Why Your Company Needs an Effective Tour Guide System

No matter what your company does, your main focus should definitely be the quality of your products/services. Be that as it may, you must not forget about your company’s presentation. For instance, when it comes to company tours, you should make sure that each one goes smoothly, leaving each visitor with a lasting good impression and overall positive opinion of your company.

To achieve that, you’ll need plenty of time, money, and effort. First of all, you must acquire top-of-the-line audio equipment for both the visitors and the staff members, preferably two-way communication headsets. Secondly, you must organize everything, manage the schedule, and hire/train the right people. 

Undoubtedly, tours are a lot of work. However, with a bit of help from others and once you get used to them, they aren’t such a hassle. Moreover, the investment will surely pay off in the long run.

In this post, we’ll explore the advantages of having a good tour guide system. But first, let’s look back at the importance of company tours in general.

Why Company Tours Still Matter Today

It seems as though the interest in factory tours has been slowly dwindling over the last decade. About twenty years ago, school children had such field trips on a regular basis. However, they are becoming less and less popular today, which comes as no surprise given the availability of all kinds of information online. 

Therefore, when the pandemic struck in 2020, company tours as we know them had to be put on hold indefinitely. In turn, virtual factory tours were born and they allowed people to get to know their favorite manufacturers from the comfort of their homes.

However, although it is a clever temporary solution, virtual tours will never be able to substitute the “real thing”. Nothing can compare to seeing the large machinery in person and indulging all of your senses. Thankfully, virtual tours most likely won’t need to substitute live tours. After all, the pandemic won’t last forever. In addition, if you abide by all the Covid safety restrictions, you can still successfully carry out your tours today.

What Makes a Good Tour Guide System?

While a megaphone might be effective in quieter environments, it’s totally useless in a plant with gigantic and loud machinery. Moreover, asking your visitors to download an app and bring their own headphones is an overly complicated and faulty method. And not just that — it’s often unfeasible due to the poor Wi-Fi signal in certain areas. 

If you want to ensure successful plant tours every time, your tour guide audio system should be based on radio communication and include headphones, microphones, transmitters, and receivers. Be it one-way or two-way communication equipment, it should be of the highest possible quality and comfortable for the wearer. In addition, make sure it has sufficient range, taking into account the type of terrain and any potential obstructions. 

The audio might be the most crucial aspect of your tours. However, you must not forget about the safety of your visitors. Make sure everyone receives the appropriate protection equipment, such as hardhats, safety glasses, and masks. 

3 Benefits of an Effective Tour Guide System

Here’s why you should invest in a proper tour guide system for your company:

1. It Facilitates Plant Tour Communication

With the right audio equipment system, you’ll ensure impeccable coordination between staff members and the tour guide. As a result, every step of the tour can go smoothly, without hold-ups and unpleasant surprises. 

Besides that, due to the noisy factory environment, the visitors will have a hard time hearing your story without any amplification. Thus, you should ensure that every visitor has a functioning headset and can hear the guide clearly. That way, they won’t miss out on any information and they can keep up with the rest of the group. 

The audio equipment could also help those who have damaged hearing, as it could allow them to hear the guide more clearly than they otherwise would. In addition, it could prove useful for those who don’t speak the language well or at all by enabling live/pre-recorded translations. 

What’s more, if you acquire a two-way communication system, tour visitors can become active participants instead of passive watchers. That way, you can also get direct feedback, which can be crucial in your company’s further improvement and growth.

2. It Makes You Seem Professional

Whoever it might be for — the executives, the investors, your competitors, or the customers/clients, a successful tour will surely impress them and boost your image. If all goes well and the visitors manage to learn a thing or two along the way, your company will seem professional, transparent about its inner workings, and trustworthy. 

On the other hand, if they’re forced to wear a bulky and uncomfortable headset or worse — listen to the unpleasantly loud machinery without being able to hear a single word from the guide, they will certainly be annoyed. In turn, that will damage your company’s reputation and make you seem careless. In that case, you can kiss any investments goodbye. 

3. It Can Also Be Used for Employee Training and Meetings

The audio equipment you purchase for tours can have other purposes, too. For instance, the headsets could come in handy for staff meetings, conference calls, safety protocols, employee training, new employee orientation, and many other activities. Therefore, it could be a lot more beneficial than you might think.

Also, a two-way communication system enables you to interact with other staff members, answer their queries, and make sure everyone understands every word you’re saying.