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Your Company's Store Image

A company image is the combination of the thoughts, feelings, beliefs, opinions and visions people have about you, your products and services, or your company.

That's right. It's what others think and feel about you, not what you think or what your sales literature and sales staff says! Your image might precede your actual contact with a prospect but it will certainly follow all customer contacts and set the stage for future interactions. Consequently, even the smallest of companies should be aware of and do whatever is appropriate to promote its image.

A Simple And Complex Concept

Your company image is both a simple and complex concept. How can that be? It's simple because successful companies create images that are easily described and recognized by their target audiences. It's complex because it takes many discreet elements working together to create an image. Some of the elements that create an image are advertising, marketing communications, publicity, store locations, prices and product positioning.

Marketplace Identity

Your company image is your identity in the marketplace. It's important to note that a competitor might have the same image as you. For example, think about two grocery store chains that operate in your region. Both may have an image of offering quality products at reasonable prices. You might feel equally comfortable in stores of both chains, think they hire competent and friendly people and appreciate each enterprise's contribution to your community. (In this example, you might choose which store to frequent based upon location alone.)

Determining your target market

A store deals with the end user of the product and service. Identification is usually done by demographic and lifestyle factors.

Demographics are tangible measurable facts of a population

• ethnic background
• age
• income
• education
• sex
• location
• occupation
• number of people in family
• children’s ages

Lifestyle analysis is more concerned with in intangibles

• cultural-religious-political beliefs
• value systems
• recreations and hobbies
• media habits
• social interaction patterns

The more exact your identification of your buyers is the more efficient your store image will be in generating sales and return customer loyalty.

Your company image sets the stage for how receptive a target audience is for your messages. For service businesses, your image takes on an even greater importance because you are essentially the company's raw material, machinery, inventory and product all rolled into one. Therefore you and your employees (if any) comprise your company's image!

An extreme and unlikely example will help make this point. A wardrobe consultant that wears outdated clothes that don't fit to a potential client meeting won't create the image that attracts and retains clients.

Some people confuse reputation with company image. Your reputation is only one component of an overall image. For example, you may have a reputation for always delivering quality products on time, but your company image also includes the quality of your presentation materials, your advertising, your pricing, etc.

Company Image and Positioning

It's impossible to discuss the concept of a company image without including its relationship with both product and market positioning.

Product position

The attributes of a product that differentiates or "positions" it among competing products. For example, Ben & Jerry's offers a "premium" product in the world of ice cream. The ice cream is made with high quality, rich ingredients and can demand a premium price. It is not, however, the only premium ice cream. Therefore, its product position among premium ice cream is less differentiated than is its product position among all ice creams.

Market position

The attributes of an entity (store, business, person) that differentiates or "positions" it among competing entities. For example, Wal-Mart offers thousands of products, each with its own product position. As an entity, however, Wal-Mart holds a market position both among discount retailers and among department stores in general.

Both product and market positions influence a company image, but are not the only components to a company image. Customer service, hiring practices, advertising, marketing materials and many other factors combine to create an overall company image.

Creating a Company Image

A company image is an intangible item (you can't touch it or feel it), but it's as important, if not more so, than the raw materials you fashion into a tangible product, machinery you use to make products or your product inventory.

Established company images can be changed and shaped through planned, consistent marketing strategies. Creating a company image is similar to gardening. You can do nothing and most likely something will grow, from pleasant wildflower s to ugly weeds. Or, you can carefully plan and tend to your garden to create any number of landscapes such as a rock garden, flower garden, cactus garden, etc. Just as certain plants compliment each other to create a pleasing whole, your marketing strategy, communications, and product and market positioning should work together to create the image you desire.

To get started on creating your company image, analyze how your company and its products are the same and different from your competition. You might conduct a survey to learn what image your target audience currently holds of you and your business. (It's important to view your company from the perspective of your customers and prospects, not yours.) If possible, find out what your competitors and your competitors' customers think of you, too. Based on the feedback you've gathered, develop a plan to change or to continue to support your company image through all your communication efforts.

