little things destroy trust

When you work alone or in a small company it can be quite easy to lose confidence and end up projecting a rather dismal image to your clients so given that it's spring cleaning time we should all do a quick check of how our business appears to the outside world. Try these checks as a starting point;

• Ring the phone numbers on your card - are they still valid, who answers the phone, does your voicemail message sound professional and confident?



• Email yourself from a test email address - we get a surprising number of bounces because people have changed providers and forgotten to redirect their email


• Do a search for yourself or your company on Google, does your website appear, have you contributed to any blogs, is your Skillfair profile (and any other profiles) up to date?


• Take a look at the last dozen emails you've sent - do they all have your contact details included, are they confident and positive, clear and to the point?

If all's well then you can take a break with a clear conscience - if not then a little spring-cleaning on your business image will make you feel better and, more importantly, will ensure that potential clients get a positive impression however they make contact with you.