Psst..It's time I share a mistake I recently made...
If you will please accompany me back to the evening of May 1, 2013 for just a moment. I’ll even hold open the beautiful glass doors of the University of Northwest Ohio Event Center as you enter. The Lima Allen County Chamber of Commerce has beautifully recreated the space inside and it is breathtaking. It appears as if we’ve somehow ventured into the Academy Awards ceremony where Hollywood’s A-listers are just moments away from arriving. In actuality what we’re seeing is the scene for the 2013 Lima Chamber Awards Gala. The theme tonight is “Red Carpet Experience,” and the coordinators have magically brought this idea to life. We’ve been invited by the Chamber of Commerce and are up for Emerging Business of the Year Award.
I look around the room and see several of the communities "Who's-Who" that are in attendance. With the excitement and chatter the last thing on my mind was hearing “NOW Marketing Group” being called off by the announcer. I know you’ve heard many actors and actresses say that they didn’t have a speech prepared. Many times I imagined this was a ploy to appear humbled by the award. Well this was not the case for me. Even though it was one of the happiest moments of my professional career I was speechless. The room was filled almost to capacity teeming with 1000 eyes focused directly on me! We just won the Emerging Business of the Year, which instantaneously elevated our credentials. The entire room is anticipating something witty or inspirational words of wisdom like the fellow awards recipients had provided before me. The entire room that is ...except me! I was not expecting to say anything, especially anything that was masterful or awe inspiring. It was as if I was wide open in the endzone for the game winning touchdown and fumbled the pass. The speech was less than 30 seconds, that’s right 30 seconds. Now that I think about it, the time it took to walk up there and get our award and return to my seat was actually longer the the words I spoke. The meat of my speech, since there was obviously no room for sides, went a little something like this:
“Thank you to everyone, especially my team who've sacrificed so much.”.... end quote.
How did my words register with those listening attentively? If I couldn't communicate to an audience while I had their attention how would they perceive me after this event? If they were already acquainted with who I was that’s acceptable, but what about those who were unfamiliar? Surrounded by colleagues and future clients on the stage of a lifetime I was unprepared. It’s not that I didn’t believe the successes purchased by the blood, sweat and tears of our company wouldn’t be recognized. Simply put I just wasn’t expecting opportunity to just drop by unannounced. As I created my to-do list in the days leading up to the event, writing a speech somehow never made the cut. I took my seat after the less than amazing speech feeling embarrassed and disappointed in myself. Days after and still now today I've thought to myself..
My unpreparedness and lack of planning caused me to give up my first impression that is so important. We only have 10 seconds to fascinate someone into wanting to know more about us. The same principal relates to us in an online environment too!
Have you ever missed the opportunity to shine in the first 10 seconds? In the business world where competition is fierce you cannot afford to go unnoticed. If your next potential customer is searching for goods or services you provide what will the find if they drop by your page unexpectedly? Is your web page visually attractive, informative and easy to navigate? Or does your top competitor offer a more user friendly website? I was transparent in telling my story for this very reason, learn from my mistake. We must always expect that the next moment may push us onto stage and shove a microphone in our hands. If you don’t have confidence that the next person that visits your website will contact you to make a purchase then that’s a major issue. You are on display 24 hours a day and seven days a week. What is the opinion of your customers based on what they observe? Prepare your image ahead of time.. Expect great things to happen to your business and when opportunity comes knocking be ready. Have your online image "rock the socks off" of the potential client that's visiting it. Know what they're expecting to see ahead of time.. be ready to provide value and expertise they're expecting from you!
This life lesson has taught me that expectation without preparation is a disastrous recipe. I’m no longer a believer in just waiting for good things to come. I will prove that I truly believe that good is en-route by being ready for it’s arrival. Are you ready? If not, let us help.
- Jessika
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