What is a store image ?

A business image attracts a consumer by producing a functional and psychological picture in the consumer’s mind – that is acceptable to its target market.

Functional Attributes

Logo

A Business Logo Is Great Business Promotion

Business logos aren't just for multi-national corporations! They're for any business that wants to present a professional image and work on establishing customer recognition (otherwise known as branding).

Your logo works for you on your business cards, your business stationery, your invoices and receipts, your business' publications, and, of course, your advertising. Put it on your business' signage, on your yellow pages ad, and on the side of your business' vehicle.

If you have a web site, your business logo should be on every page of your site. (You'll find the About logo, with its famous red ball, at the top right of this page, for instance.) Many business people also feature their business logos on any promotional materials they hand out, such as mugs, calendars, and key chains.

The purpose of all this business logo reproduction is to separate your business from the common herd of competitors and build brand recognition and preference.

(Think of the golden arches.) A good business logo helps your customers remember your business and many people remember images better than they remember words.

Business logo design is fairly simple with all the graphics software programs available, and if you don't have the time or inclination to do it yourself, there are many graphics designers who would love to do this for you. If you're in the process of designing a logo or having one designed remember:

A business logo has to be simple. Simplicity of business logo design makes a logo easy to reproduce and makes it easier for customers to remember and recognize. Limit the number of colours in your business logo, and stay away from muddy colours or tone on tone designs. Think clear contrast and simple shapes when thinking of business logo design.

Your business logo has to have some relevance to your business. For instance, a Christmas tree shape with a bolt of lightning striking it won't be an effective business logo for a computer consulting business. The "picture" the logo represents just doesn't have any association with computers.

It's no coincidence that so many business logos are the initials of the business' name encased in a simple shape; relevant pictorial associations are hard to come by for many businesses, and a symbol that misleads will do more harm than good.

Colours are powerful. Different colours have different associations and can present powerful messages in themselves. Red, as we all know, is seen as fiery and energetic. But what about brown? No matter how much you like a particular shade, it may not be a good choice for your business logo design.

Your business logo has to be scaleable to suit all your promotional needs. The logo you choose has to look good on a business card, on a brochure, and on the side of a bus, for instance, if that's how you choose to advertise. Complicated business logo designs don't scale well.

So keep your business logo design simple, and test how well your logo scales before you rush it into print and get your logo working for you.

Develop a Logo

A strong Logo is essential for successful imaging. Spend time deciding on an image that will effectively market your business. Changing your logo or slogan is extremely dangerous. A logo identifies your business to the public. If you fail to do it right the first time, identification will be difficult for customers.

The most effective logos should be recognizable instantly, and should evoke some sort of emotional response. Well designed logos work well at many sizes, and even in one color.

Some well-known examples are: Apple computer's apple with a bite out of it started out as a rainbow of color, and has been reduced to a single color without any loss of recognition. Coca Cola's script is known the world over, but is best associated with the color red; its main competitor, Pepsi has taken the color blue, although they have abandoned their script logo.

There are some other logos that must be mentioned when evaluating what the mark means to the consumer. Automotive brands can be summed up simply with their corporate logo- from the Chevrolet "Bow Tie" mark to the circle marks of VW, Mercedes and BMW, to the interlocking "RR" of Rolls-Royce each has stood for a brand and clearly differentiated the product line.

Other logos that have become global: the Nike "Swoosh" and the Adidas "Three stripes" are two well-known brands that are defined by their corporate logo. When Phil Knight started Nike, he was hoping to find a mark as recognizable as the Adidas stripes, which also provided reinforcement to the shoe. He hired a young student (Caroline Davidson) to do his logo, paying her $35 for what has become one of the most well known marks in the world (she was later compensated again by the company).

