There are all kinds of factors which will dictate how successful your business is. Your knowledge of your particular industry, how healthy your company culture is, and your marketing strategies are all extremely important. However, one thing you may be neglecting is the professional image and communication at your business. The way you present your business to customers and partners is extremely important to your overall success. Here are some of the most important factors to a professional image.

First of all, the people handling your phone calls. The way your receptionists or call centre agents handle inbound calls is going to have a profound effect on the way your business is perceived. Various studies have indicated that the way people judge customer service hinges heavily on the tone of the staff’s voice. Your call handlers could be treading lightly with every word, and doing their best to sound as polite as possible. This may work through email, but if the customer doesn’t believe the person on the other end, it will all be for nothing. If you’re afraid that your receptionists aren’t using a professional, approachable tone, then consider further training. Even better, you could hire a professional call handling service.

The cleanliness and standards of your office is another big thing when it comes to your professional image. If you’re running a particularly small business, this can be pretty easy to neglect. In an office of ten to twenty employees, where everyone’s comfortable with each other and fairly laid back, then cleanliness and organisation can slip. This may not have any direct impact on your bottom line, true. However, when a prospective partner comes to have a look around, it could mean the difference between closing a lucrative deal and losing it. Aside from this, having a more organised workplace has been proven to improve employee morale, which in turn boosts productivity. Make sure everyone’s pitching in to keep the office clean and presentable, or consider hiring some office cleaning services.

Finally, the state of your website. If you’ve been running your business for long enough, I won’t have to tell you how important your website can be. In this digital age we live in, your website is likely to be the first impression anyone receives of your company. If it’s obviously been designed and maintained to a professional standard, then your business is going to come off as professional. If it’s cheap, overcomplicated or thrown together, then that’s how your brand is going to appear. Remember that just because you had your site designed by a professional at some point doesn’t guarantee that it still holds up. The technology, nuances and style of web design are constantly changing, and may be completely different from what they were when you had your website designed. Every six months or so, have a look at your competitor’s sites and see if there’s anything yours is missing.

If you’re concerned that your professional image is a little weak, be sure to start with these three areas.