Opening Gestures by Michelle Miller

Michelle Miller writes about Great Openings Gestures. She hits the nail on the head about the delivery of your brand's message. The esthetics. The way it is presented to the buying public. I'll let you read what she wrote:

Great brands calculate and create opening gestures that stem from a passion for the business. Starbucks did it with the European cafe storefront. Krispy Kreme did it with warm doughnuts plucked right off the conveyor belt. Google does it by customizing their homepage logo to honor a holiday, historic event or person. Apple did it with the iPod using sleek minimalist design - who would have thought pure white could be so colorful?

These brands also realize that they have hundreds of opening gestures to contend with everyday, since customers arrive via different avenues and with different mindsets. Just to tick off a few miniature opening gestures, you have:

• store location
• signage
• parking lot
• physical
• entrance
• store atmosphere (lighting, cleanliness, smell, etc.)
• greeting
• by staff members
• how the phone is answered
• delivery and content of outgoing voicemail message
• headlines in ads
• homepage on the website

I’m sure you can think of a few more. This may even be the first time you’re thinking about it at all. What are your opening gestures? Are they remarkable enough to get the attention of customers? Take five minutes to jot down a list of your opening gestures, then give them a rating from 1 to 10. How’s it going? What could be improved? Are you brave enough to have some of your customers rate your opening gestures? It could be an eye opener. Improve your opening gestures and you’ll improve your bottom line.