Your Company Image

Your company image: make it real, make it work

Critical areas that influence your image

Your telephone image

How does someone perceive your company when they ring you? Do they get a crisp, friendly and professional image or could there be weak link in your team?

The key is to regularly put a critical ear to the way your people handle those calls. Phone in occasionally as a prospect or an irate customer. You’ll instantly see whether the image you have of your company is what the customer “sees” or whether it’s time for you to invest in more training.

Your letterhead

Your letterhead communicates much more to the reader than the actual words on the paper. The reader most certainly will make subconscious judgments about the writer and their company based on the appearance and colour scheme of the letterhead and the subtle messages communicated by the logo.

If your letterhead is just average on a plain paper with boring colours and a logo whipped up by your local printer then the impression you give is that you are just average. Even worse if it's just something you've knocked up on your computer. Unless you're very good at this, it's likely to look cheap and ordinary...attributes that go straight to your business image.

Yet if your letterhead subtly contributes to even 2% more sales a year, isn’t that a mighty powerful investment in your business-building?

In reality, a quality letterhead sets a high image standard for your company — one that will play a key part in creating dramatic sales increases.

Your business cards

The same principles apply here. Your business card really does say something about you and your company. Make absolutely certain the texture, colour scheme and typeface come together as something any top corporate executive would be proud to carry.

Also, never assume the recipient will know everything you offer. Use the white space on the card (or, even better, the back) to list your services.

Who knows how much extra image and business that will bring you — and all at no extra cost.

Everything else

If you are to achieve maximum impact with all your business communications and marketing materials, make sure you have a consistent and identifiable image.

This means consistency in design, colours, logo, and overall “feel”. This also applies to your invoices, uniforms, company vehicles, premises — everything your customers are likely to see.

Always keep thinking about other ways can you communicate your image to your clients.

Never assume they know all the good things you do for them. If you offer a number of services, a client will usually tag you as a provider of that service only — and be totally unaware of everything else you offer. (They may even go to a competitor, being totally unaware that you could have provided the item or service better and at lower cost!)

It pays to put together a newsletter or guarantee certificate that tells them the benefits of your service and features of your company and how proud you are to stand behind them. It also gives you the opportunity to cross promote the other services you offer...creating new sales opportunities.