You Never Get a Second Chance
To make your first impression.
The first time that a customer encounters your business is SO important. With the constant information overload we face every day, our brains are always making choices what we are going to pay attention to or not. If your first impression inspires your potential customer to tune you out, it will be much harder to change their minds and win them over as a customer later.
A few first impressions I remember experiencing in Clarksville:
- Walking into a furniture store and was hounded by an annoying salesperson. I’ve never been back.
- Walking into a local butcher shop for the first time, and being greeted by the butcher. Within minutes, he was making cooking suggestions and talking to my husband and I about our home state. GREAT first impression. We are regular customers now.
- Ordered dinner delivery from a new place and my meal arrived an hour later than expected with soggy cold food. Haven’t ordered from them again.
- Walked into a nail salon near my house, to see people waiting. Only one nail tech appeared to be working, with 2 or 3 others chatting in the back. I wasn’t greeted by anyone. I turned and walked out.
It may seem superficial to you, but small details make a big difference in customers minds. It is easy to overlook things when you have been in a business for a while. In some cases, businesses rush to open with “temporary” fixes that never get improved.
6 Keys to A GREAT First Impression
- Is your business easy to see from the road? Is your signage professional looking and permanent? Temporary vinyl banners tell me that a business is either new, aren’t planning on staying there permanently, or that they take shortcuts.
- How do your employees answer the phone and greet customers when they walk in? Make sure you have a clear expectation set. This is so, so, SO important.
- Can people find you online? Is your website up to date? Or does it look like it was designed in the 80′s?
- Is your brand image consistent in all of the places a customer will see you (web, in store, employee appearance, ads)
- Make sure your place of business, you, and your employees are clean and up kept. Should go without saying, but…
- Be different – people will remember how you were unique!
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