While large corporations spend hundreds of thousands of dollars to update and implement their logos, many small businesses will turn to local graphic designers to do a corporate logo.

Tag Lines

A tag line is the one or two line descriptor that often comes after a product logo or company name. It is one of those things that looks simple but isn't. Large companies pay advertising agencies a lot of money to develop tag lines for their companies and brands.

Many companies, however, do not have a large enough budget to hire an advertising agency. If you belong to one of these small budget businesses, do not despair. With some creativity and persistence you can develop your own tag lines.

First, decide what you want to communicate with your tag line.

If you have a positioning statement and/or unique selling proposition, write them down. Tag lines should reinforce them.

Ask yourself these questions:

• Who are your customers?
• What benefits do you give your customers?
• What feelings do you want to evoke in your customers?
• What action are you trying to generate from your customers?
• How are you different from your competition?

Try to get one or more of these across in the tag line.

Second, prepare to brainstorm.

Gather tag lines from other companies and brands. Look in other categories besides your own and try to find tag lines from both large and small companies.

As you find tag lines, write them on index cards or individual slips of paper. You will be mixing and matching them and pairing them with unrelated items as you brainstorm.

Pay attention to the words used, how they are put together, and which of the above questions they address. By doing this, you are more likely to come up with a unique angle for your own tag line.

NOTE: You are looking at others' tag lines only to spark ideas. Do not plagiarize. You must come up with your own, original tag line.

To find existing tag lines, look around. You may find taglines anywhere there are advertisements, packaging, or logos. Look in cupboards, around desks, in magazines, on TV/radio commercials, in print advertisements, and on Websites.

To get you started, here are some tag lines I found in only a few minutes:

- Wal-Mart - "Always low prices."
- hp - "invent"
- Craftsman - "Makes anything possible."
- Kenmore - "Solid as Sears."
- Hersheys.com - "The sweetest site on the Web."
 - Nike - "Just do it."
- TLC - "Life Unscripted."
- Surprise by Design TV show - "We're not just changing rooms. We're changing lives."

Also, find your competitors' tag lines - look at them and strive to be better and different.

Third, brainstorm taglines.

This works best if you can get a small group together, but can also be done solo. Set up a place with a lot of writing space - use dry erase boards, easels with big paper pads, note cards, etc.

Go through your props. Look up words or concepts in the books. Rearrange your various props so you can look at them in different ways. Write down everything that comes to mind and all the new ideas each phrase sparks. They do not have to make sense. You want a large number of ideas.

For more ideas for brainstorming, have a look at " Group, Think!" or " Brainstorming: How to Create Successful Ideas".

Fourth, consolidate your list.

After brainstorming, go through all of your ideas. Pull out those few you think have the best potential. Try to reduce longer ones to fewer words.

Fifth, choose the one best tag line.

You should be left with a short list of possibilities. To pick the single best tag line, get others' opinions. If you have some funds budgeted, work with a market research firm to test the tag lines with your customers.

When you are done, you will have a tag line that will help your business thrive.

Marketing

Make sure your brochures, advertisements, product packages and business cards reflect your image. For example, a children's party planning service might create materials that look fun and youthful by using bright colors and cheery images.

Pricing Strategy

You might think the "cost-plus-profit" formula or what your accountant tells you are the best methods for setting prices for your products and services. But your desired company image has an impact here, too. Do you want to be the price leader with the lowest price in town? Or, do you want to focus on exceptional customer service at a slightly higher price?

Publicity

Are your focusing your publicity efforts on publications that match your image? For example, the owner of a luxurious bed and breakfast would focus publicity efforts on magazines such as Town and Country rather than publications appealing to bargain shoppers.

Participating in Community events is a great way of getting your store image in the front line of community.

Promotions

Match the promotional events in which you participate to your image. For example, if you own a wedding planning service you might sponsor or participate in a wedding gown fashion show. A four-star restaurant might support the local opera or symphony (or advertise in event programs) because people frequently enjoy a meal before or after these events.

