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John Ensinger
Mi Mod Patrol
69 Posts |
 Posted - 15/06/2009 : 19:32:52
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The Art of Perception
Is it right or wrong to portray a different Perception of your Business?
When any one looks at a company for the first time everyone makes an assessment of what that Business does, how big is it, can it deliver my items, can I obtain a better service than I am currently using, How good is the quality of the product.
They will then explore your website, check your business address, check companies house, is the web site or business financially sound with my money and bank details.
If I switch to this new supplier will i be getting brownie points for me or is this company going to lose me my job.
If you are selling yourself as a professional individual providing a service like admin or consultancy you want the information to portray you in that way.
However if you are going after the market place of 1000’s, what are the bare minimums to have in place to give the intended perception, of a big company.
Company Name – most important decision you will ever make as it is the one thing you will have problems changing later, or you might as well start your business all over again. If you call your company “second hand cars” the client will only perceive that you sell second hand cars and the same goes for “New cars”. However call it “Cars for all pockets” will cover all prices ranges and ages. But that still puts you in a pigeon hole. Call it “All your Transport Worries” then you can sell new and used cars, boats, bikes, vans etc. Also consider having a name that does not give your business away and you can franchise particular sections from it. Virgin- virgin airways- virgin trains-virgin music. MI Mission Impossible is another good non pigeon holed name. Our Company Utopia Consortium does not describe a market sector but it gives an impression or perception of what you will be provided with, the spin offs are Utopia office- utopia office design-Utopia Electronics we can then also go for as many market sectors as we wish. Market Branding, we haven’t got to re write the rule book every time. Also we can answer the phone as Utopia and cover all of the various divisions. Our uniforms only show Utopia so that again it covers all of the groups as the staff will go work on different jobs for each of the divisions. We have Contractors also that we provide uniforms also for to maintain the corporate image.
Only thing against Utopia is it is a long way down the alphabet so the same situ as Google some people when they look in say a search site like yell will never bother to go to the bottom, plus side though Utopia is a low number hits in Google so the competition is low, placing Utopia Office on the first page already.
Phone numbers 08 numbers give a national feel compared to a local number.
Address PO Box gives a business an edge, Lane or close gives you away as a possible home business, Street name for a retail operation, Business Park – Industrial Est – company head office/house gives an impression of a manufacturer or a large business.
Email contact – make sure it is not Yahoo or virgin as this shows you have a private email in use. Make sure that your email has your domain name. Add other emails to your account- sales, Enquiry, jobs, accounts. This portrays that you have many departments even if you are looking after them all
www sites gives the person loads of information without coming anywhere near you and I would suggest that any person going to do business with you apart from a high street retailer will check your site out 99.99 times out of a 100. Check the competition sites out in detail and make sure at the least you match what they do in portraying your Business.
If your items come from abroad don’t advertise the point, don’t lie though if you are asked where they are made. Advise them that we have various plants that we use across the UK and the world all supplying to the same quality so that we can ensure continuity of supply with all of our items passing strict EU and BS legislation and standards. Everyone knows that most things come from abroad but you don’t have to make the point so obvious to the buyer. Mostly they want to know price, service and continuity of supply. Make sure that you have a UK supplier as a back up on fast jobs and to make the above statement correct, you never know the Suez cnicemay be shut due to war then where will you be, Late shipping as it goes round Africa instead.
So is giving a different perception of your business unethical or good business sense to compete in this cut throat business world that we are all going to break and stun with our pure brilliance that has never been seen before if we are allowed to have a fair chance as everyone else.
Cheers John
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Lynda Colley
Million Impossible Fire Starter
76 Posts |
Posted - 19/06/2009 : 15:47:48
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Hi John
I actually don't agree with letting or making the customer believe your company is bigger than it is. What is wrong with the customer knowing that you are a small operation giving a good and if not personal, a personally overseen service? Why does a company need to go through ridiculous motions of persuading or allowing the customer to believe that the company is a bigger concern, with additional offices that the customer needs to be speaking to, or the staff from that office are tied up or unavailable or the stock comes from somewhere other than it's real origins?
No it's not necessarily lying, but it's not truthful either. At some point it is possible that the unintended (if you like) fabrication, requires either a lie to sustain it, or the bald truth which can then leave the customer doubting the companies, or staff integrity. The customer is not daft, they know when they ring up if they are talking to the same people each time. Maybe if we actually took the time to 'value' the customer,'value' the fact that they had asked us for our services or assistance, 'value' the customers money; not just as potential earnings but as hard earned money in the customers life? Maybe we would earn the customers trust and respect as a business/company. Maybe then we would have earned our right to a place in the business world, with a successful business.
Maybe we should be taking a step back in time, and giving good honest, value for money service. What goes around comes around. Fashions and music repeat, why not business excellence? Good quality small businesses, rather than huge conglomerates. It need not be a sign of poor service or lack of knowledge because the business is small or individual, nor need it be a sign that the business does not make money!
Small businesses/ companies can be successful too! |
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John Ensinger
Mi Mod Patrol
69 Posts |
Posted - 25/06/2009 : 23:03:54
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Hi Lynda
Like your comments, nice to see it from a different angle, the title is perception not deception.
We all need to compete against other business; we need to at least have a fair chance to talk to the customer without having our foot trapped in the door or being turned away at reception or being un-clicked on the home page.
