A friend of mine can trace his ancestry back to the royal families in Russia (so he says) and he certainly inherited a name with about 23 characters in it and several syllables. He was a very good accountant and had an extraordinarily loyal group of clients. But when he ran a client advisory board he was told by his clients that they thought he would pick up more business if he changed the name of his firm “because it is too hard to pronounce and spell and prospects may be intimidated or embarrassed because they don’t know how to pronounce it.” So he changed the firm’s name to Richfields and the rest as they say is history!
Positioning is very important. What people see conveys what they think they’ll get. Here are some illustrations of what I mean.
You’re looking for legal advice. Would you call on this guy?
You want to get a tax return done. Would you go here …
Or here …
And if you are looking for business advice would you call on Taxpresso or …
If you’re looking for a contractor to build a new home or a re-model woud this guy be your first choice?
Do you get the idea?
Does your firm match up with the message you’re trying to convey to the market you’re trying to serve? This applies not only to the outward appearance but also the interior appointments and cleanliness. It’s always the little things that make the difference when people form an opinion about a business partner. This is particularly important when the “product” you sell is intangible and/or very difficult for a lay-person to make a quality judgement on.
If you have a comfortable and clean reception area, a happy smiling Director of First Impressions, a clean restroom, good quality coffee served in good quality cups then, in the mind of your clients, that will reflect the quality of the technical work you do AND they will not be embarrassed to refer you AND you will be able to charge a bit more than $79 for a tax return.