First Impressions [embroidery]

What does your image say about your business?

Modern life is hectic and fast-paced. Consumers are in an overloaded state, continuously bombarded from all sides with a plethora of media messages seeking a foothold in their weary minds, with the goal of effecting a decision that will translate into a need to make a purchase. In response, most have been forced into a position of making snap judgements based on the limited information that has been presented to them, decisions that right or wrong, will ultimately decide their spending habits.

It’s called “judging a book by its cover” and everyone does it. Therefore, large companies (with deep pockets) spend billions of dollars on image, public relations, marketing, promotions and advertising, with the goal of delivering a positive message that will ultimately result in the transfer of funds from the consumer's pocketbook to the corporate coffers.

But that desire isn’t limited to large corporate empires. It exists at every level of business and should be just as strong in your mind as that of a Fortune 500 CEO’s. You are in business to make money and everything that you do or say, should be carefully crafted to project a positive image and encourage a sale. Does that mean you must approach everyone on the street and cry out “buy from me, I’m the best!” No, of course not. What it means, is that you must examine yourself and your business from top to bottom to see what kind of message you are delivering to others when they do come in contact with you, as First Impressions are critical.

Research has shown that people make up their minds about other people, businesses, products, services, etc. in 3-7 seconds, (even though television commercials average 30 seconds). That doesn’t leave much time to work with, so it’s imperative that you don’t make any mistakes.

When it comes to image, there is a tendency to focus on big things with the intent of making a big splash. In reality, it’s the little things that can make the most difference and these are the things that are most overlooked by you. For example, suppose someone opened a fancy new electronics store complete with fireworks, food, movie stars and giveaways. You go to the Grand Opening expecting great things. The owner is at the door greeting you. He opens his mouth to say welcome and out flows this wave of nauseous fumes smack into your face, the fetid odor of his partially-digested lunch almost knocking you to your knees. What is your impression now? This guy made a huge splash, but overlooked one small detail: fresh breath – or lack thereof. It will leave a lasting impression all right.

As an Embroidery Entrepreneur, you probably have very little budget for huge marketing campaigns, so for the most part you have written off the whole subject as your promotional tools are limited to yourself and some business cards. That’s fine. But no matter how small these details may seem to you, they are still the details that shape the impressions you make on potential clients, so take a hard look at how you come across.

Start with your business card. The first thing a potential customer will see is your company name. What does it say about your business? What does it need to say about your business? A name like Jane’s Monogramming invokes an image of a lady bent over a sewing machine adding three letter monograms to a set of towels. If that’s what you do and what you want others to think, then great. However, if you wish to pursue the corporate marketplace, this name is going to hold you back. Business names can be a real challenge. Think about it from the customer's perspective, not your own. It should generate an appropriate image that grabs the attention of the clients you wish to reach. The name should also be memorable, meaning that it sticks in your mind.

Below the company name is your business address. What message does it give? A post office box instead of a street address is a dangerous thing, as it screams out: DANGER, there is no business location! In turn, this says you don’t want people to be able to find you, thus you may not be a legitimate operation, thus doing business with you is a potentially risky proposition.

More than likely you are a home-based operation, but don’t wish to allude to that fact by listing a residential address, so the post office box seemed a good way to hide it. But it’s a bad idea. As a business owner you will learn this the hard way, when you do business with clients who also only list a P.O. Box. That doesn’t mean everyone with this type of business address is a crook, but you will find that when they don’t pay their bill, you will have no way to find them. (Voice of experience.) I suggest that you list an address, even if it's residential. By the way, P.O. Boxes are okay when they are listed in conjunction with a physical address.

With our first business location, we had the same concerns about listing our residential address, as we had some corporate clients reject us because of the fact that we were home-based. Our address made that obvious: 16 Lakewood Road. (Doesn’t sound too commercial does it?) So we got creative. The business was actually in a separate building behind our house, so we modified our address to look like this: 16 Lakewood Road, Suite B. That presents a totally different picture, doesn’t it?

Okay, the next item on your business card is your email address. Believe it or not, it speaks volumes about your company as well. There are a lot of “free” email services such as Hotmail, Yahoo, and Juno. When you sign up with them, you end up with something like jimmy123@hotmail.com. Such an email address is the equivalent to a P.O. Box for a physical address. Since the services are free, many of their users bounce around from one account to another, meaning a lack of permanence. Also, because they are free, it implies you aren’t serious about your business, especially when you see something like jimmy123 in the email address. Ideally, you want to purchase a domain name (not that expensive) and put together a website, as most website services offer email boxes, so your address can look like jimmy@CapeFearEmbroideryWorks.com. This is a much better first impression than jimmy123@hotmail.com.

As an alternative to having your own domain name, at least do something like CapeFearEmbroideryWorks@ec.rr.com which shows that you are serious enough about your business to invest in a legitimate email address. By the way, I’m not a big fan of many of the big internet services like AOL, as they have traditionally been difficult to deal with when it comes to sending files to their customers. Plus, there is a perception that many of their customers are still on dial-up, which is another negative image item as it implies you are not up to speed with modern technology.

The final image factor with your business card is the overall look of the card. Is it easy to read? Is it exciting or dull? Too much information can make it difficult to read, but if it's only basic text on a solid color background, it may not illicit much information. If a potential client collects a stack of business cards, then sits down to review them, will yours stand out? This is where the services of a professional print shop can pay off.

Over the years we experimented with several different business card layouts. One of my favorites was a dark blue background (somewhere between royal and navy) with metallic gold (not yellow) print. The problem was, you couldn’t write any notes on the back, because the pen ink didn’t show up against the background and we were always writing something (prices, product numbers, etc) on the back when handing to a customer. So eventually, we went to a different look with a lighter background.

Finally, what first impression do you make on the potential customer? (Do you have your breath mints handy?) If you hand over the perfect business card, but have dirty fingernails, that might just negate all the positive aspects of the card. You must condition yourself to understand that every person you encounter is a potential customer, thus you should strive to maintain a professional appearance at all times when in public. And if you find yourself in a compromising position, you may want to keep quiet about being a business owner, so that such a situation won’t count as your first impression.

Certain lifestyle traits can really have an influence, such as smoking. If you are a smoker and so is the customer, then great, you can have a cigarette together. But today, there are many more non-smokers than smokers, and every time you light up it leaves behind an odor on your skin and clothes which is noticeable and even offensive to non-smokers. You yourself probably can’t detect it, but it can overwhelm others. Along those lines, perfumes and colognes can work against you. So can body odor and bad breath. Messy hair, sloppy clothes, excessive make-up, etc. all make an impact on first impressions.

Bottomline, it’s the little things that can make the most impact on a first impression. The moment you introduce yourself, the clock starts ticking and you have only 3-7 seconds to generate a positive result, so pay attention to the details!

By: James M. (Jimmy) Lamb
Published: August 2006