In 2019, the way that customers look at your brand is more important than ever before. Good brand image is vital to the successful running of a business and first impressions count. By focusing on improving brand image, whether this is through specialised training courses for staff or investing in bespoke uniforms, you can optimise the customer experience and gain impressive results. This article will explore what businesses across all industries can do to boost their brand image.

The Customer Experience

According to research, more than 70% of British people rate a good customer experience as more important than the actual product they intend to buy. Although you should also be prioritising the quality of your products (to reduce returns and negative reviews), you should be constantly reviewing your current customer service methods and continually think of ways that you can improve the overall service.

Business shouldn’t just focus on the delivery of good customer service, however. According to one study, 80% of businesses already believe that they deliver a superior service to their consumers – but only 8% of shoppers actually agree with this statement.

First impressions really do count; 50% of consumers expressed that they were more likely to become repeat customers if the first purchase experience was a good one. Not only that, but if you’re looking to increase your consumer acquisition rates – this is a good avenue to go down. 84% of people make a purchase because of a referral; so if your first impression is worthwhile, it could lead to additional business. But how can you make sure that your customer service stands out from your competitors?

What can your business do?

You should never underestimate the power of a well-tailored uniform. You need to ensure that your employees are identifiable to customers and this can only be achieved by designing a uniform that stands out; while catering to each type of individual that works for you (considering religions etc). By having a uniform rather than just a generic dress code, you will spend less time monitoring what employees are wearing on a daily basis which otherwise could become extremely costly. As well as this, uniforms represent your business – so you must design them in the correct way and prioritise employee comfort to ensure you receive the best delivery from them.

Secondly, your business should focus on employee training and development to ensure that they are delivering the very best level of service. This should cover ways that they interact with consumers of all kind (race, religion, disability) and offer the most efficient service possible to show that you’re a reputable brand. On top of this training, you should also make your staff aware of any new products or services that you begin to offer so that they can give customers all of the information that they require.

Employees are integral to the smooth running of a business, but there are other ways to boost brand image. Research has suggested that customers will spend up to 13 minutes in a store — so it’s important that you deliver an exceptional service. Queues are notoriously long here in the UK and can be the biggest contributing factor to a customer’s walk-out. To combat this, why not look at queue management software and point of sales service?

Keep in mind that good brand image is the key to customer retention and it’s important to do it right.