First Impressions

Today as I was driving in my wonderful town of Grand Rapids I noticed a sign in someone's yard. It wasn't a "For Sale" sign or one of the many politicial signs that are sure to be popping up soon. No, it was a homemade plywood sign spray-painted to say "Roofing" with a phone number below it. It was one of the ugliest looking things I've ever seen. And I say "one of" because I've noticed several roofing signs from the same batch around town.

It appears that this roofing company has an agreement with their customers to put a sign in their yard after completion of the job. I'm sure they probably do a decent job, but there is no way I would ever write down the phone number from one of their signs. The absolute lack of any professionalism whatsoever in something as simple as a sign creates a subconcious correlation in my mind that other aspects of their business are probably sub-par as well.

My point is this: EVERY aspect of your business should be a reflection of the way you run your business. At the very least it should at least be done well-enough that it does not hurt your business, such as the ugly signs are doing.

More importantly, special attention should be paid to the first experience a potential customer may have with your company. In the case of the roofing company, they definitely need to invest some money into attractive yard signs. For other businesses it may be professional brochures, sharp-looking business cards, or even basics like clean bathrooms!

Many times the first point of contact for a potential client is your company's online presence. How does your website look? Is it going to give the prospect an accurate representation of the true professional that you are? Or does it look like an online version of plywood and spray paint?