Nowadays, society is very visual. Whether it is games, movies, shows, videos or still pictures… many people are stimulated by what they see. I was watching a cooking show recently that talked about how the meal not only had to taste good… but it also had to look appealing. When you look at almost any restaurant ad, the food looks marvelously delicious. Then order that food at the restaurant and compare the real thing with the picture. It never looks as good as the picture.
Well, businesses are the same way. If the owner or manager of a business doesn’t really respect their facility… that lack of respect usually shows up within the business. Have you ever noticed at night how some business signs are only half lit probably because the bulb(s) is burned out? And it stays that way for months. You wonder if the owner or manager ever looks at their business after dark, or do they simply not care.
Have you ever tried to look inside a business window or glass door to find that you can’t see inside because of all the flyers taped to the glass? And if you look really closely, there will be flyers that are 6 months old and even older. You can’t see inside the business because of all the paper flyers. Come on, business people, it’s nice to be community-minded, but it is crazy to go overboard with the paper notices.
When I was with Sam’s Club in Charleston, South Carolina, Mr. Walton made an unexpected visit one time. The actual visit went pretty well. All the Department Manager knew their sales numbers, our merchandise looked full and neat. Sales were up so this pleased Mr. Walton. Mr. Sam got great answers from our Club Partners when he asked them questions. At the end of the visit he asked me to come outside with him. Yes… I was worried. He asked me whose name was on the building, and of course I said “it is your name – Sam’s Club.” He told me how important it was to have people see his Sam’s Clubs as a first-class operation and "that they feel that our company respected our members." His warehouses had to be clean, full and provide great prices and service. That’s when he asked me about the bases of the parking lot lights. Yep, the yellow paint was faded. Some had been hit and the paint was missing. They didn’t look good.
Mr. Sam told me that our visit that day was really good, but that he noticed the light pole bases when they pulled into the parking lot. He explained that if we had respect for our business and our members, we wouldn’t let the light pole bases look so bad. I explained to Mr. Sam that we didn’t own the light poles. There was a company that owned the parking lot and light poles. I will always remember how Mr. Sam said the management company didn’t have their name on the building, it was his name. And though we didn’t own the light poles, we could still make them look good. Mr. Sam advised that if we painted them after closing that night, more than likely no one from the management company would know we had painted the bases, however the customers coming to Sam’s Club the next day would see freshly-painted bases and have a good impression of his company.
A businesses image can be very important. The business owner/manager can take pride in his or her business. Maybe the employees will take pride and work a little harder to keep the business looking good. And maybe… just maybe… the customer will see how good things look and they will respect the business and continue shopping or dining or enjoying services over and over again.
MBWA – managing by walking around. Seeing what is actually happening around your business. Visiting your competitor to see if you are leading the fight for sales. MBWA – checking out the image that your customers see every day… and determining if you leave a good impression or a bad impression. Try it sometime, it may be an eye-opening experience for you.