How do new customers see your business? We become so complacent when it comes to looking and not seeing. Once we get used to something we take it for granted and it just becomes normal for us. So many Capetonians live and work close to Table Mountain, but so many of us just forget to look up and see the majestic beauty of what we have on our door step.
The same goes for things that are deteriorating or dirty or broken. We get used to a broken door handle or a blown light bulb or a dirty wall and it just becomes a part of our normal. This is true not only at home but also our places of work. We arrive in the office, mind busy, ready to work and forget to stop and look at things as if for the first time. One of our clients told me that they spend 5 minutes each week on the opposite side of the street to their restaurant just looking at how everything looks. This gave them a new perspective as to how customers see them when arriving for the first time. Simple things like a dirty entrance, weeds, fingers on the glass, crooked signs are just some of things that people pick up, even subconsciously, and rate the quality of the business before walking through the front door.
Take time today to step out of your business and look in as if for the first time. Make a list of issues, no matter how small, and then get things fixed, cleaned, straightened and looking as if the business cares enough about itself to care for the customers. And don’t forget the kitchen, stock room and back door. Enjoy, let us know how it goes.