An Effective Store Layout

Although every square foot of space you have leased is valuable and should be used to its fullest potential, not all of your store can be devoted to the display of merchandise. Your office operations, shipping and receiving, and janitorial supplies need some allotment of space.

Because you need to devote as much footage as possible to activities that create sales, keep your back stock to a minimum. As new merchandise arrives, get it marked and out onto the shelves as quickly as possible. Your receiving area needs to be just large enough for efficient checking in of orders, storage of boxes and packing materials, and room to pack shipments for customers who can't carry their purchases with them. Keep your janitorial equipment neatly stored in a closet or corner out of traffic ways.

The office area

Position your office area between the sales floor and the back room. Do not go behind a solid wall. It is important that you have a good view of the store from your desk, especially if at first you will be running the store by yourself. Get your paperwork out of the way first thing in the morning before customer traffic gets heavy. Once you have buyers, stay on your feet and work the floor.

The sales floor

The sales floor itself is where you generate income, so give very careful thought to the arrangement of fixtures and displays. Take a close look at the side walls to determine which is easier to install racks or shelves on. If one is solid concrete, it may be more difficult to work with. Consider the balance of your starting inventory. How much is textiles that needs racks? How much textiles needs platforms to stack on? How much is pottery and kachinas that need shelves or tiered tables? How many showcases and counters are needed? Visit other successful stores to make mental notes of lighting, display, and spacing.

For safety and customer convenience, make sure all aisles are wide enough to accommodate wheelchairs, strollers, and overweight patrons. It would be rude to make anyone feel embarrassed. Tall people are especially sensitive to low-hanging displays suspended from the ceiling. These create a claustrophobic atmosphere and block your view. Keep hanging displays up high and use them sparingly.

Position fixtures and freestanding shelves to maximize visibility of all merchandise. Not only is this wise for security, it allows the customer a panoramic view of what you have to offer. The more visual stimulation you create right from the entrance, the better chance you have of enticing the customer to browse through the entire store.

Consider the floor covering that is currently in the store you've leased. Is it in bad repair? Worn, frayed, or bumpy carpet is a hazard. If your landlord won't replace it, consider removing it yourself. Either have new carpet installed or attractively paint the concrete floor that exists. Avoid any surfaces that could cause accidents. Texture can be added to paint to prevent it from being slippery.

Other considerations

If you are not in a mall or a shopping area that provides public facilities, customers will be asking to use your restroom. Make sure it is clean and stocked with paper supplies everyday. A small customer convenience area is a nice touch, but not mandatory. This could include a bottled water dispenser that provides both hot and cold water, a small table for disposable cups and possibly some instant coffee or cocoa mix. On a cold nasty day, it is an unexpected courtesy to offer a hot beverage. This warms up the customer physically and emotionally, and increases your chances for a sale. Also have a folding chair handy in case a customer is accompanied by an elderly person who needs to rest a bit. Do not have excess seating available or your store will attract "sit-arounds." This is a class of people who apparently have nothing better to do than sit around and gossip. They are not customers; they do not help your business; and you must discourage them from taking up residence in your shop. Don't let friends or family members hang around either. You are a merchant. You have work to do. Their distractions will only cost you money. Even when you don't have a store full of customers, you need to perform routine upkeep such as dusting, straightening, marking prices, replacing worn signs and creating new displays.

The exact arrangement of your store will be a process of trial and error. Try to put several plans down on paper first. Then go with the one you like best. Don't set anything in stone. You may decide to relocate every single fixture. Have some good natured, strong, willing-to-work, guys around for this procedure. Pay them for their time.

As your business develops you may be doing so well that you're tempted to open a second location. Whoa! Stop! Think a minute! I guarantee you there are ways to double your sales without leaving your current shop. No matter how full of merchandise you think your shop is, it can handle twice the stock. You may have to invest a little in building more fixtures and displays, but the cost is nothing compared to what you'd spend on a second location.

