Ways To Make A Good Impression On A Client
They say you never get a second chance to make a first impression. This is true in both life and business. A bad experience with your company, whether you’re aware of it or not, can be the difference between someone buying from your company or going to a competitor.
So what are some of the touchpoints you should be looking at to make a great impression?
Reception area
If you’re in a traditional office space, then you may well have a reception area that potential customers will arrive at for meetings. It’s important that you make this space comfortable and representative of your company brand.
Make it look smart. If you have a dedicated reception staff, make sure that they have the necessary equipment. Try bush furniture for a modern and professional style.
The person greeting people should be friendly, attentive and professional. Clients don’t want to listen to gossip, personal conversations or unprofessional conversations.
If you don’t have a dedicated reception staff, they have a space somewhere out of the way in the office that they can wait in. Train staff how to deal with people when they arrive. You might think that this is common sense, but not everyone can deal with people in the same way.
Website
Many people will visit your website before getting in touch. You need to make sure that your website is the very best it can be. Not only should it be professional-looking, informative and in line with your company brand but should take into account user experience too. Things that put off potential clients include slow loading speed, difficulty finding content or a site that isn’t optimised for mobile.
Not only will these factors have people heading for your competitors but will also affect your search engine rankings too.
Phone/Answering System
Many people prefer to contact businesses by email, contact form, social media or live chat. But there are still times that someone might prefer to speak to someone in person. It’s important that you have a good system in place. If you are a small business, then you could use an external answering service. This makes sure that your calls are always answered professionally and the messages passed on. If you do have a phone system set up, think about it from a customer perspective and try and make it as easy to be routed to the correct person as possible. Endless recorded messages, horrible hold music and lost connections are a sure way of putting customers off.
Social media
Communicating with clients and potential clients across social is a vital channel for a lot of companies. However, making a misstep in your social is the fastest way to get your company ‘cancelled’ by huge swathes of people. If you have a professional company handling your social, then they should already know the topics to avoid, but if you don’t then make sure that the people responsible receive training on what they can and can’t post. The reputational damage to your company could be huge.