On a Sunday morning, a preacher decided to dress up like a homeless beggar. He sat in front of his worship center begging for alms. Instead of extending a hand, every single member of the quietly avoided him as they entered the sanctuary. When they were all seated, they saw this homeless dirty looking man climbed the pulpit. And they watched as he slowly removed all the rags masking him and transformed into their very own pastor. They were shocked and ashamed of themselves.

I am not interested in the sermon the pastor preached on that Sunday, neither am I interested in judging the congregation. My focus is on perception; the right perception. Because the pastor was dressed differently, like a beggar, it was very easy for his members to ignore him because they couldn’t recognize him. So, it is with business. It is all about perception. Not just perception; but the right perception.

What is perception? It is the ability to see, hear or come to the knowledge of something through the senses. It can simply be interpreted as the way through which something is regarded, interpreted or understood. In business, it is the prestigious introduction and acceptability of your product or service.   

In business, most especially if you are selling a product, you may not have the opportunity to impress your customers more than once. The first impression, like they always say, counts. How your customers see, hear or come to the knowledge of your product is important. For someone selling a service, you only have the opportunity to impress your customers with an amazing sales pitch or proposal. If yours is a product, you may not have the opportunity to see your customers; your product will do that for you.

So what do you have to do to create the right first impression or perception? Good question. Let’s start with those selling services. If you are selling a service and you don’t have to meet with your clients or customers, then the medium or media through which you are selling your product must be very presentable. Your first medium of connect with your target audience is your website. Your website is like your virtual office where your customers can relate with you or your service-product. So it must look stunning, interactive and user friendly. From your website, your clients should be able to access your downloadable brochure or catalogue. It is like your marketing tool so it must be artistically designed by a fantastic graphics designer. If you don’t have a good one around you, contract it out; look beyond the shores of your country. Once this is done, your social media handles, which are like the support system for your virtual office (website) should be enriched with quality content (text, audio, video and pictures or images). Take note of this: your social platforms aren’t your office; they are the community where you find your target audience. So, you must find a way of capturing your share of the community and redirecting them to your website where you will capture their data. Also, you don’t have to be on all social platforms. Find the ones where your target customers congregate and then go after them. 

If you are selling a service and you need to meet with your clients, all the above are necessary. In addition, you should have a fantastic presentation (either in the form of power point presentation or hardcopy of your brochure or catalogue). Lastly, you must look the path of the product you are selling. In a nutshell, look good; very good. The way you are dressed will determine how you will be addressed.

On the other hand, if you are selling a product and your client do not need to see you, yours starts with the content of your product. Focus on the content of your product for it is the primary product you are selling. Then your content must be wrapped around a very good packaging. Spend time and resources to create a packaging that will stand out of the crowd if truly you want to become a household name. Of course you need a physical office, a virtual office (website) and social handles. All these will get you started and going.

Lastly, whether you are selling a product or service, you must invest in marketing. No matter how small your budget is, marketing is important. That is the only way your potential customers are going to be aware that you are offering a service or product that will benefit them. All these are what you need to create the right perception, and of course a lasting impression.