How to Make Factory Tours Better

Giving great guided tours can be challenging enough; putting live guides in factory tours settings increases this challenge.

Tour guides are guiding people of all ages from all backgrounds through a dynamic work environment.

Tour guides are alert, informative, and responsive to ensure that the workflow on the factory floor continues without disruption. Many factory environments have temperature extremes, odd, loud sounds or sights, and smells, creating a variety of distractions for visitors. These distractions make it challenging for tour guides to deliver exceptional experiences consistently.

If you’re looking to improve your factory tours, keep reading to learn how to take your guided tours to the next level.

1. Create a Consistent Path For Your Factory Tours

First, (and arguably most important), you should have a tour plan which includes the path or layout of your tour, as well as a well-written script. The pathway should minimize disruptions and maintain a safe viewing distance from employees and factory equipment. Marking this route will help tour guides and employees distinguish visitors on a busy factory floor. As well, create a gathering point plan for tour stops that do not impede work traffic and allow for proper visibility of larger tour groups.

2. Cover All Safety Items

At the beginning of your factory tours, have guides introduce themselves,  warmly greeting guests. Build a rapport with your visitors and ensure that your staff covers the essential occupational health and safety items, such as walking path, signage, required safety gear, emergency procedures, and any obstacles on the tour to avoid (we avoided forklifts and roaming robots in Kentucky).

3. Watch for Lagging Guests

When leading visitors’, be aware of people lagging behind who may be distracted by your foreign environment. Make sure everyone has arrived at the gathering point before speaking about your next Point of Interest.

Keep “fresh” eyes; things that may seem typical to you may be fascinating for visitors.

4. Survey Guest Experience at the End of Every Tour

At the end of the tour, ask guests if they enjoyed the experience. What was the best part of their visit? What is the one thing you can improve?

Gaining feedback from your visitors, good or bad, can have a high impact on reinforcing good habits while offering you the information needed to make your tours even better.

If people have constructive criticism, don’t take it personally. Use this information to your advantage by getting to work on it.