One of our readers had a question after our last post about store signs. “Should your phone number be put on your storefront sign?” This is good question because 20 years ago, everyone had their phone number on their sign.
This question made me curious about what businesses are doing with their signs, so I took a drive around Fredericton and discovered that some business signs are good and some are really, really ineffective.
What do you want your sign to do for you? If you want it to just identify your business, then the rule of thumb is to keep it as simple as possible with your logo and tagline if you have one. You don’t need much more information than that. Each morning, I drive by a business on my way to work, their sign has a phone number, email address, website address, a list of service offerings and street address. Don’t ask me what the name of the business is, it’s not clear.
So back to the original question: Should your phone number be on your sign? The answer is NO. If someone passing by your business is interested, they will drop in. If they are in a hurry or you are closed, they will Google your business and get your phone number, hours of operation, website address, and anything thing they need to know.