Design on the mind

As a web design company, we have clients from a whole range of different businesses. We have been approached by all sorts of companies; some of which we have found to be ethically unsound. Either the line of business is unethical or they have wanted us to do something we don’t agree with, in either case, the client is shown the door.
 
Aside from the obvious moral stance of not wanting to be involved with the project; working with an unethical company will more than likely damage your reputation.
 
Would you work with a client whose product or values you don’t agree with? Where do you draw the line?

Toni

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Well, let’s try to define what makes a design good; I suppose a design can be ‘good’ if someone says that it is – so a validation of approval means that it works for that individual. But does approval from the right person makes it good? Think about controversial works of art like a Damien Hurst piece for example, you probably couldn’t get a more divided opinion on that!

Perhaps a design should be considered good if it succeeds at its purpose. A chair design for example has to fulfill a practical function i.e. not falling over when it is sat on. But the aesthetics of the design of the chair are a different matter and all people have different tastes.

It is the same for graphic design, a logo design succeeds when it projects the image and ethos of the company, it is distinctive, memorable, appeals to the target market and it stands out from its competitors. But I can guarantee that each person’s perception of what looks good and ticks those boxes will be different.

With any type of visual design the perception of whether it is good or not is totally subjective. People’s expectations will be different according to what their previous experience has been or what they have aspired to in the past. Take the London Olympic logo, someone somewhere along the line must have thought it looked good, but most of us think it is an absolute monstrosity. Perhaps it was a classic case of ‘too many cooks spoiling the broth’. So the question is; is it a good or a bad design? (Personally I have to say very bad!)

So picture the situation – a company approaches the graphic design company wanting a new image, their old logo looks like it came from the seventies and their brand needs a serious make over. After initial talks and discussions with decision makers the design company comes up with a stunning choice of logos for the client to have a look at.

Most of the panel like design number one, but the director doesn’t (it was his son who designed the old one from his bedroom during his gap year). He sets the designer on a new direction with the design (a visually painful one). But the Director ultimately has the final say on the company’s new logo and even if all around him can see that his choice is going to be detrimental to the company image, he forges ahead. Is his decision right or wrong?

I’m sure there are hundreds of graphic designers out there who have come across the scenario; the client is hell bent on pursuing his choice of design (for whatever reason) and then has the designer develop it further into even more of an eye sore. As a designer you can only do your best to fulfill the brief and try to guide the client in the right direction, but if they really won’t take your advice you can only wonder why they hired the services of a professional designer in the first place. Surely it was because you know the industry and have infinite knowledge and experience in your field.

So is a good design that the client doesn’t like, still a good design? Or is the poor design that the client does like, a good design? What do you think?

Toni

Related Article: Logo Design Trends

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When studying graphic design, should part of a university’s role be to prepare you, the student, for the “real world” industry, or should university just be an outlet for your creative experimentation, whilst you still have the chance to reside in its liberal environs?

Working within the industry, and looking at students and their degree shows, it appears to me that a lot of these students have no sense of reality within their work.

Looking at design in its most basic form, it’s purpose, in my opinion, is to communicate a message. Yet when visiting some of these degree or award shows, although the work may be visually attractive, the message is often not visible – what are these designs trying to say? The foremost important aspect of design in the working world is to convey your client’s message successfully – be it if they are selling trainers, showcasing their services or campaigning against climate change. If your design does not portray this message to the target audience, is your design working?

I don’t mean to say that design can’t simply be done for the sake of designing – design can be created just for attraction’s sake – but if graduates are leaving university without examples of work or skills that show that they can portray a message successfully through design – why would potential employers trust that these graduates can produce effective work for their clients?

Speaking from experience, university was an amazing opportunity to get the creative juices flowing, to experiment freely and grasp some truly exciting projects and concepts (as well as enjoying all of the social aspects!). But does it really teach you the purpose and practice of “good” design – the importance of communicating the message? Does it prepare you how to work within the industry – that deadlines are short and tight, that the client is always right (even when they are wrong), that you must be able to effectively work as part of a team, that you are inexperienced, albeit fresh-faced, and that you have a lot more to learn than you think?

Beginning to work within the design industry is an exciting and daunting prospect – prepare yourself by being responsible for your own learning, and although no one can fully prepare you for what happens, universities could perhaps lend a hand by offering more substantial theoretical and practical advice to students earlier in their studies.