The one comment is that i have heard over the years is we are going to bring in some professionals to take us to the next stage. Why are the people that you have worked with for over 10 years not considered to be a proffessional when they have been working for the same company. They are proffessionals at what they do but they get stuck in a rut and can't bring any new fresh ideas to the party.
Totally agree that you should never mislead the customer otherwise it will come back and bite you. All of the clients that i have known for many years is from face to face meetings and building on that trust.
But when you go to a meeting you wouldn't go in jeans and a t-shirt you will put on your suit and get spruced up to give the right impression/perception.
That is you are a Proffessional in what you do.
The one man start up business entreprenaur if they have the right connections from their suppliers and receive good terms as like the competition. The small business can and will outperform the big corporation, with better personal care and support. You only have to watch watchdog to see the big blue chip ceo coming in and saying sorry for the poor service that we are giving.
The perception is to make the customer not think you are a big company but a well setup proffessional business and to either win that order on the internet, you actually more than likely will never see the customer or you get that chance to go and see the client.
Your financial accounts will show the truth so you never will hide how big you are. You only want to give the right image, Proffessional.
The small business whether manufacturing or trade needs to grow to survive and will grow from a 200k company to a 10 million company and then beyond. You don't hear many Entreprenaur business guru doing a turn over still of 200k.
they have become multi millionaires as they have taken their ideas and pushed them with small business ideas. But in a proffessional manner.
john Ensinger
jensinger@utopiaconsortium.co.uk
www.utopia-office.co.uk |
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Kes Williams
Starting Member
0 Posts |
Posted - 03/07/2009 : 18:30:07
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Hi All,
one thing to add to the pot..
Whether your large or small think about your image.
We have seen so many businesses sending out leaflets,emailers,presentations,that to be honest need a bit of work.
It dosn't matter if your large or small while the credit crunch is on and after it ends you do need to look good. The businesses that see your adverts or stationary will deside if you are profesional just by them alone and not by your work.
We as a design company are happy to take a look at your company image free of charge and advice you were needed. You do not have to use us if you don't wish, but we would be very happy if you did.
Also please don't forget treat your clients with respect and they will stay and recommend you.
Kes Williams
Tribe Leader of Munkee Bum Design
www.munkeebum.co and www.graphicforce.co.uk |
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John Ensinger
Mi Mod Patrol
69 Posts |
Posted - 21/07/2009 : 11:37:22
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Hi Kes
Well put, how many MI members have taken you up and asked for your opinion regarding their sites.
Appreciate your comments regarding our web site and any recommendations that you can make.
regards
john |
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David Lawson
Mi Mod Patrol
118 Posts |
Posted - 21/07/2009 : 12:19:46
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quote:
[......Why does a company need to go through ridiculous motions of persuading or allowing the customer to believe that the company is a bigger concern, with additional offices that the customer needs to be speaking to, or the staff from that office are tied up or unavailable or the stock comes from somewhere other than it's real origins?
No it's not necessarily lying, but it's not truthful either (sic: my bold emphasis - David) .......
I feel its the latter that takes the prize. Reputation is all in business. Reputation comes from (mainly) two things: providing a fantastic service, and engendering a bond of trust. From the latter will come warm personal referrals that far outweigh any short term gain to be had from being economical with the truth.
Clients want great Value for money (that doesnt mean lowest price), and want a steady long term relationship with suppliers/providors. The latter connot happen if a supplier/providor is found to have been less than totally honest. Likely outcome is cancellation of contract or no renewal, and no hope of warm referrals. |
Edited by - David Lawson on 21/07/2009 12:22:15 |
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John Ensinger
Mi Mod Patrol
69 Posts |
Posted - 21/07/2009 : 14:23:39
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Hi David
Thanks for your comments and taken on board. However the angle and market place that i believe you are reflecting on is a personal service provider that nothing else matters apart from the repour that you build up with your customers and a proffessional image.
The peace that I have wrote is to help convert visits to your website into orders. Online ordering from an eshop found through google, the customer will never speak to a sales person they will order on what they see.
The peace is written to highlight the key things that people look for on line. What criteria do you look at when buying something online on either ebay or amazon. what makes you decide to buy from one internet site or another.
reputation I agree is everyhting in becoming successful and all of the people that I have gone knocking on doors with or people that i know for over 20 years. All know that we have started up a new business locally and hope to have a chance in providing them with a quote.
Talking to Nike, Apple, HOF, Ricoh & Unipart that carry out the logistics for Waterstone book shops all know what service as an individual I can provide them and this has been by building up a repour with them over the years, They are not bothered about our details only the financial backing of the business and the service and support that we can maintain.
The setup of of the business is to remove any blocks and more than important is to cover the following.
PO Box address when we move into our first proper warehouse premises of our own we wont have to change the address for the post.
Phone number being 0844 we can move to any new premises.
All of the above allows us not needing to change any literature or business cards, but most importantly the customers and suppliers don't have to change their data bases.
various email address for sales purchasing enquiries distribution allows us to channel the emails that need to be delt with first and the person at the other end is targetting their request to a perticular area.
Integrity in business is paramount.
And fully appreciate Kes, Lynn and yourself in writing on this post and look forward to hearing some more.
cheers john |
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The Art of Perception