Maximize-maximize-maximize every potential you can think of before running out and repeating all your start up costs. Besides, how do you know you can trust other people to honestly run the other location. Would they work as hard as you? Would they be as careful and vigilant as you?

When you experience that first exhilarating blush of success don't get carried away. Put some money in your personal bank account. Buy yourself something special. Then get on with maximizing every detail of your operation. Order more inventory, hire a extra salesperson, improve your lighting--anything but opening a second store.

From time to time you will have to junk some of your original fixtures. It's good to occasionally replace and rearrange. Your store needs a perpetual fresh look to emphasize the turnover of merchandise and impress upon the public you always have something new and exciting. However, avoid a total overhaul. There's a lot of wisdom the old saying "if it ain't broke, don't fix it." Whatever basic format seems to be working, keep on with it.

Web Site Design

Benefits of developing an online image

Even if your business has nothing to do with the Internet, you really should not pass up the chance to create an online image. A Website has become a business necessity. It is an inexpensive way to bolster your image and tell people who you are. Every small business needs to have a Web presence, for several reasons:

• It is an affordable and easy way for people to learn about your business and contact you.
• Business cards offer too little information. A website allows you to provide much more information, while also allowing you to put your best foot forward.
• Even if you don't sell goods on the site, putting your web address in your advertising can increase sales by promoting your business.
• the best small business websites are "clean and simple." Unlike many big e-commerce sites, Hill believes that a small business website should not be busy, should offer plenty of information, and get right to the point.

The cost for a simple site starts at around $499 with the CCHA and goes up from there.

If you don't have a Web presence yet, it should be good to know that you need not be Amazon.com to be successful, in fact, you probably don't want to be. Your business Website should be, as Hill explains, a clean, simple, elegant place that does a few things very well.

Your home page should explain what you business is and what the Website is about. It should be straightforward and easy to load. Inside, your stores address and contact information should be easy to find. Features and benefits of working with you should be prominent.

Beyond that, what you do with your site is up to you. Hill suggests that you may want to consider having the sorts of features that keep people coming back, because the more they come back to your site, the more likely it is they will eventually utilize your services. You can offer such things as:

• Interactivity. It is fairly easy these days to offer chat rooms, message boards, or newsletters. Streaming video is also possibility.
• Customers only areas. Some businesses offer "customers only" areas on their Web sites, where they offer access to premium information, tools and services.
• Content. On the Internet, content is king. Think about the sites you like. What is it that draws you there? In all likelihood, good content is near the top of your list.

Where do you get your content? Of course you can write it yourself or hire someone to create content for you. Another option is to buy syndicated content. Syndicated columns, news, horoscopes, weather, and sports, comics can be an economical way to go. Consider the following options:

However you choose to go, it is essential that your business find its way onto the Web. As Hill says, "every business needs one."

Phycoloical Aspects

Sales Strategy

Gimmicky, high-energy sales pitches work well for some products or services, but don't fit a sophisticated marketing service firm's image, for example. Align your sales strategy and tactics with your company image.

Triple-tiered Sales Strategy

In today's economy, big and small businesses are seeking every opportunity to win sales through competitive advantages. Smart owners of small business know a sales strategy can create a competitive advantage.

Selling consists of two main functions: tactics and strategy. Sales strategy is the planning of sales activities: methods of reaching clients, competitive differences and resources available. Tactics involves the day-to-day selling: prospecting, sales process, and follow-up.

The tactics of selling are very important but equally vital is the strategy of sales. The advantages are too compelling to ignore.

Competitive Advantages of Strategic Sales Planning

· Increased closing ratio by knowing clients hot buttons

· Improved client loyalty by understanding needs

· Shorten the sales cycle with outside recommendations

· Outsell competitors by offering the best solution

Triple-tiered Sales Strategy

The development of any type of plan begins with research. The insight gained for a competitive advantage comes from the marketplace not from your mind. The approach to use is what I call "Triple-tiered Sales Strategy". Look at your client and the outside influences on their business. Approach all three tiers to understand your customer.