What do you think?

Becky.

Related interesting articles:
Design Skills to Pay the Bills - Computer Arts Magazine
What is it like to be a recently qualified designer? Graphic Design Blog
Diplomacy in Design - Computer Arts Magazine

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Customer loyalty is going to make or break an ecommerce business. After you have attracted visitors to your website, how will you persuade them to buy? After that, how will you keep them coming back? Of course you need an excellent and well thought out ecommerce website design. But it needs to be backed up with efficiency and excellent customer service. Web shoppers are a fickle bunch; annoy them or make them wait and they’ll be gone before you know it.

I have to say that I do quite a lot of shopping online and so I consider myself to be somewhat of an expert in the field. Please do add anything you think I have missed!

So let’s start with my list of ecommerce peeves: the annoying things that will turn your customers away.

1. Flash intros and slow loaders – anything that delays the process of the consumer getting to the products quickly is a disaster for an ecommerce website. A flash intro might look ‘cool’ to you but it only serves to frustrate the user. Slow loading sites are also a big no no, not only does the shopper not want to wait but it brings into question the efficiency of the whole company; “will my order take this long to arrive too?”

2. Access denied! – Some websites require that you download software to gain access to the site or they will deny access if you have set your browser not to use cookies. (Cookies are small files on a computer that track info about the visitor; some people choose to disable them).  It is a big mistake to arrogantly demand that the visitor meet your needs in order to buy from you and you will simply lose their business.

3. Registration log on pages – Web shoppers will not take kindly to being asked to register to gain access to the content of a website. Why would you want to sign up to something you haven’t even seen yet? Don’t make people register before they have even seen what you have to offer; they won’t bother.

4. Pop ups and flashy visuals – A web shopper likes to feel in control of what they are viewing. Pop ups, blinking and bouncing graphics are just annoying extras that they cannot control; they just get in the way of them browsing the products. A lot of people have disabled pop ups anyway, so if you have something important to say then find another way of displaying your message.

5. Annoying music – just annoying really. (Especially if you can’t turn it off and your boss is just walking past your desk!!)

6. Out of stock - Don’t wait till the checkout to tell your customer that the product is out of stock! Tell them before they put it into the shopping basket.

7. Another stock peeve – Fair enough to run out of stock at some point, but don’t send your customers a flyer in the post advertising products that are out of stock once they get to the website.

8. Ineffective search function – If you are going to put a site search function on your website, be sure that it works!

9. Confusing navigation – Ever got lost on a complicated and badly planned website, with no hope of return? Keep it plain and simple, a few clicks to get the customer to the desired item is best. Don’t hide things in pages of unrelated products

10. Hidden prices and costs – Don’t hide prices and costs until the check out page in the hope that the customer will just go ahead and buy anyway.  Unexpected delivery charges sprung at the last minute will not go down well; people don’t like to be tricked.

11. Dead links – Links that don’t take you anywhere or come up with ‘page cannot be displayed’ will reduce the user’s confidence in the website you’re your company. They will more than likely give up and move on.

12. Slow delivery – Don’t send your customers order by snail mail, you will ruin their shopping experience; you can’t entice someone to order something and then fail them at the final hurdle by asking them to wait 10 days for it. I guarantee they won’t come back to your website again.

13. False advertising – Don’t advertise ‘Next Day delivery’ if you can’t guarantee it, people order for next day delivery for a reason – They actually need it the next day!

And now for my list of ‘Must haves’: The things that will get you the conversions and the repeat business.

1. Minimal clicks - The less clicks between entering your site and checking out, the greater the conversion rate. For 99% of sites with every click there is drop off between visitors and shoppers.

2. Clear navigation – Intuitive navigation, guiding the customer to the products they want without any confusion. Most people expect to see it located on the left hand side so it is better to stick to this rule.

3. Where am I? – It is very important to show the user where in the site structure they are. This can be done with headlines, sub-headers and breadcrumbs (i.e. Home > ladies > ladies shoes > pink shoes). In this way the user can quickly get themselves back to where they want to be without having to click ‘back’ a thousand times through everything they just looked at.

4. Detailed product information – give as much information as possible about the product; price, measurements, colour options, features, benefits, availability, shipping time, delivery costs etc. This all serves to persuade the buyer to make the purchase.

5. Product recommendations – Always good to show the customer other things they may like or associated products when they have selected an item.

