Your Business Should Sweat The Small Things
I am sure most of you, if not all of you, have heard the phrase, “Don’t sweat the small things”; however, in this case, your business should do the exact opposite. One of the things I do when I visit a restaurant, corporate office, coffee shop, or fast food place is survey the aesthetics of the establishment. When I say aesthetics what I mean here is the cleanliness, appearance, and overall attitude of the business itself. Why? I do it at my company every day.
I believe that it is the attention to small detail that is very important to the overall functionality of my business and helps me measure the culture I strive to create within our daily operations. At the same time, I believe the small things are critical to our clients. Let me ask you this, what do your bathrooms look like in your business right now? Would you approve of your most significant customer, client, or that one “unicorn” prospect you are hoping to close walk in there? I read a great article by Rachel Exley on LinkedIn that stated 95% of all customers avoid restaurants where they have had a negative restroom experience. Read more here
Did you know that approximately 55% of first impressions are based on overall appearance and that most customers decide within the first ten seconds whether they will do business with you or not? I stress this to my employees daily that your dress is of great importance. If I sit down with a potential employee and see that they are neatly dressed, no wrinkled, well groomed, etc. it establishes that they take pride in themselves and will take pride in others. Are you taking note of your employee dress? Do you understand that they are a direct reflection of you and your company? At the end of the day a customer might not remember the name of the employee, but they will most certainly remember the name of the business.
Does your company culture embody the attention to detail? Something as simple as watching someone walk over a piece of paper on the floor and not stopping to pick it up could be the same attitude that person gives a potential customer. I had an employee at one of our staffed events for one of our automotive clients take a push broom and sweep the entire showroom floor at the end of the sales event and pick up every stitch of trash left by staff and customers alike, not knowing anyone was paying attention. This meant just as much to me as the closing of a significant sale. Both are important to our company because our clients appreciate and trust us, even more, when seeing this attention to detail and ownership.
Accountability should not only be to the big tasks in business or even your life for that matter. Every detail, when you are trying to achieve a goal, move the needle, or grow is vital and should be treated with great importance. When you have a business and a staff that is managing cleaning the bathroom with the same pride as they do when working with a customer you can trust your client base will be getting the very best. Most importantly you can believe that your clients are advocating for you and are building brand and business loyalty that will last for a long time.
