You work hard to maintain your business’ reputation. You deliver quality goods or services, and you’re careful to hire only the best and most qualified individuals. When you look at the big picture, your business is undeniably a great one. That should be enough to convince customers of your quality—but unfortunately, it’s not.
The reality is that humans aren’t always rational creatures. And your customers, clients, collaborators, and other companies are only human (or made up of humans). You can’t count on them to react to your quality work alone.
That’s why the small details matter in your business. The tiny impressions that you make—the little markers of care and professionalism—help your customers, clients and business partners see the big picture of quality work.
It’s not just your work
Just how irrational can people be? Extremely, according to studies. People assume things about businesses and products based on seemingly shallow factors. Good branding can make an inferior product appeal to more customers, while a restaurant’s decor and ambiance can actually convince people that the service or food is better or worse than it actually is. Brands matter, details matter, and little impressions matter, because they build trust.
If given the opportunity, your customers and business partners will make the same sorts of irrational decisions. They’ll allow little markers of quality (the way one of your employees is dressed, for instance, or the presentation of some paperwork) to influence their opinion of how reliable and well-run your business is. The quality work you deliver might look less appealing than inferior work from a rival company, provided that company is beating you on things like presentation.
Get the details right
The idea of letting all of your hard work go to waste because of other people’s irrationality is irritating, to say the least. But it doesn’t have to be this way: you can ensure that your work gets the fair assessment that it deserves (and perhaps even a more lenient one) by investing in the details.
What sorts of details? Presentation details, for one. If your company sends reports or paperwork to customers, clients, or other companies, take a moment to think about how those things are presented. Could you spruce up your presentation with a custom folder? Printing or embossing custom pocket folders isn’t as pricey as you might think, and it’s certainly not a superfluous expense—not when we know full well that many people will passively view your business with more loyalty and respect just because of details like this. It’s not just folders either, because customized supplies of all sorts can help your business build its brand while signaling your business’ attention to detail and presentation.
Keep an eye on your office space, too. Cleanliness is a must, but don’t forget about design. While it may seem silly to worry about interior decorating, the fact of the matter is that decor can be an asset to your company. This doesn’t mean that you have to spend all of your time reading design blogs instead of doing what you do best, of course. You can and should outsource some of these things to a professional.
Your employees should also project quality. Office dress codes may be increasingly out of vogue, but make sure that, at the very least, the employees who directly face your customers and partners know that their appearance matters.
Paying attention to the details can really pay off for your company. Doing so will put your customers, clients, and business partners in the right state of mind to appreciate the good work that you have already put at the core of your business.