6. Quality photography – goes without saying really, show the product off to its best advantage allowing the shopper to view several angles and close ups of the item. You’ve got to be able to see what you are getting.

7. Email confirmation - keep the customer informed on the progress of their order. Send an email confirming that you have received their order with full details so that mistakes can be rectified before shipment. Send another email to confirm the shipment of the order.

8. Easy communication – make it easy for your shopper to get hold of you at convenient times. Make the contact details and FAQs prominent on the website. Respond to emails immediately, (some say within 24 hours, personally I think this is too long!)

9. Legitimacy and security – make the user feel secure about disclosing their information and card details on your website by showing your security measures and fraud prevention safeguards. If you are registered in a professional capacity then display that too.

10. Guarantees – product guarantees, manufacture guarantees and money back guarantees; display all of these clearly on your website.

11. Delivery options – Give the customer the choice to pay a little more to get their purchase quicker. Giving them the power to choose gives them some control over the process which will work in your favour.  Quite often people are happy to pay more for a speedy delivery particularly if they have been given the option.

12. Make returns easy – Pre paid returns labels and packaging are a must. Make this a hassle free process

13. Belonging - Requesting customer input and devising loyalty rewards will give the customer that sense of belonging.

What are the things that have really annoyed you and put you off buying from a website? Are you loyal to a particular brand or do you shop around every time?

Toni

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Image Credit: NASA, Donald Walter (South Carolina State University), Paul Scowen and Brian Moore (Arizona State University)

I saw this picture on the Nasa website yesterday and it made me think; Isn’t it amazing? We can take a picture of something happening 7,100 light years from earth of a star 40 times more massive than our sun blowing a giant bubble of material into space.  We can take a picture on a mobile phone and send it anywhere we want, we can load albums online to share and download images at the touch of a button. What would those pioneers of photography 100 years ago think if they could see this picture? Perhaps just 500 years ago it would have been considered sourcery or some sort of religious intuition?

Images are powerful things, designers and advertisers utilize this power everyday for  persuasive communication. Although today people realize that images can be manipulated very cleverly there is still a real authenticity to a picture that can’t be denied. “Seeing is beliving”.

What image sticks most in your mind? Or what image had the most profound effect on you when you saw it?

Toni

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To trade online you need to set up an internet merchant account with an acquiring bank. The internet merchant account enables an ecommerce business to receive funds from credit card sales. You also need a payment gateway which processes the card information and provides the link between the ecommerce website and the merchant account. These processes are obviously of paramount importance in the workings of an ecommerce business, so it is well worth doing your research to make sure you get the service that your business needs.

Of course in these situations I can really only recommend that you take advice from a professional web design company, they will have experience in setting up ecommerce merchant accounts and designing the website to go with it. However, if you do decide to go it alone: Shop around, read the small print and be very sure every eventuality is catered for.

Let’s just remind ourselves of the process for an online or ecommerce purchase, so as to be sure that each stage of the process is covered:

1. Customer adds the product to the shopping basket on the website.

2. Once at the ‘checkout’, the customer fills in a secure form, adding their personal and financial details.

3. These details are then transmitted to a payment gateway service, which is separate to the shopping basket. The gateway service sends the information through the financial networks; the customer’s credit card account is debited and the internet merchant account is credited.

4. Once all funds have cleared, the money can then be transferred to the ordinary business account.

So if you are a new company launching yourself as an ecommerce business you will need to look at getting a merchant bank account and a payment gateway; there are solutions out there that combine the two in one package. But for the purposes of this article I will look at them separately. If you are an existing business already able to process credit cards then skip the next bit and go down to payment gateways.

Ecommerce Merchant Accounts

Internet merchant accounts can be gained from most major banks, but there are plenty of fees to watch out for (of course!) due to the ‘risk’ involved. The fees will be determined by many factors; for example, the length of time your business has been up and running, what you are selling and your turnover. A “Low risk” business such as web hosting will qualify for a lower rate, whereas a “High risk” business such as a pharmaceutical reseller will have higher rates.

Another determining factor for a business to be classified as high risk is when its chargeback potential is high. (Chargeback fees occur when the merchants account has already been charged by the cardholders account and the transaction is then found to be fraudulent). There are also particular types of  business that will be considered ‘fly by night’ therefore deemed high risk and penalized for it. So you need to find a solution that will suit your company.

