How to Impress Your Clients: 6 Things That Make a Difference
The Auction Hall Members Lounge at The Auction Rooms
Whether you are pitching for a new piece of business, welcoming a long-standing client for a catch-up or meeting somebody for the very first time, making the right impression matters.
And it happens remarkably quickly. Research from Princeton found that people can begin forming judgements about qualities such as trustworthiness, likeability and competence after seeing a face for just 100 milliseconds. Those snap judgements are not necessarily accurate, of course, but they are a useful reminder of just how quickly an impression can begin to take shape.
Fortunately, impressing a client rarely comes down to one grand gesture. More often, it is the result of lots of smaller things being done well.
Here are seven to think about.
Do your Homework Before Meetings
“By failing to prepare, you are preparing to fail.”
Preparation is one of the simplest ways to show a client that their time matters. Before you meet, take a few minutes to remind yourself of their business, any recent developments, previous conversations and what they are hoping to achieve.
Preparation also means sorting the practicalities. Have the right documents ready, know what you want to achieve and check that any technology you need actually works. Few things disturb a polished opening quite like spending ten minutes looking for the correct HDMI cable.
Make sure to choose a meeting space that can support you. For example, if you are hosting a meeting at The Auction Rooms, the practical side is made easy. ClickShare technology, HD screens and smart lighting help presentations and video calls run smoothly, so you can focus on the conversation. Need extra prep time? Book a hot desk in our Bidding Suite co-working space beforehand to review your notes and get everything in order.
The New Town Boardroom at The Auction Rooms
2. Think About the Impression Your Business Makes Online
Your website, email domain, LinkedIn presence, proposals and business address all provide small signals about the company behind them — and together, they build a picture.
Research from Stanford’s Web Credibility Project found that people look for signs of a real organisation when judging credibility online, with a physical business address specifically highlighted as one way to strengthen that perception. The research also found that “real-world” presence, professional presentation and clear contact information all contribute to how trustworthy a business appears.
For remote businesses, consultants or companies entering a new market, a Virtual Office at The Auction Rooms gives your business a professional address at 22 Queen Street, Edinburgh, while allowing you to continue working flexibly. With our Premium and Premium+ Virtual Office packages, you can also access professional meeting rooms at the same Queen Street address — creating a consistent experience from the business location your client sees online to the place you welcome them in person.
3. Personalise the Experience
Clients can usually tell the difference between a genuinely personal interaction and a generic one.
Remembering what somebody is working on, referring back to a previous conversation or simply knowing how they take their coffee can make a meeting feel much more thoughtful.
Personalisation does not have to be elaborate. It is about paying attention and showing that the person in front of you is not simply the next name in your calendar.
This also extends to how you host them. A warm welcome and a meeting space that is already prepared can immediately make someone feel that their visit has been considered in advance.
4. Know When a Conversation Deserves to Be Face-to-Face
Research into workplace relationships has found that face-to-face communication can positively influence trust, particularly during the early stages of a relationship or before people go on to work together primarily online. One study found that trust and collaboration lagged in groups whose initial interaction happened online rather than face-to-face under competitive working environments
This suggests that face-to-face interaction may be particularly valuable when trust needs to be established quickly, such as during an important pitch, a first client meeting or a sensitive discussion, rather than for a routine weekly update.
For those occasions, hiring a professional meeting room can give the conversation the privacy, focus and sense of occasion it deserves without requiring your business to maintain its own permanent boardroom.
Meeting in The Gun Room
5. Let Your Workplace Reflect Your Standards
“Clients do not come first. Employees come first. If you take care of your employees, they will take care of the clients.”
Clients notice more than the meeting itself. They notice how your team works, how the office feels and whether the environment looks considered.
That matters because workplace quality can influence how employees feel and perform. Research has linked factors such as comfort, lighting, noise and workspace design with productivity, satisfaction and wellbeing. A well-designed office can therefore say something quite simple but powerful about your business: you invest in the people behind it.
Our private serviced office suites at The Auction Rooms are designed with that in mind, giving teams a professional private base alongside communal lounges, meeting rooms, smart lighting and heating, refreshments and a central Queen Street location. Furthermore, they all receive great partner benefits around the city across restaurants, hotels, cafes, gyms, spas and more!
It is a space designed to work well for your team — and to leave the right impression on anyone who visits.
The Bidding Suite at The Auction Rooms
6. Reduce the Effort for Your Client
We often think impressing clients means adding more: more detail, more service, more extras.
Sometimes the opposite is true.
The Harvard Business Review found that reducing the effort customers have to make can be more important for loyalty than trying to continually “delight” them. In other words, people value organisations that are simply easy to deal with.
Apply that thinking to your meetings. Send clear directions. Keep emails concise. Make the next step obvious. Choose somewhere convenient to reach.
The Auction Rooms' location at 22 Queen Street also helps remove one piece of friction. Being in central Edinburgh means clients can reach you easily and combine a meeting with other appointments, lunch or travel around the city.