modern experience from the moment a guest arrives until the end of your interactions.