Indelible Impression - article by Traci McBride

What is your business’s INDELIBLE IMPRESSION^TM? By Traci McBride – Image Consultant 

Before you opened your doors for business or printed your own business cards you thought of everything a potential client could want or experience – right?  Especially thoughtful are those of you that have created your business concept from an idea, dream or passion.  You spent time choosing your brick and mortar location, selecting the color for the walls, interviewing employees, ordering merchandise and the hundreds of other details and decisions you made through the entire process. 

Now you are a year, or two, maybe even five years into your business and in a bit of a groove – meaning you made some mistakes and learned from them to make better decisions.  Suddenly, everything has changed. You expected to have some competition but now that the economy is stalled you realize there are fewer consumers buying products or services in your industry and competition matters now more that ever.  Why? This is the case because a ‘potential’ client is being even more careful with their precious, smaller budgets. They are also being even more selective and less willing to take a chance that they won’t be 110% satisfied after parting with their cash.  Frankly, they just cannot afford to make the wrong decision. 

What does that mean to you and your business?  You must be ever more aware of every detail and interaction that ‘potential’ clients have of you and your business. Now that you are years into running your own business, are you still ever vigilant of all those details and decisions you made through the entire early process? Answer these questions and see how you fit in: 

• Are you improving and flexing to meet your clients needs and wants? 
• Are you keeping your fingers on the pulse of today’s “stressed” consumer? 
• Are you solving the problem of the product or service new clients are moving away from?
• Do you know what new clients are moving towards and helping them get there?
• Are you offering consumers an investible opportunity by working with you?
• Is your service seen as valuable and achieving what customers need and want?
• Are you positively sure of the impression your employees are making to your potential clients?
• Are you communicating with clients and potential clients on a regular basis?
• Do you know why clients do business with you over your competition?
• Do you know why clients stop doing business with you?

I could go on with dozens of questions (and I do during a process I’ve developed called FRESH PERSPECTIVE^TM which helps business owners zero-in on what they might be missing) but the above gives you some idea of how it can be overwhelming to be a business owner – keeping track of all these details while still running the day-to-day operation the business. 

The secret is being smart enough to call on trusted advisors to fill in your gaps of expertise, knowledge and time management. You wouldn’t hire a book keeper if you need a web designer – or a doctor instead of a lawyer, right?  Seeking advice from an Image Consultant can be very eye-opening. Not only does your personal image affect the outcome others can expect from you but also your businesses image can either make a potential client walk through your door or your competitors.  Are you buffed and ready? 

Whether you are changing a personal or business image it is a process of unpeeling layers of habit that actually sabotage the image.  Image isn’t superficial it expresses your CORE and what others use as a way of determining the outcome of interacting with you or your business.  An impartial Image Consultant can help you unpeel and heal to save yourself or your business.

Traci McBride founder of TeeMcBee Image Consulting from Avon Lake, OH has been working in the people business since her first babysitting business at eleven years old; she focused on impressing parents to hire her over the older babysitters available.  Setting herself apart from everyone else came naturally for Traci.  She has studied and mentored under the wings of several entrepreneurs in a variety of fields, but all in sales and marketing, including: Fine Jewelry & Collectibles, Fashion Retail, Custom Homes and Real Estate.                             Traci@TeeMcBee.com 440-670-0440 www.TeeMcBee.com