Here are some things to think about when choosing your internet merchant account provider:

1. You don’t have to choose the same bank that provides your normal business account, but be sure to choose a recognized name that will provide stability and reliability.
2. Full disclosure of all fees should be set out clearly in the documentation with no ambiguities or nasty shocks. Ask for clarification on:
• Application fee - some institutions will charge you for the privilege of applying for an account, regardless of whether your application is successful or not.
• Setup fee - once your application has been approved, there may be other fees associated with establishing the account.
• Statement - the charge each month for issuing you statements on all transactions
• Transaction - a flat rate on each transaction.
• Monthly Minimum - what you will be charged regardless of the level of sales each month 
• Reserve - some providers require you to maintain a certain level in the account to cover chargeback fees.
• Chargeback – Any fraudulent or disputed transaction where the card holder asks for their money back will cost you a fee, usually a substantial one.
• Versatility – check that you will be able to handle and process payments from a wide variety of sources including all major credit, debit cards, bank transfers and installments. If you are operating internationally check language and currency issues.

As an example of what to look for, supposing you are going to be selling a lot of very low priced items you would need to look very closely at the ‘transaction’ fee because if you were charged even a low percentage of the cost of the product, you wouldn’t see much profit.

3. Check out the customer support system and reputation, if something goes wrong you need to know it will be sorted instantly by a helpful and knowledgeable person.

Payment Gateways

Ok, now let’s look at the payment gateway. If you are an existing business and already have the facility to take credit card payments and therefore already have a merchant account; your web designer will need to find a compatible payment gateway solution to allow you to take those card payments online. The payment gateway provides the secure link between your website and the merchant account and ensures the card holders details are kept secure.

For payment gateways, think about the following issues and discuss them with your web designer:

1. Fees – some gateways will charge you an additional percentage on top of what you already pay to the bank. There are some though like Protx that will charge you a flat rate per transaction with no extra costs. Protx also have a special deal for small businesses where you just pay a small fixed monthly fee. Other fees to watch out for are:
• Annual subscription fees
• Set up or integration fees
• Fees for different currencies
• Fees for different payment features
• Fees for fraud screening and protection.

2. Fraud protection - There are a few types of transaction protection which may come at a price but will be well worth the extra money particularly if you are selling a ‘high risk’ product.
• AVS protection - Address Verification System (AVS) decreases the incidence of accepting fraudulent transactions by verifying the cardholder’s billing address with the card issuer. Using AVS on your transactions may also mean that your merchant bank provider will reduce your fees.
• Liability shift – If you use ‘Verified by Visa’ or ‘Mastercard SecureCode’ the liability of a chargeback will be shifted from you to the card issuer in the event that a card holder denies a transaction.
• CV2 – the digits on the signature strip of the credit card, also assist in the authentication of the card during “Card Not Present” transactions.
• Fraud Screening reports – will notify you at a glance of the level of risk associated with each transaction.

3. Compatibility – is it compatible with the shopping basket facility that you want and your internet merchant account?

4. Customer support – again you need to check this out; a company that will only respond to emails and have a three day turnaround on replies are going to frustrate you when you get into difficulties.
 

Two in One

As I mentioned earlier there are packages out there with internet merchant accounts and payment gateways rolled into one. There are quite a few out there to choose from. Again, my advice is to seek expert and impartial guidance from a web designer with experience in dealing with ecommerce solutions. Obviously you will need to consider all of the points already discussed and make an informed decision.  Keep in mind what the needs and goals of your business are before you sign the dotted line.

If you haven’t fallen asleep, I would really appreciate any comments you may have on this blog! 

Toni

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Podcasting, it’s the latest thing in digital media! thepodfactory, based in Bristol are talented and experienced in producing high quality audio and video podcasts for the tourism and leisure industry. Their clients include Bristol Old Vic, Destination Bristol, Longleat, The churches conservation trust and many more.

thepodfactory approached us at Deckchair to design and build a website that would not only showcase examples of their work but would have the impact required to appeal to the tourism, education and commerce markets. The website is visually exciting and incorporates podcast examples, case studies and a whole wealth of information and advice on podasting, all easily accessible through intuitive navigation.

 thepodfactory has the skills and know-how to help you to integrate podcasting with your existing advertising and marketing activity. Most companies and businesses can benefit by using podcasting, externally and internally, so take a look and see what they can do for you. Click here for professional podcasting in Bristol.

