First Impressions, You never get a second chance

I want this article to make you think about some important issues when it comes to disorganization in your office.

For just a few minutes think about how you feel when you walk into a disorganized office, whether it is yours or somebody you are doing business with. Does it make you feel uncomfortable, stressed, distracted, overwhelmed, or anxious? How does it make you feel if it is your office? Are you ok with feeling like that?

Think about how new clients feel when they walk into your disorganized office. I can guarantee they will focus more on the disorganization instead of what you are saying to them. They will be asking themselves if they should go with another (more organized) company. When you think disorganized, you think about the company not returning your calls on time, showing up late for appointments, forgetting they had an appointment with you, misfiling your information, or even worse, your information getting mixed in with another client’s information. On a whole, you want to know the company you are dealing with is efficient, focused, and productive.

Be sure that the first person a client comes into contact with when they walk into the office is organized. The gatekeeper will be a representation of the how the office runs. You could be super organized, but if the first person they see when they enter the office is disorganized, they will have already formed an opinion about the company.

Do you find yourself distracted by your disorganization? If you do, I guarantee your clients will also. How long has it taken you to find a file, paperwork, or important information when a client was in your office? Were you embarrassed that they had to sit there and wait while you searched for information and tried to remember where it was located? If so, you need to really think about getting organized before you start to lose clients.

Walk into your office and write down all the things you want to change in 2013. Do you want to re-organize your physical space to make it more esthetically appealing to the eye? Do you need to re-structure your filing systems? Can you see the top of your desk? Get the piles off your desk and try to keep as little as possible on the desk. We already have enough stress in the workday, why would you want to add to that stress by being disorganized? Do you want to retain your clients and not lose them to the competition because you are disorganized? Get the edge on your competition and get organized!

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