Juliana Lapitino, President and Creative Director of Kiddinaround.com and Childfriendlybusiness.com is an expert on child-safety and child-friendly customer service.  She works with businesses to help them find effective solutions for managing children in public settings.  

More than 6800 individuals recently responded to a nationwide survey conducted by Kiddinaround.com. The results indicated that more than 75% of consumers who have young children or grandchildren bring them along to shop for a vehicle or wait for auto repair service.  "This situation can become problematic for dealerships not prepared for this event.", says Juliana. 

"Sales professionals know that in order to be effective, they need to hold a buyer's attention for a period of time without interruptions. It's a focus that's difficult to acquire and maintain when restless children are running through the showroom.  Moreover, this kind of confusion is often disconcerting for the employees and for customers visiting the showroom without children, as well."

She shared a story about the experience a consumer had who was shopping for a new car with her three-year-old son at a dealership in Massachusetts.  While this mother was conferring with a member of the sales staff, her son slipped away with a stapler from the sales persons desk and was repeatedly stapling together the leaves of a elegant silk floral arrangement on a nearby table when he was discovered.  "Although this behavior can be humorous," Juliana explained, "it is also frustrating and can undermined a sale.  When their kids create too much confusion, parents might say they  will come back another day  without them, but too often, they never return."


Juliana explained that many  well-meaning business owners resort to purchasing a number of toys that they place in tubs or bins in designated areas in the showroom or in waiting rooms in their establishments to meet the need to keep kids busy. "However," Juliana said " toys ,in general, are an unwise and costly solution for a number of reasons, and they  tend to make business settings look unkempt.

She states that toys for the home are not designed to last in public settings and have to be replaced often.  "In addition," she said, "broken toys that result in sharp edges and small loose pieces pose a serious choking hazard for children under the age of three, "And business owners don't need this kind of liability," she adds.

" Furthermore, toys handled and mouthed by many children become unsanitary very quickly.  Time and time again, we hear from concerned parents about this very situation.  And It has been my experience, I am sorry to say, that most toys I have witnessed in dealerships and in other business settings are not clean or in good repair.  Here's how individuals responded to this issue in our survey,"

94.5% agreed with the statement: If there are dirty and broken toys in a public play area, I am inclined to keep my children away.

30% agreed with the statement: If there are dirty and broken toys in a public play area I would not go back there again.


And on a more promising note,

91.7% agreed with the statement: When a play area is clean and well-maintained, I have  positive  feelings about  that business and would be more likely to go back to that business again

"A growing number of dealerships are building separate play rooms to meet this need, but it is my opinion that they are completely missing the mark. "


"Not only are these play rooms a major financial investment, but they don't serve the purpose well and often don't serve the purpose at all for the benefit of customers with children or for the dealerships themselves."

 Juliana further explained, "We find that most of these play rooms continue to be furnished with much the same kinds of toys that are impractical and potentially dangerous, and that most of these play rooms are built apart from the showrooms--away from the arena of action for sales."

  "What I think business owners fail to realize is that as much as they would like to keep rambunctious children out of sight, parents will not often leave them in play rooms unattended--nor should auto dealers encourage this practice that could put them at risk for a lawsuit if something unforeseen were to happen.  Most parents will leave their children only in areas where they can view them readily at all times--which is one of the reasons Play Tables work so well and play rooms don't.   And the drawback for the play rooms that are used on occasions--whenever there are two or more adults accompanying a child and one is agreeable to waiting behind the scenes in an area that can be noisy and disruptive--is that they encourage visitors to stay too long.

 In addition, we have found that many parents are disapproving of TVs and video in public places and don't want their children exposed to them.  Some businesses owners refuse to use them to entertain children or adults because they feel they do little to maintain the tone of integrity that they desire in a professional business setting.


"The best sales strategy is to keep the children safely and quietly engaged in the showrooms where the parents can both watch their child at play and participate in the buying process, and Play Tables allow you to do just that and offer benefits far and beyond costly play rooms."

Juliana feels that Play Tables and self-contained Wall Panels are ideal for the purpose they are intended to serve because they are safe (they have no removable parts), sanitary, and require next-to-no upkeep.  "And," she added, " they last for years, have won numerous awards for their design and educational merit, and always look attractive and polished in professional business settings."

Play Tables and Wall Panels are also cost-effective, she stated, because they can be strategically placed where they're  needed mostÉ"a few in the showroom so that parents can keep an eye on their children and still remain attentive to the information provided by the sales person, or one in a conference room shared by a number of sales professionals when there is a need to hammer out the details of a sale, discuss loan options, or convince a customer of the merits of an extended warranties," she explained.

Over half of the consumers surveyed  said they tell friends  about  Child-friendly   Businesses.

She was most impressed by the statistic showing that more than half of the individuals who took the survey, over 3,400 in total,  agreed with the statement

When I see a Play Table, I tell friends with children so they will know that that (business) is a Child-friendly  place." 

"There is no better advertising or more trustworthy favorable advertising", she said, "than that which travels by word-of-mouth!"

Juliana closed by saying she is very  pleased that more and more businesses and dealerships, in particular, are beginning to understand the advantages of Play Tables and the many benefits of becoming Child-Friendly.  Kiddinaround and Child-Friendly Business give these dealerships and other business organizations the recognition they deserve by listing them on the Web free of charge so that consumers can find them quickly and learn about the products and services they offer

For further information about the survey or about becoming a Child-Friendly Auto Dealer with free Web promotion, you are invited to call Juliana Lapitino at 1-877-965-7058. Or visit our Kiddinaround.com
to to buy a Play Table for your dealership, and get listed as a child-friendly auto dealer.

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Category: Child-friendly Business News Posted by: admin on Thursday 14 July 2005 - 08:14:03
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