DO sweat the small stuff

DO sweat the small stuff

I once had a boss whose favourite saying was, “Don’t sweat the small stuff” – it irritated me then, and it irritates me now.

I do, of course, get the gist – we all need to prioritise and focus on what’s important. I also completely agree that 80 per cent on-time can be better than perfect, but late. However, I firmly believe that when it comes to building a strong and consistent reputation for your business, paying attention to small details is extremely important. All the little things come together, a bit like a mosaic, to form the overall picture of your business.

This came to mind yesterday when chatting to a client about their email signature. We’re currently supporting a small business through their first real branding exercise. We’re working with an excellent branding agency and last week the client signed off the key bits and pieces that will form their core material and their brand guidelines.

One of the items on their list to look at was their email signature. A suggestion had been made, but they weren’t keen. It wasn’t displaying well on a Blackberry and the client felt it was unprofessional. It got me to thinking about why we’d come to this later in the process. We’ve looked at letterhead, business cards, handouts, etc… but in many ways their email signature is more important than all of this. It’s seen by clients, prospects, employees, potential employees, suppliers – many times a day, every day. So, it really is important that it looks polished and professional.

If you think about your business from the perspective of what most people encounter, most often, then some of the seemingly small and insignificant things become much more important. And, could probably do with a little consideration and possibly some polish. The sorts of things that come to mind are:

• Your email signature
• The way your telephone is answered
• Your on-hold music
• The display in your reception area
• Your invoices and the covering notes that go with them
• Your login / logout screens for online services
• Your service emails
• The spelling, grammar and formatting on your website, emails and day-to-day documents

I’m sure there are many, many more. Naturally, the list for your business will be specific to you. But, it is definitely worth looking at how all these small things come together to create an impression of your business. Look from the outside… how do people make contact? What do they receive from you? How does it look when it arrives with them?

All the little things come together to create the bigger picture. So, I say… DO sweat the small stuff. Just make sure it’s the small stuff that matters — and that’s the stuff that real people really encounter when dealing with you and your business day-in, day-out.

Bryony Thomas is an expert contributor to Marketing Donut and a marketing consultant, speaker, and author. Her first book – Watertight Marketing – is available Summer 2012.

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