Your public face, impressive or not
An emerging trend in recent times where companies have had to spend their allocated budgets wisely, has been to only upgrade the areas that are visited by their customers, whilst the work areas out the back have had to make do. We believe this is a sensible approach in a difficult time. It is important that your customers see you in the way you wish to be perceived. It is not a good strategy for your prospective customer to be greeted in a reception environment that is not in keeping with your perceived company image.
This person will make their judgment on your business within minutes of their arrival and if you fail to convey the correct image then you may never see them again. So where to best spend your hard earned capital. After reception, the boardroom and customer meeting rooms are traditionally the next place you will take them (hopefully not walking through your work area).
Design of these areas are of critical importance as it is not only a question of looks but also of functionality and when you eventually do works in the ‘work area’ of your office it should have a natural flow on effect reinforcing your corporate image. Reception needs to be designed to take into account the number and type of visitors that you will entertain.
When we say ‘type’ of visitors we mean are you seeing families or corporate business people? Mum, Dad and the kids feel comfortable sitting next to each other on a three seater couch, but if your clients are business people, one may sit but the other two will most certainly stand. They are business colleague’s not family members. If it’s your boardroom that you are renovating then you need to look at how you use your Boardroom? If it is for presentations then why not install a fully integrated AV system, and we are not talking ten, twenty or thirty thousand dollars here, you can install a fully integrated AV and sound system that will more than adequately do the job for around $3,500. Or if you wanted a complete Multi-Media System with a control panel (desk or wall mounted) that controlled all of the individual equipment items you would expect to pay in the vicinity of $6,000. This will present a much more professional image than a Projector sitting on top of a phone book on the table.
