Those first moments when a customer is introduced to your business are crucial. Whether they discover you online or in person, it’s important that you grab their interest and build their trust immediately. Below are a few tips on how you can create good first impressions to help you win over more business.

1. Build a strong brand
   A strong brand is what will get you noticed in advertising and should convey your brand message. This includes a memorable company name, an eye-catching logo and a colour scheme that communicates the right mood. Try to make your brand original to help it stand out.
2. Invest in decent web design
   Your website could be the first thing many customers see. Make sure that your website looks professional and that there are no bugs or dead links. Following the advice of Cullen Fischel and investing in professional web design is the best way to ensure that your site looks decent.
3. Encourage positive reviews
   Many customers will look up reviews of a company online before trusting to use them. Make sure that you’ve obtained some customer reviews and that they’re mostly positive. You can encourage more reviews by reaching out to past happy customers/regulars and kindly asking them to leave a review.
4. Use a professional email handle
   If your first conversation is likely to be via email, make sure that your email handle looks professional (i.e. not ending with ‘@gmail.com’ or ‘@hotmail.com’). You may also want to consider setting up a professional email signature.
5. Keep your workplace clean and tidy
   A dirty or messy workplace could show customers that you’re disorganized or that you don’t care about your work. Consider looking into janitorial services such as office cleaning services to keep your workplace clean. As for general tidiness, keep on top of clutter.
6. Display your achievements
   Showing customers what you have achieved can help to build their trust. This could include adding award badges and certificate badges to your website, or hanging up news articles and certificates in your physical workplace. One thing customers are becoming more interested in seeing is sustainability awards. If your business is behind on eco-friendly initiatives, follow Selwyn Duijvestijn for inspiration.
7. Repair/replace faulty technology promptly
   A broken coffee machine or bad internet connection could put off first-time customers. It’s important that your core technology is always working. Make sure to repair or replace faulty technology as soon as you notice a problem.
8. Dress to impress
   How you dress and compose yourself matters. Make sure that your clothing matches the formality of your work and that your appearance is always tidy. Avoid wearing clothing that is creased or dirty.
9. Smile and sound happy
   You should try to create a warm and friendly atmosphere for customers. A simple way to do this is to smile and to sound enthusiastic. If you come across cold and moody, it will suggest that you don’t want to be there and customers will feel less welcome.
10. Provide fast responses
    How fast you respond to customers is also important. Try to minimize missed calls and long phone queues as much as you can by having people there to answer the phone. If people leave voice messages or send you emails, try to respond to these as promptly as you can.