How to Present Your Best Self

Once those have been defined, every interaction you and your business have with the outside world should portray that image.

Let’s take a look at some ways you can communicate your firm’s marketing message.

How You Dress

Every professional has a different idea of what clothes are appropriate for business. Certainly, if you’re doing client work at your dining-room table at midnight, it’s okay to be in your Winnie-the-Pooh pyjamas. But meeting with clients is another matter entirely.

Keep in mind that the goal is to make the client feel comfortable. In many instances, dressing in a three-piece suit is not what will make a client feel comfortable and feel that you are warm and approachable.

Some client situations will clearly dictate the appropriate clothes.

For example, if you are meeting a house-building client at his construction site, you will want to wear clothing appropriate for that venue, perhaps a dress shirt and jeans. On the other hand, if your client is a funeral director, you will want to make sure you dress in a similar fashion to her, which will most likely mean simple dress clothes in dark colours.

When dressing for the office, always keep client perceptions in mind.

How You Answer the Telephone

The way you and your staff answer the business phones can either garner or turn away new clients. It can either make existing clients feel valued or make them feel bothersome.

When you are bogged down in the day-to-day operation of your business, you may not put much thought into your tone or how your staff answers the phone, but these simple things can communicate a lot about your business.

How You Decorate Your Office

In addition to your telephone manners, your office also speaks volumes about you and your business. If your office is always a mess and has stacks of files and papers all over the place, it conveys the sense that you are disorganized and unprofessional.

If, on the other hand, it is warm and inviting, it conveys comfort to clients.

Take a look at your office from a client’s perspective. It’s easy to get “office blind” – where you don’t see the mess any more. Try to see what a client sees and make your office as clean and inviting as possible (and, of course, make sure that all client files are tucked away out of sight).

Filed Under: Marketing