Toni

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Well done to Sham Tanna, our photographer who shot the billboard photograph for our advertising campaign for the Environment Agency. The graphic designers at Deckchair came up with the concept for the campaign and Sham worked under our creative direction to produce the image. We are proud to announce that the picture has been announced as the Winner of the AOP Open 2007 with five Judges Choice Awards and the winner of the Public Vote Award. (Thanks to all of you who voted for us)

From over 1,700 entries and an exhibition of 84 images, the Open Judges chose the picture as their number one, describing it as ‘captivating’ and ‘arresting’ with “a dynamic tension and a strong suggestion of narrative that made it intriguing and at the same time compelling” (Terence Pepper, National Portrait Gallery).

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Let’s have a look at types of successful ecommerce websites. For an ecommerce website to succeed it needs to firstly be a viable online business, meaning you have to have a product that people want to buy and would feel comfortable buying online. If you are an established business looking to venture into the online world, you need to think how your business model will translate into this new area. If you are a startup company, then ecommerce is a viable platform to launch your business, but in both cases you need to have done your research.

Your research should include market research, customer profiling, competition analysis and probably most importantly ROI (Return on investment) research. You need to know that your profits will be healthy enough to make it all worth while.

The next stage is designing and developing the ecommerce website. There are a lot of options out there to choose from; a potential minefield. Different types of ecommerce packages will suit different businesses. An off the shelf solution which may be very cheap or even come free with an ecommerce hosting service, is going to look attractive to a start up business. But it is debatable whether these wizard-based / template / do-it-yourself style solutions would be successful in the long run; are they really that effective with today’s sophisticated on-line shoppers? Some may enable you to make sales but certainly do not allow you to operate at full potential.

All I can say is that it is worth investing money in the thing that is going to make you the money. (Strangely a lot of people haven’t grasped this concept yet!) Today, online competition is fierce and an original and intelligently thought out design is going to be more successful and give you that edge over your competitors. However, whatever you decide to do I would strongly recommend that you spend a lot of time planning it. Think about the following issues and discuss them with your web designer:

Usability and customer experience – Web shoppers are not the most patient people so be sure the web design not only grabs attention but is simple and easy to use. Increase your ‘browse to buy’ ratios by allowing the user to easily find what they are looking for and make their purchase quickly. Little glitches or errors will frustrate the user and more than likely turn them away; like a search function that doesn’t work properly or a slow loading page.

Positive Brand Image - Building a memorable, positive brand image that online consumers will be attracted to in the long term is a key issue. Branding in the online world is far more than just transferring your print brand identity to the Web.

Updateability – Make sure that you think carefully about the areas of your site that you need to update yourself. A content management system is essential for an ecommerce website, you will need to add new products, change prices, update news stories, upload pictures etc. It might also be useful to be able to add links. You don’t want to be running back to your designer for costly updates and changes that you could do yourself.

Web marketing - Appropriate marketing of the website is a key issue, and a huge subject (another whole article in fact). Increasing and maintaining your search engine profile is an ongoing strategy, and it is one of the most vital elements for success. Very basically, you need to get people to your website to maximize your sales. Search engine optimization and pay per click campaigns create as many doorways into your website as possible to ensure that your potential customers are finding you. You will also need to keep a watchful eye on your competitors, analyse their marketing strategies and stay ahead of the game.

Download Speed - The download speed has to be fast, so that regardless of someone’s connection speed they won’t have to wait for the website to load. They will only give it a matter of seconds before exiting and moving on to your competitor’s website.

Scalability – Allow plenty of flexibility within the design so that the website has the capacity to grow with your business. You don’t want to be held up at a later date by a restrictive design that can’t handle large volumes of traffic or can’t expand to fit your product sections.

Compatibility – Make sure all aspects of your website can connect successfully with any existing internal databases, banking systems, stock control or email systems. (Unless you wanted to overhaul them anyway).

Analysis - You need to have a comprehensive reporting system to enable you to analyse every aspect of your website: marketing, sales, web traffic, visitor tracking and stock control. It is only with constant analysis that you can make the necessary adjustments to these areas to ensure the best use of your budgets and continue to improve your service and turnover.

Payment system – Let’s not overlook this very important aspect – the money!! You will need a merchant banking account, to enable you to process credit card transactions and actually retrieve the money from credit card orders. Make sure you choose a reliable, fast and secure system with a proven track record.

