Something hilarious happened to me when relatives came to town.
After some shopping and sight-seeing, we decided we wanted to have some lunch. There was a newly opened restaurant within view that we decided was worth a try. It had a sort of woodsy look about it and we imagined the fare would be enormous hamburgers and sweet potato fries, that the atmosphere would be casual but more upscale than typical fast food. The double entendre of its name was not obvious to any of us (or maybe my 20-year old nephew got it, but he didn’t let the rest of us in on it.)
Upon entry we realized that our impressions were way off… except maybe they do have enormous hamburgers on the menu which I never had the chance to read. The reason I didn’t read the menu is because we did not stay. We were greeted by two hostesses. Frankly, I don’t remember how friendly they were because I couldn’t keep my eyes off their very obvious state of undress, or provocative dress, or inappropriate-for-windy-Kansas winter dress.
Hahaha. We quickly evacuated the building laughing all the way. We’d stepped into a place that we didn’t fit.
It occurs to me now much later that every single business makes an impression to its visitors even if they don’t have provocative hostesses at the front door. You don’t even have time to make a first impression with your words because your image is screaming from the second they view your establishment.
Some people will fit. Some won’t. You aren’t everything to everybody and shouldn’t try.
But once you decide who you want to serve, and that’s a biggy, the question is: are you attracting who you want to attract? When they enter, is every stimulus engineered to embrace them and make them want to stay and spend money? Seriously.
I bet you could find some horrifying examples of non-embracing, possibly off-putting stimuli in your environment. The best way to know for sure is to invite a relative or friend to come by when you are not there to escort them and analyze your place. Get them to tell you what is abrasive. Get them to tell you what could be more engaging and welcoming. You have got to pay attention to initial impressions of strangers or they will remain strangers. And that is not funny in the least.
