Customer Rules and Signage

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Signage is a tool for changing behaviour, not a decoration for the door. A notice that asks for three things in long sentences, taped above the till, is read by almost nobody. A short line placed exactly where the decision is made is followed far more often. This guide covers what to say, where to put it, how to word it, and how to keep it current.

Decide what actually matters

Choose no more than three things for a single notice. For a shop or cafe those are often hand hygiene on entry, staying away when unwell, and a little care with close conversation. Everything else is a distraction. If more must be said, split it across notices and give each one a single job.

Rank by whether the customer can actually do it. A rule nobody can follow, or that is already normal, wastes the space. Ask which behaviour you would most like to change this month, and build the notice around that. Review it when the answer changes.

Put the notice where the decision happens

Placement matters more than wording. If you want hands cleaned on entry, put the notice directly above the sanitiser. If you want unwell customers to stay away, put it on the outside of the door, before they come in, not at the till after they have queued. A notice beside a seat asking for care with close conversation works because it appears at the moment it applies.

Avoid the common mistake of grouping every message at the counter. People look at the counter when they pay, not when they decide how to behave. Walk the route a customer takes and put each message at the point it becomes relevant. Keep the notice at eye level and make sure nothing blocks it.

Write actions, not appeals

End the sentence with something the reader can picture doing. "Please sanitise your hands before you enter" tells a person what to do. "Please help us keep everyone safe" does not. Use short sentences and everyday words. Avoid jargon and long compound nouns, which are easy to skim past.

Keep a courteous tone without losing precision. A request phrased as an instruction to act reads as helpful; a vague request reads as optional. Where a rule is genuinely required, say so plainly rather than softening it into something nobody notices.

Make it readable at a distance

Check the type size, the line spacing and the contrast between text and background. Pale text on a busy photo disappears. Decorative fonts are hard to read from a few steps away. Test by standing where the customer will stand and reading the notice without leaning in. If it fails that test, it fails.

Keep the design plain. A clear heading, two or three short lines and a small symbol do more than an elaborate layout. Consistency across the notices helps too: if they share a look, customers learn to read them quickly.

Handle more than one language

Where many customers read a language other than the local one, add a short translation of the key line rather than the whole notice. A crowded notice in four languages is read in none. Simple wording in the main language, with one line in a second language, often carries the message further. Public information services in many countries publish ready-made multi-language material that can be adapted.

Update and remove on time

Old notices teach customers to ignore new ones. Put a small date on each notice so you can see how current it is, and set a day to review them. When a rule changes, take the old notice down rather than leaving it beside the new one. Two notices that disagree are worse than none.

Brief the staff to explain it

A notice works best when the staff can say the same thing out loud. Run through the wording at a team meeting so everyone gives the same answer to the same question. When a customer asks why, a short honest reply is more persuasive than any sign. Staff who understand the reason behind a request are also more likely to follow it themselves.

Signs that get ignored

Most notices that fail do so for one of four reasons. They ask for too much at once. They are placed where the decision has already been made. They are written as a general appeal instead of a specific action. Or they are out of date, so regular customers have learned to walk past them. Fixing any one of these usually improves the notice, and fixing all four makes it work.

A useful test is to ask a colleague who has not seen the notice to read it once and then say what they would do. If they cannot repeat the action, the wording is too vague. If they can, the notice is ready to go up.

One message per place

Where several messages compete for the same spot, none of them lands. Give each place a single job: the door asks for hand hygiene, the counter asks for patience with queues, the seat asks for care with close conversation. When a new message is needed, find a new place for it rather than crowding an existing notice. Spreading the messages along the customer's route means each one arrives when it is relevant.

Start with one notice

Pick the single behaviour you most want to change, write it as one action in one short sentence, and place it where the decision is made. Date it, and look at it again next month. One notice that works is worth more than a wall of notices that are never read.