The Haberdashery Shop Window

Your products may be the best, but they'll never sell themselves

Imagine that instead of being a voice over talent, you're the proud owner of a haberdashery shop. Haberdashery shops are fun. There's stuff for everyone. All the products you sell are top of the range. The very best: buttons that button well, zips that properly zip, strong thread, and a whole lot of other items that I don't even know exist... Customer nirvana. Your prices are very fair, you're attentive, polite and smiling, going above and beyond your customers' expectations. And yet your customers are few and far between. And you obviously don't understand why.

Look at your shop window through the eyes of a customer

Question: when was the last time you looked at your window from the outside? Go and have a look. What does it look like? Does it make you want to come in? Is it pleasant to look at, does it accurately represent what you offer, does it speak to your target audience? Do people even know it's a haberdashery when they walk past?

So, with a haberdashery, or any traditional business for that matter, it's easy, it's obvious. As a voice over talent, it's not so easy... but not that easy. Your product is your voice. Your shop window is... everything else. Your sales efficiency (who hasn't put an email aside for too long before replying to it?), the way you address your customers and, of course, your online presence. This comes under the heading of marketing - I cover the subject in my article Voice over Marketing? Say What?

Your website says who you are. A true reflection of your attitude to your business. Of course, content is essential, but I'm talking about the way it looks. Dated and difficult to use, not appearing in searches because it's invisible to Google, due to poor SEO ? Or up to date, easy to navigate, with all the essential information instantly accessible, and optimised to the max?

Between two shops, one hidden from passers-by, dusty, where you can't find anything, and the other easy to find, airy, pleasant and where everything is done to simplify your life, which one would you go to? And which one do you think customers would go to? Ask yourself this simple question: if you don't take care of your business, why should customers believe you'll take care of theirs?

So get out your window cleaners, hoovers, feather dusters and dust cloths - your haberdashery shop is well worth it!
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