Where’s Your Wrapper?

Despite the fact that there are hundreds of broken, partially wrapped crayons lurking in the nooks and crannies of my house, my daughter insists on buying a new box of crayons every time we go to Target.  Now, I know that all those crayons back at home stuffed in the sofa cushions are perfectly capable of  getting the job done. You can even buy a thing that melts all those broken pieces down to create new cool swirly ones!  But, in her mind, nothing colors better than a brand new crayon, still wearing its wrapper proudly with a nice pointy top.  So, would you agree that for her, perception is reality?

For many of us, that is an absolute truth.  The value we perceive as true is what we tend to act on, regardless of  if it’s based in fact or not.  A posting on a Havard Business Review blog by Jeffrey Pfeffer states that what matters is not so much what you do, but what people think you have done. He goes on to say that once people have formed an impression of another, they stop gathering new information.  Now this can be good news for some, but devastating news for others.  As a business owner, you must ask yourself daily, what do I want to say about my business today?  What’s your personal brand? What’s your value proposition? It only takes the people you meet a few seconds to develop an opinion of you and if what they meet is anything shy of spectacular, as I said above, they may not attempt to gather any new information on you – no second chance.

So, your homework. Take a good look at yourself and your business. What do people perceive about you – expert or just somebody doing a job?  Don’t be the broken crayon.  You may have all the right ingredients it takes to do the job, but if it’s not packaged right, prospects, like my daughter, will go for the new crayon every time.

**Support local businesses: Check out MODA Image Consulting. Owner Mila Grigg.  www.modaimageconsulting.com