Do you have any idea what the image of your business is? What are your customers saying about you?

Every company has an image - even a one-man/woman business. It is created all day, every day. Every time your company has an interaction with the public they go away with an image of your business - positive or negative. If it is good, they come back. When it is not so good they tell, on average, 13 other people. Management gurus say that a bad image can cost you nine tenths of your income.

How can you take control of this vital asset? Let's look at what is creating your image.

How you look - this is the visual appearance of your premises, your staff, your stationery and any promotional material that goes out from the company, including your website. Get a good graphic artist to do all the design needed. It is worth every cent. Take a good hard look at what your offices and your staff look like. Every business needs to decide what their standards of visual appearance will be and stick to them. The industry you are in will probably affect your standards. A creative agency will look very different from a conservative financial institution. Make sure that you are projecting the image you want.

What you say - this is all the communication coming from your company. It's what we say: in person, on the phone, the facial expression of your receptionist, her tone of voice or the written words in letters, ads and the website. Online it is all about what they see and read. Good quality written communication is vital, particularly on the Internet where there is no personal interaction. What they see is their only measure of who you are. Write with the person who will be reading it in mind. Address the exact needs of the target public you are going after. If you are not a good writer, find someone in the organization who is, or hire a good writer.

What you do - in the final analysis, this is what image is all about. You can look great, say all the right things in the right way, but if you do not do business with integrity and honesty then your image falls down right there. Poor customer service and un-kept promises are the start of a bad image.

Image building has to be something that grows from inside a company. Every action by every member of the company affects the image.

For more on this subject you can check out.

What are your customers saying about you?
by Cliff Allen
http://www.clickz.com/mkt/precis_mkt/article.php/822791

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