Opening hours that do not lose you customers

Of the corrections we make to listings in a month, the largest single group is opening hours. Not because owners lie, but because hours change faster than the four places they are written down: the door, the website, the search profile and the note on the counter.

Pick one place that is the truth

Choose the place you update first, and make everything else copy it. For most small businesses that is a single line in a phone calendar that repeats weekly, with exceptions entered as single events. If the calendar is wrong, everything downstream is wrong, and you can see it in one glance.

Write exceptions down before they happen

Bank holidays, stock-taking days, the week you take the children away: put them in as soon as they are decided, not the night before. A listing that says "closed 24-27 December" a month ahead saves you a dozen phone calls and a few annoyed visitors.

Say what the hours mean

"9-5" means four different things to four customers: when the door opens, when the phone is answered, when the workshop starts, when the last order is taken. If your last order is at 4:30, write 4:30.

Correct the directory, not only the site

Directories copy each other, and the old hours survive for years. When yours change, tell the two or three places that actually send you customers. A one-line message with the new hours and the date they start is enough; the reply box on a listing exists exactly for this.

If you run a business and want your hours corrected here, use the form on the contact page. We do not ask for proof, we ask for the date the change takes effect.