Presenting a Good Business Image

April 13, 2006

	Visited: 174
	Not rated
	Rate:

Everything connected with your business should lead customers to believe their product or service needs will be met to their satisfaction. Your business facility can make a powerful statement about your business. It should, of course, be the type of statement that will present your business in a good light. But just what you mean by "in a good light" will be influenced by who will see the facility, and by the nature of the business that you are in.

Who will see the facility? If your business regularly deals with retail customers, then the question of what will put your business in a good light will be closely related to what kind of business it is. If customers don't enter your facility, the facility's appearance usually will be less important. But this doesn't mean that you can totally ignore the issue, since no matter what your business is, someone will see it — your employees, suppliers, and certainly yourself. Thus, even if your facility is Spartan, it should be clean and well-maintained, and should serve as an efficient tool of your business. If it is otherwise, you risk having suppliers (and employees) question your business's prospects for long-term survival. At a minimum, your business site should not demotivate anyone (including you!) who works there.

What type of business are you in? If you expect your business facility to help customers view your business as you would like them to, they must see it as evidence that you (rather than your competitor) understand their needs and desires. The type of facility that helps establish this image is not the same for all kinds of businesses. If you are selling "high-end" products or services at retail, your customers may expect a spacious and elegant sales area. Not only that, but any facility that bears your company name — even if it does not directly serve customers — may be expected to live up to a similar standard.

Michelle Denise operates "Michelle's Music Boutique," which sells and repairs musical instruments and gives voice and music lessons to children — mostly to the children of wealthy parents. The business is located in a well-maintained turn-of-the-century mansion in an expensive part of town. Because the local zoning rules will not allow Michelle's business to keep business vehicles on the premises, she must rent a nearby building to garage these vehicles.

Although few people would expect a garage to be elegant, the continued success of Michelle's business at least partially depends on projecting a "posh" image. So, she makes sure that the garage — at least from the outside — is attractively painted and kept up. Nothing that is connected with her business, including her business vehicles, is allowed to detract from her desired "upscale" image.

If your business relies on low prices to beat out the competition, a luxurious facility may work to your disadvantage. Cost-conscious customers may feel that your prices couldn't possibly be all that low if you can spend big bucks on your facility. Some businesses that emphasize their low prices have had some success touting the fact that their stores are barren, cheap-looking, or in low-rent, out-of-the-way areas.

What kind of statement would you want your facility to make about the business? What would put it in a good light? For most small businesses, the answer will probably be somewhere between the pricey mansion, on one hand, and the "boy-is-our-store-ugly" facility, on the other. Put yourself in your customers' shoes. As a potential consumer of your company's products or services, what kind of facility would make you want to step inside to do business?

Besides the appearance of your facility to customers, don't ignore the importance of your own personal likes and dislikes.