When you have a business you want to promote and build, you’ll want to make it look as professional as possible. Making a good first impression can be the difference between selling and not selling, and since selling is what is going to bring you profit and grow the business, you can see why it’s worth putting in the effort to look as professional as you can.
Sometimes it’s hard to know whether your business appears professional or not from the outside. You’re so close to it that it’s almost impossible to be objective. If you’re not sure whether people find your business professional or not, read on; here are some signs that will tell you if your business looks unprofessional. If any of them ring true for you, you can make the necessary changes to improve your overall reputation.
Inconsistent Branding
Having a strong brand is so important for your business. This is what people will remember, and the better it is (with a good logo, a great message, and a unique style), the easier it will be for people to remember to buy from you rather than someone else.
One of the issues with branding is that it can be inconsistent. You might have one colour in your logo but another on your uniforms. Your website might not match your social media accounts. Your vehicles might have different signwriting to your building.
When your branding is inconsistent, it will be confusing for your customers, and it will make it hard to remember you – there are too many things to consider and recall. Not only that, but inconsistent branding will make it seem as though you’re not really taking your business all that seriously; you can’t take the time to create one cohesive style.
If you want to be seen as professional, one consistent brand is incredibly important. Take your time working out how it should look and what message it should send, and once you have got it right, use that branding everywhere. Get in touch with anthembranding.com to create some apparel so that your team all look the same and update your signage. Make the relevant changes on social media and your website, and you’ll immediately see how much more professional your business looks.
A Bad Website
Decades ago, it was possible to get away with a bad website. That’s because most websites were unpleasant to look at and hard to navigate, and they didn’t always have useful information on them. The business world was just feeling its way with the internet, and it was enough to have a website at that stage, even if you never did anything with it.
Times have certainly changed, and now you need to take care of your website. This is your store window and a way to show your business to as many people as possible. It’s potentially a direct source of income too. Even if it’s not, you can use your website to get ahead of your competition by getting your SEO (search engine optimization) strategy right.
A bad website that looks unattractive and that is hard to use is always going to make your business look more unprofessional. This is especially true if you haven’t optimized your website for mobile devices, which is what so many people use to go online with now. Not only will you look unprofessional, but you’ll actively drive customers towards your rivals’ websites which, if they look better and are easy to use, is where those customers will prefer to spend their money.
Your website needs to look professional and timeless. It must have plenty of relevant content on it and be easy to get around – links have to work, and images shouldn’t be too big so that the site slows down. If you’re not sure what to do, it’s best to find a professional web designer and builder to help you, as your site is too important to be left to amateurs.
Lack Of Punctuality
Being on time counts for a lot, and if you are a business owner, it can help to make your business look much more professional. No matter whether you have made an appointment to visit someone’s home, you’ve told them you’ll phone or email, or you have a store to open, you need to be punctual. Being late shows a total disregard for your customers and will always give them a bad impression of you.
Being on time, however, shows that you are taking care of your customers right from the start and that you keep your promises – this will give you a professional air that customers will appreciate.