Tier 1: Associations: What associations does your target customer belong to? Contact the membership director and establish a relationship not for selling but to understand their member's needs.

Tier 2: Suppliers: Identify non-competitive suppliers who sell to your customer. Learn their challenges and look for partnering solutions.

Tier 3: Customer: Work directly with your customer and ask them what their needs are and if your business may offer a possible solution.

Getting Into Your Customer's Head

     When it comes to selling, have we had it all wrong? The facts are startling. Darnell Research found that nine out of 10 salespeople reach the end of their sales process before 80 percent of their customers are ready to buy. Imagine what that means in lost sales! Without a firm grasp of your customers' new buying process, your salespeople could be missing out on opportunities there for the taking.

     For years, the focus has been on the selling process - while ignoring customer buying behavior. But tomorrow's big winners in sales will be those who master today's psychology of buying.

The Buy-Learning Process

Questions in the Customer's Head:

• Change
  What change is occurring?
• Discontent
  How serious is my problem?
• Research
  What will fix my problem?
• Comparison
  Who offers the best solution?
• Fear
  What are the risks of buying?
• Commitment
  Can we come to terms?
• Expectations
  Where are my results?
• Satisfaction
  Am I satisfied?

Formulate a sales strategy

You think it's a great product, but how do you persuade people to buy it?

First and foremost, your own commitment and enthusiasm to what you are selling is invaluable in presenting it to the marketplace. The next step is to develop a sales strategy, deciding how and who to sell to. The more work you put into planning, the easier it will be to close a deal and develop a loyal customer base.

Identify your product's features and benefits
What makes it unique and how can it enhance the life or work of your customer? Differentiate between a feature and a benefit and look at the product from your customer's perspective.

Look at your competition
What are others in your market doing? Evaluate your competitors' strengths and weaknesses. Analyse what methods they use to sell.

Define your target market
Who are you selling to? The more research you put into profiling your potential customers the more effective your sales strategy will be. Put yourself in their position by asking: "What benefit is there for me?"

Sales method
Once you've identified your target market and assessed the benefits your products can potentially bring your customers, the next step is to plan what method to use in selling your products. These include:

• Personal contact (direct selling, retail)
• Telesales
• Direct mail (special offers, catalogues)
• Internet

Action Checklist:

• Research your product and market
• Plan your selling strategy
• Negotiate but don't sell at any price
• Be focused when closing the deal
• Offer helpful after-sales service
• Follow up all sales - it could mean further business or referrals
• Continually evaluate your sales process

Customer Service

Your customer service policies, such as your merchandise return policy, impacts your image. Nordstrom, a retail chain, is famous for its "we'll take anything back" policy. Company legend tells of an employee that gave a customer a refund for returned auto tires, although Nordstrom doesn't sell tires. Through this policy, Nordstrom has created an image that it will do anything to please its customers. Make sure your customer service policies are consistent with your desired image.

Visual images

Good quality visual images - photographs and graphics - are not optional extras. Without them, you lose the potential maximum impact of your communications. Good visual imagery cannot compensate for poor written content, but poor content can be devalued by low grade images.

Here are some points to bear in mind when commissioning or selecting visual images for use in your materials:

Avoid boring images such as photographs of building and pictures of people sitting in meetings, shaking hands at events, delivering a lecture. This is particularly important in annual reports.

Think about imagery based round the user groups and themes featured in your research which can show your research in action - the kind of active, engaging images you might expect to find in a national newspaper or magazine.

If you are likely to need photographs of key members of the research team, commission a photographer to come in for a morning and take a complete set, rather than relying on poor quality 'mugshots' which may be out of date and will reproduce badly.

Avoid use of poor quality digital images and use of clipart.

