How To Make A Great First Impression

You only get one chance to make a first impression - make sure it's a great one. This article will provide you with ways to ensure that your business makes a good impression on prospective clients and customers alike. Whether you're an executive, a manager or a team leader, the following information will be beneficial to you.

"This wisdom has been handed down for centuries, and yet we sometimes wonder: Is anyone paying attention? How often have you visited a business, a professional, an advisor of some type, only to wonder how they remain in business? Some people just don't seem to care about making an impression good impression, that is."

A Personal Story from Jim Sirbasku.

When Bud and I started Profiles International Inc., we rented 550 square feet of office space and sold to companies with bigger closets. We knew it was important for us to look bigger than we were, so we hired a professional firm to give us a logo that delivered an impact. We also asked them to create an image brochure to tell our story in such a way as to impress even the biggest corporations.

One day, we gathered all of our printed materials: letterhead, business cards, image brochures, etc., and Bud exclaimed, "Our image is bigger than we are!" From that point forward, we made it our mission to grow the company to be as big as our image. Of course, this has become a never-ending program of reinventing ourselves by creating an ever-growing image.

Our company image is all about lasting impressions. Getting our image right is one of the most important exercises we undertake in assuring our success as business owners. Most people think their company's image is something largely outside of their control. It's not! Based on our experiences, as well as information we've gleaned from a variety of professionals, the following three steps will help you to build an image to foster the success you desire as a business owner.

Step 1. Identify the Image You Want to Project

Before you can build an image, you need to decide what image you want for your business. Ask yourself three questions:

What Image Should My Business Project?

If you were a banking institution, you'd most likely want to project conservatism, low risk and good standing. If, on the other hand, you were a Silicon Valley electronics company, you'd want to project an image of innovation and risk taking. Decide whether you want your customers to view you as innovative, reliable, conservative, bold, progressive, traditional, professional, friendly, etc. Come up with one or two words effectively capturing the image you'd like to project.

Who are My Target Customers?

Whatever else you do, you must ensure that your image closely matches the image your target customers have of themselves. Who are your target customers? Where do they currently go for advice on products and services like yours? How much do you they have to spend? Would you open a luxury hotel in a low-income area? There's simply no point in being the most expensive or best of class in your area if nobody in your area can afford to shop with you. Equally, you'd be squandering the potential (and the likely higher real-estate costs) in a high-income area by establishing a budget motel. For optimum success, be sure that there are enough of the kinds of customers you'd like to target to make the business work, and that the image you decide to project matches your target customers closely enough to attract them to you.

Who is My Competition?

Look at the image of your most successful competitors. If you have an outstandingly successful competitor, figure out which aspect(s) of their image fosters their success. Are they very reliable? Have they a strong service orientation? Have they an incredibly wide range of products? You'll want to adopt positive elements of their image, and enhance them with whatever you feel makes your business special. If your competitor offers an extraordinarily wide range of products and you do too, you can adopt that aspect of their image, but enhance it with another feature of your business. For example, in addition to the wide product range, let's say you also create a reputation for extremely friendly service. Don't try to compete with a successful competitor's image head on; find some additional aspect to make your image special, if not unique.

Step 2: Build an Identity that Projects your Desired Image

Once you know what sort of image you'd like to project, it's time to build a vehicle which will allow you to project your new image effectively.

Start with a Logo

A good identity is about consistency. All of the ways in which you communicate with your customers must have a consistent and considered look and feel. There are many other aspects to a company identity, but few are more important than the logo. When it appears over your door, on your business card, or your letterhead, in advertisements, and on brochures, your logo should instantly convey your desired image. Get professional help. Some believe that designers are very expensive to work with. This need not be so. Besides large graphic-design studios that might cost a little more, there are many freelance graphic designers who will work with you to help you craft a logo that works well for you. You'll find plenty of designers in the Yellow Pages. Don't skimp on your logo, because poor communication of your image will cost you more than a designer.

Working with Designers

Designers are like lawyers and other professionals; they work better when you have a plan for them to follow. Before you sit down with your designer, brainstorm about the basics of your required logo. Doing so will save your designer time and save you money.

The main elements you need to think about are:

- Taglines

Slogans often accompany a logo. We all remember "Pepsi Cola Hits the Spot," and Avis "tries harder." These one-liners are intended to enhance the message portrayed by the logo, and to make it more memorable. Developing a one-line catch phrase before meeting with a designer can make the designer's job easier.
Think of the main aspect of the image you feel sets your business apart from your competitors, and will appeal most to your customers. If you emphasize the family in your business, then your tagline might be something like "Not just a garden center - a family center." Build a six- or seven-word catch phrase around whatever is the key aspect of the image you want to foster.

- Color

Color is an important part of your image. Reds, yellows, oranges and other bright colors tend to suggest pioneering, trendsetting and fun; white, blue, gray and darker greens tend to suggest a quieter, conservative image. (Look at the dominant colors in bank logos.) What colors are appropriate to the image you've selected? Be careful not to be swayed by colors you like personally but are at odds with your image. A good way to begin is by thinking carefully about the sort of colors you don't want to use. This will be of great help to your designer.

- Typefaces

The image conveyed by the more formal typefaces used in newspapers is vastly different from that projected by simple cursive typefaces, which is, in turn, different from the image portrayed by heavily stylized modern alphabets. The typeface you choose is one of the strongest image cues your logo can provide. If you know what sort of image you want, your designer will be able to advise you about appropriate typefaces.

- Graphics

Designers are adept at producing clever graphical representations of the message you want to convey. If you decide to use a graphic element in your logo, be sure that it is easy to understand, and that the logo still communicates your message even if a potential customer doesn't get the point of your graphic. In other words, use graphics to enhance the words. Don't let the graphic dominate. It could confuse and project the wrong image.

Step 3. Once You Have Your Identity, Use It!

It's time to start using your new identity to build your image.

Use Your Logo Everywhere

Your logo is at the heart of your company's identity. It must appear on all signage, vehicles, letterheads, invoices, business cards, envelopes, packaging, uniforms, anything issued by your company. Look for opportunities to use your logo in everyday situations. For example, there are many inexpensive, easy-to-use graphics programs that allow you to produce first-class marketing materials with little effort. Use them!

Be Sure that Your Employees Buy Into the Image

A key to projecting a consistent image to your customers is ensuring that your employees understand the image you are trying to project, what values it encompasses, and how it translates into everything they do. This needs to be integrated into every aspect of your business, from the way you answer the telephone to the way you deal with customers.

Can I Change My Existing Image?

Absolutely. If you have an established identity that has failed to build the image you desire to the level you would like, change it. You may be concerned that some elements of your existing identity are successful in their own right, and still relevant. For example, your logo may already be quite well known, even if it's not conveying precisely the image you would like. Work out which parts of your current identity you'd like to retain, then go through the exercise of creating your identity in the manner discussed above. When it comes to logo redesign, you will find that working with your designer to come up with a new logo to fit your new idea of the identity you require, but still retaining the better elements of your previous identity, is a lot easier than you might expect.

Image is something you need to review regularly as your business grows and expands and your target customers change. Examine it regularly. Is the image you're projecting still what you need? Is the identity that got you to where you are now appropriate to future development? If not, fine-tune it.

Your business's image is one of your most important assets. The small investment of time, effort and money you make in it now will realize far greater returns long into the future. Invest in your image and make a lasting impression, a good impression the first time, every time.