I don’t know about you, but when I want to find where a business is located, I go straight to Google Maps. It’s so easy to use and gives me everything I need. I don’t bother with the online White Pages at all these days, because I find it clunky in comparison. And as for the book, you need a magnifying glass to read it.
With Spring approaching, I decided it was time for not just a spring clean but also a spring makeover – starting with new curtains. I knew the names of a few local businesses and decided on one that a friend had told me did a beautiful job. I checked the address in Google Maps, got in the car and headed into town. Luckily I found a car park easily, fed the parking meter, walked around the corner but, instead of curtain fabrics, I found a café. Now I love coffee, but I hadn’t driven all the way into town for a coffee.
Having a smartphone I was easily able to search for the curtain store’s new location, which I discovered was now at the other end of town. Another search in Maps for curtain retailers and I found a reputable one not too far from where I was standing. This time I called, to confirm they were still at the address listed. The result is I now have beautiful new curtains, but the business I was going to use lost the sale. All because they hadn’t thought to update their Google Maps listing.
Now maybe you would have been more sensible than me and made a phone call before you left home. But many people today do just what I did, and in fact many start their research on the move, from their phones. Like me, they’re putting their search into Google Maps to find a business that’s conveniently located,
What if your business is in the right location, but you’re not listed, or listed at the wrong address?
Google is smart, but not so smart that it knows when you’ve moved locations, so you have to let the company know. It sounds easy to do but it can be quite a time consuming process. For example it’s recently taken us 4 weeks to get a business address updated. Try doing this yourself and it’s time that takes you away from the core work of running your business. But as my story demonstrates, it’s actually really important that your business shows the right address.
Right Place, Right Address
So when you’ve finished reading this, go to Google Maps and check your business details. 
Are you in the right location? Are your contact details correct? If not, talk to a company who do this sort of work regularly. Let them deal with the frustration and delays that can accompany working with a huge global organisation, while you carry on running your business. Whatever you do, make sure your business is listed at the right address. It might just be the thing that gets you the sale.