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If you’ve been running your business for some time now, you would have seen a lot of ups and downs when it comes to income. There are many factors when it comes to how much money you make per quarter, and one of them is your image. As a business, you must uphold your image if you’re going to grow and be more successful than your competitors. But how do you improve that image? It’s not totally in your control, but it’s up to you to make sure you’re doing what you can.
What is an image
The image of your business is how the public sees you, and what they think of your practices and product. If you’re generally seen as a poor-quality business, people aren’t going to come for you when they’re looking for something that’s a good standard. Your image should tell people that you’re the ones to turn to when they need something relevant to what you’re selling.
There are a lot of ways you can improve your image, but it requires time and hard work, from both you and your employees. The leader of the business can’t control every factor that represents it, so you need to clue your employees in too.
Creating a great first impression
The main part of your image that you’ll want to work on is what gives the first impression. New customers that are seeing your business for the first time should want to know more and should feel a sense of trust that they’re going to get what they’re looking for. That means that both your building and your website are up to scratch. It can be hard to get things looking how you want them if you’re a new business, and you won’t have much choice as far as appearance goes, but as you grow you should make sure to work on it.
The exterior of your business building is just as important as the interior, and it should draw the attention of the customer. As far as design goes, you’re not going to want to tear down the whole building, but repainting or considering something like brick slips can do a lot for appearance, especially if it has been a while since you last redecorated. The business should look appealing, and not off-putting.
Your website is just as important as your physical store, especially if you’re selling your product or service online. A website’s appearance can make or break whether or not a customer trusts your business. If they come to your site, and the first appearances cause them to distrust you, they may choose to leave immediately. The internet is full of potential scam websites, and your site should give off trustworthy impressions.
A well-made website helps the customer to see that you’re invested in what you’re doing, and you care about how they’re received. It needs to be appealing to the eyes, and easy for them to navigate. If they can’t find their way around, or the site is unresponsive, they may decide to look elsewhere instead. Your site needs to not only look appealing but to be tested before you market it to the public. If you lose customers before making sure the site is optimized, then you could find that a lot of your marketing resources were wasted.
Being transparent
One of the best ways to build a better reputation for yourself is to be clear and open with your customers. People like to know what’s going on with the products and services that they’ve invested in. If a customer has ordered a product from you, let them know when it’s coming. If there are complications, tell them. Leaving people in the dark only builds up hostility between you and the customer, and a clear and open relationship will show others that you’re a business they can trust.
It may differ per industry, but in general, being open allows the customer to feel more confident when purchasing with you. If you aren’t open as a business, and there are complications that your investors should know about, it could prevent others from investing in your business going forward, and you’ll lose out on a lot of potential profit.
Listen to your customers
A business that shows they’re listening to the wants and needs of their customers will show promise to the public. If you’re willing to change and adapt to your customer’s needs, then they can feel secure in their investment when buying your product or service. Opening more avenues for them to give feedback, through social media, online reviews, or other forms allows you to gather a lot of information on what you can do to improve.
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Image source: Pixabay.com
