Happy Columbus Day.  Now, I don’t work for the Federal Government, a bank or for the Post Office , so Columbus Day is not a holiday for me.

As I woke this morning, I did my normal Monday morning routines which entails taking out the trash.  What came to mind first was “Today is Columbus Day, is this a holiday for my trash pickup service?”  I looked outside and found a couple of my neighbors had their trash and recycling out but a good number did not.  Instead of guessing I figured I could go online and find out.

I wonder how many people, businesses, associations, etc went online today to find out the same information?    This got me thinking…. so I started looking at different trash collection company websites to see how easy would be to find out the information I needed.  Some did an excellent job while others did not.

Here are Three Trash Collection Company Web Design Tips you can use for your business to help improve your customer’s experience.

1. Think like your customer and not like a Trash Collection Company

Your online presence is an important piece of your company reputation.  Trash Collection is a competitive industry that is constantly moving and battling challenges. It’s important for your customer’s to find the information they are looking for.  Think like your customer not like a Trash Collection Company.  Whether it’s Residential Trash, Business Waste, Medical Waste, etc, think like the customer that needs to get rid of their particular kind of waste.  Think of their need.  Put their need first and then figure out what is the solution that you provide to help them with their need.

What information are they looking for that is tying up your phone lines.   Ask your front office people, what kind of calls is your company getting on a regular basis that could have been easily solved if this information was readily available on your website?

What information will make it easier for them to business with you.  A big competitive advantage if you can answer this question.

2.  Make the information readily accessible on your website.   Don’t have confusing website navigation.

Make it easy for people to find what they are looking for.  “A confused mind does not buy.”

If you find that many of the calls you are getting are related to your Holiday Schedule,   What items do you pick up for Recycling and what do you not?   What items can be included in Heavy Trash Day?

Break out this information into separate pages or attachments that can be easily downloaded.  I’m not a big fan of FAQ pages because a lot of times the FAQ pages are questions the company thought their customers would like to know the answer to and not real questions.

Here are a few items I know my neighbors and I would like to know from our local Residential Trash Collector, I would bet that your customers are asking the same questions:

Holiday Schedule – what are your holiday hours for the major and minor holidays.

Recycle Items – what items do you accept or don’t accept through your recycle pick up.

Heavy Trash Day – what determines heavy trash, what items do you accept or don’t accept.  With this, include how you want it put out.

What days do you pick up in my specific neighborhood?  – This is great information for people who just moved into the neighborhood.

3.  Brand your attachments!  Brand everything!

Okay, so you take my advice and decide to have a Holiday Schedule that your current customers can download, save, print, forward to their neighbors, etc.   Now don’t forget to Brand It!   What I mean is put your Logo,Tag Line, Phone Number, Email Address, Website Address and any other company information on every document.  You would not believe the number of attachments that I download and print that does not have any company branding.   In a couple of days, your web visitor will forget where they got the printed document.  They will not remember that is was from you and that they got from visiting your website.  Make it easy for your customers and prospects to know where they got any material from your company.  Brand It.  Brand Everything!

By paying some attention to these tips, your trash collection website will  provide a better customer experience.

By the way, I found a Well- Branded Holiday Schedule from my local residential trash collection company on their website, so I took both my Recycling Bin and Trash out before I left this morning.