People are going to judge you by your immediate perception whether you like it or not, so make sure that your “cover” is well designed.

In a personal capacity it’s a little different. You might be stuck in an elevator with someone for three hours forcing them to get to know you and realise that you’re actually quite a nice person. But they are still going to judge you. They are still going to assume you’re an idiot because you made the stupid mistake of buying a Samsung phone over an iPhone, unless of course they made the same sad choice.

The same thing happens with companies. Your company sometimes has as little as a second to attract a potential customer into being interested in your business. What’s interesting however is that people forget that business people are also normal people. What I mean by that is that there seems to be this gap about what is right in a business environment, and what is right in a casual / social one. But people are people, and how they see and feel about things doesn’t change regardless of their environment.

Every single time a customer comes into contact with you or your brand, a perception is is either formed or reinforced, whether it’s in the boardroom or on the beach.

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The better the design, and the more you are able to consistently control that perception, the more potential there is to win new business and increase your market share.

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If you need convincing, think about your own buying decisions. Start to analyse the perceptions you have about people and products in your own life, and why you perceive them that way. Those perceptions are unique to you, and are almost never based on truth.

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K