Data capture – Be sure to have a function on your website that enables you to capture the details of visitors to your website even if they haven’t purchased something. The usual methods are to sign up to email alerts about promotions/offers and newsletters. This data can be used for future marketing campaigns.

Newsletter and email functions – A vital way to market your products; a system set up to automatically send out newsletters and emails to your entire customer database. Auto responder’s work in a similar way, allowing a ‘feed’ of e-letters or documents to be sent out at allocated times to customers. Don’t forget as well that a confirmation email sent automatically to confirm a sale that details every thing about that purchase will save a lot of phone calls from confused customers, wondering if their order reached you. A further email confirming the shipment will also add to the customer’s confidence and again reduce the volume of calls through your customer services department.

Relative and informative content – Quality copywriting that appeals to your target market is an absolute must. Ensure that all products have a full description and useful, relevant information to encourage the customer to buy. This content is also helpful to your search engine ranking and placement.

Quality Imagery – Display your products using quality product photography, it is not enough these days to just stick the manufacturers image on there. Go the extra mile and allow the user to explore the product from different angles with alternative pictures and zoom functions.

Trust and Reassurance – To get your shopper to part with their money and willingly give their card details online you need to emulate a professional and approachable appearance. An attractive, professional website design reassures the visitor that they’ve come to the right place. Secure shopping, clear contact details, returns policies and delivery details give the feeling of professionalism that will convince the customer to click that ‘BUY NOW’ button. Think about posting a page outlining your technical support policies and a F.A.Q section, this is a step towards addressing legitimate shopper concerns.

Call to Action – An obvious one, I know, but it is surprising the number of websites that don’t have clear phone numbers and contact details available on every page. Also make sure that your ‘Buy now’ and ‘Add to basket’ buttons are large and obvious.

Aside from the consumer facing website, you also need to make sure that all the internal structures of the ecommerce business are in place and functioning as they should. Delivery systems, returns policy and customer service all need to be operating smoothly to ensure you are providing the best possible service. Quality service with speedy delivery and an easy returns system will keep your customers loyal. Customer service is a big one – be sure that mistakes are dealt with promptly in a friendly and efficient manner, people don’t mind mistakes but they certainly won’t put up with rudeness or being ignored. I will be writing another article soon on “Ecommerce peeves and must haves”.

Well I think that just about covers it! So to summarise;
 
• Do your market research properly
• Choose a professional web design company
• Plan your website with your long term goals in mind
• Plan your web marketing strategies
• Focus on all angles of the business
• Keep your competitors in your rear view mirror at all times
• Keep your customers informed and happy
• Make loads of money!

Toni 

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Thank you for smiling at me! You know who you are! (although you probably don’t read this blog)

What a difference it makes to smile and be friendly toward your fellow human beings. ‘Service with a smile’ is the basis for all customer care training. We have all experienced the grumpy, rude individual who is clearly not happy to serve you your lunch. They plonk the food in front of you with all the social graces of a baboon. You tentatively ask if you might possibly have a jug of water and they fix you with a withering stare before huffing off toward the kitchen. You can’t help but wonder if they might spit in your water and wipe your pizza around the floor before they gave it to you. Would you leave this person a tip? If you did it would only be because you are so very English. I bet you wouldn’t return to that restaurant though and it is more than likely you wouldn’t recommend it to your friends.

Anyway, I digress, what I was trying to say was; make sure the public face of your business is friendly and helpful. A business of any sort will function better if it emulates good feeling. Be sure to value the customer relationship; if your clients’ are happy and well looked after, you can guarantee a recommendation. A common mistake made by companies, particularly in the service industries is to go all out on marketing to new customers and forget about the existing ones. After all it is easier to sell to someone who has already bought into your brand; they don’t need any more convincing!

The power of “Word of mouth” should not be underestimated or overlooked either when looking at strategies for marketing a company. I shall not forget the effect on people serving me in restaurants, when allowing them a little glimpse of my press pass (back in the day) when opening my wallet. The dawning realization of what I might mention in my review spreads across their faces. They rally round in a flurry of attentiveness, but the damage is done.

So remember, it is the little things that count when you are vying for business in today’s saturated markets. A simple smile might be the reason a client chooses you over your miserable competitor!

Toni

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