Top 5 Ways to Make Your Parking Lot Better for Guests in 2023

The new year is here, and with it comes opportunities to improve your business. While you and your staff work on ways to serve customers better, we would like to encourage you to consider your parking lot. Making your lot better for guests could go a long way toward improving how customers view your business.

As we have said in previous blog posts, the parking lot is often the first thing guests take notice of when visiting a property. Driving through the lot and finding a parking space influences a guest’s first impression. If that first impression is not as positive as it should be, there is room for improvement.

Here are the top five ways you can make your parking lot better for guests in 2023:

1. Get Those Repairs Done

A parking lot with cracked pavement and potholes does not give guests a particularly good first impression. If the potholes are serious enough, they can create a rather negative impression. People don’t like potholes. They do not like imagining the damage potholes do.

Make parking lot repairs a priority this year. Whether your lot is asphalt or concrete, get those potholes filled and the cracks sealed. The sooner you do so, the less likely the damage will get any worse. Your guests will appreciate it.

2. Have the Lot Restriped

Believe it or not, striping makes an impression on your guests too. Parking lot striping designates where your guests can and cannot park. It helps guests navigate by defining traffic flow, exits and entrances, pedestrian walkways, etc.

Faded striping makes it harder for guests to figure out how to navigate your lot. But fresh and bright striping changes things. If the striping in your lot has started to fade, make this year the year you do something about it.

3. Upgrade the Signage

Striping is just one half of the parking lot navigation equation. The other half is signage. As experts in all things parking lots, we have worked on our fair share of lots that suffered from poor or nonexistent signage. That’s not good.

We recommend evaluating the signage on your property followed by making any necessary upgrades. Perhaps you have existing signs that have seen better days. Some of them are rusted while others are no longer standing straight. It is time to refurb or replace them.

If your lot doesn’t have adequate signage, investing in new signs will make a difference. At the very least, handicap parking spaces should have both signage and the appropriate pavement markings. Exit and entrance signs are also non-negotiable if your parking lot has a one-way traffic flow.

4. Keep It Clean

One often overlooked aspect of asphalt and concrete maintenance is keeping things clean. Like any other part of your property, keeping your parking lot clean will make it look better and help it last longer. Make regular cleaning a priority in 2023 – either in-house or by contracting the work out.

5. Analyze Traffic Flow

Last but not least, take some time to analyze how traffic flows through your parking lot. You may discover that your guests are already enjoying optimal flow on every visit. But you might also discover that there is room for improvement. The thing is that you will not know unless you make the effort to investigate.

Remember that your parking lot contributes to the impressions guests have of your business. If your lot isn’t up to the otherwise high standards your company maintains, do something about it. Make this year the year you get your parking lot back into shape.