Make sure imagery is appropriate to the purpose of the communication. Use cartoons and 'humorous' images with care.

Aim to reflect the diversity of society in your imagery, but avoid simply being tokenistic.

Take care when using photographs of people to illustrate sensitive subjects unrelated to the original use of the photograph. For example, in 2001, a disabled child was awarded £55,000 against a local authority when her photo, originally taken in a nursery school, was used without her permission to illustrate an AIDS awareness campaign.

Deciphering Body Language

You know what I mean by body language. Non-verbal movement used to convey a message. It can be a powerful tool if you can read it correctly. Like anything else worth knowing, there is an art to it. When you interact with others, your words make up only 30 to 35% of communication, and when you converse with another person, you're letting them know things you'd never imagine--without even saying a word.

Let's say that you're at a party, and you spot someone from across the room that looks interesting to you. You suavely maneuver yourself from the palm tree that you've been hovering under for the last half hour until you're close enough to say something to the object of your interest. You step into view, and suddenly he or she looks at you, and you can't read what they're thinking. So you slink off, afraid that if you open your mouth, anything you utter will just sound intrusive.

Whether we like it or not, our bodies are sending messages constantly. Sometimes it's a clear message. Other time, it's a bit subtler. We often don't even realize what our bodies are communicating to everyone around us. But, if we want to learn a few basic nonverbal signs, we can improve our ability to read the body language of others, as well as control our own.

Anxiety:

Not looking at you
Throat-clearing
Fidgeting
Hands covering mouth
Tugging at clothes
Jingling things in pockets
Ear-tugging
Hand-wringing
Sweating
Glances at exit door
Taking a step back

All of these signs display some form of discomfort. What can be confusing is that we don't know if it means that the person you're getting these signals from wants to leave or is just plain nervous around you. Ways to tell might be to notice if this person is trying to keep the conversation going (that's a big clue, isn't it?), and is this person smiling even though he or she looks anxious?

Interested:

Head tilted
Holding glasses' earpiece to mouth
Pacing
Hand to bridge of nose
Squinting

A person who exhibits these signs wants to hear more of whatever it is you're saying.

Attitudes Communicated Non-verbally

Frustrated:

Running hands through hair
Rubbing back of neck
Wringing hands
Clenching hands
Kicking imaginary objects on ground

Something is definitely wrong here. You can choose to ask if everything is okay, or cut your losses and move along.

Territorial/Dominant:

Feet up
Leaning against object
Moving things around on table
Standing or leaning over you
Hands behind head, leaning back

This person feels more comfortable when in control. He or she might have difficulty letting their guard down. You could talk for a bit and see what happens.

Building your Confidence

Appear confident, even if you aren’t! There are several ways in which you can boost your confidence, including:

Convince yourself that you can become confident.

Identify someone who oozes confidence. Study how they move, their voice, gestures and mannerisms. Copy them until it becomes second nature.

Concentrate on becoming exceptionally knowledgeable about your chosen line of business. This is the best confidence booster of all.

Look critically at your body language and voice projection:

The more confidently you project your voice, the more persuasive you will be. Avoid letting your voice rise excessively. Your speech should not be too rapid. Try not to fidget and display annoying mannerisms. However, the occasional forceful speech or body gesture in order to emphasize a point, can really work to your advantage. Don’t overdo it, though. Keep your eye contact as natural as possible. When a client makes a point, smile and nod at each one. This makes your customer feel that you understand his or her requirements.

 

Conclusion

For most businesses, taking an objective look once a year to see what needs to be freshened or changed is the ideal. Some experts advise letting no more than five years pass without making any changes at all (but if you realize that there is something in your decor or layout that is operating to your disadvantage, don't wait. Change it as quickly as time and budget allow).

However, if your business is such where the clientele comes in on a regular basis, then an ongoing evaluation of your decor is probably the best approach. The more often you have the same people visiting your business, the more frequently you should strive to keep it interesting to your customers through even small changes.