They say don’t judge a book by its cover, but first impressions really do matter. Especially in the cut throat world of business, where you’re competing with hundreds of other similar companies. Any small thing that puts a customer off means they could quite easily go and shop with your competitor instead, and so you absolutely have to be putting your best foot forward and presenting yourself in the right way.
When someone gets a good impression of your business, they will assume that if they shop with you, they will be receiving quality and good service. If you look unprofessional, disorganized and amateur (even if really you’re none of these things) the customer will assume this applies to your entire business- even if you really were just having a bad day/ morning/ hour. Here are some of the ways you can make sure you’re making the very best impression and grabbing potential customers interest with your business.
Create a Recognizable Brand
Research has shown that in general, people trust brands, and are therefore willing to spend more money on them. This is because when you shop with a brand, you are essentially buying a promise. This is because brands spend years working up a good reputation which puts customers at ease when it comes to shopping with them. When you buy from a recognizable brand, you know that you will get the product or service you wanted or your money back.
Brands that do well when it comes to sales aren’t actually just selling products or services, but a certain ‘lifestyle’ that appeals to their customers. It could be the organized student or woman on the go, the sporty guy who all the women are attracted to or the busy parent that juggles it all- depending on what you’re selling. Work out what it is that your customers want through market research, and use your brand to appeal to them.
Upgrade Your Office
Your office will make a good impression when you host events and when clients travel to you for meetings. If your office space is dingy and uninviting, it can put people off as soon as they walk through the door, so if you’re in a position to upgrade, then it’s something worth doing. You could choose an office with statement features such as a beautiful lobby, large windows or stunning views. Go with clean, light and neutral decor which is free of distractions, and decorate with living plants that look smart and even boost productivity. This is always going to look impressive, and allow anyone visiting to see that you are professional and a well- run organization.
Think About Your Presence Online
A good company website is crucial for the success of your business. It should look smart and professional, be intuitive and easy to use and be free of errors. Your site should be quick to load and also be aesthetically pleasing. A good mobile responsive landing page that’s more nicely designed than a standard, basic template. It should have the right balance of white space, text, images and ads. A professional web designer is needed to achieve the best looking site.
Writing a business blog is another way you can improve your online presence. Every piece of content you produce and put out there gives another way for your blog to be found in organic search, and creating regular blog posts gives your company website more indexed pages to be crawled- this can help to boost your rank in search engines. The closer your business ranks to the top of searches, the more sales and profits you’re likely to make- the first result in Google gets 33% of all traffic, so this isn’t something to overlook. On top of this, it’s another way you can look trustworthy and legitimate which is something all customers will want from a business. Particularly one which is newer or smaller business and that they haven’t shopped with before
Work on Your Marketing and Advertising Strategies
Marketing and advertising are how you get your company’s name out there to potential customers. You could quite easily set up an incredible business, and it fails simply because customers weren’t able to find out you existed. A mixture of old and new strategies can work well depending on your business. For example, if you’re a local business things like flyers, billboards and fleet advertising can work well. However, all businesses need to utilize new methods too. SEO practices, social media marketing and building backlinks are all examples.
What experiences have you had when dealing with businesses that have instantly put you off? What do you think should be done to create a good impression?
