Custom Signs

Businesses considering how to boost their customer satisfaction and brand loyalty often look to parts of their business such as the quality of their products and the speed of service. While these are certainly worthwhile considerations, there is one thing that most companies completely overlook: their office reception area.

This seemingly innocuous space is one of the first your clients will see, and it can shape their entire impression of the business and its quality. Whether you use dramatic uplighting, custom indoor signs, thriving plants, or something else all shapes this perception, which can have a direct impact on your bottom line.

The good news is that even a few small changes can cause big changes in customer impression. Here’s what your office reception area says about your company.

Company Culture

A company’s culture reflects the business’ values, practices, and approach to serving customers and employees. Prospective clients and visitors want to see that their presence is welcome and that the business has taken steps to foster a positive culture. If the reception area is a mess of confusing corridors or pathways full of obstructions and unclear signage, customers can quickly gather the perception that the business’ culture is disorganized.

As a result, people may make the connection that a disorderly reception space corresponds to a lack of organization throughout the business, including in products or services. Create a reception that is easy to navigate and understand, starting with custom signage to point the way or make it clear where people are supposed to go for specific services.

Goals and Successes

Customers expect to see a reception that is more than just bare walls and a desk with a check-in clerk. The decoration in this space is one area that businesses can leverage to show off their success stories and clue in customers on their future goals. For instance, display awards or signs of community service prominently in this space. Not only does this foster trust and a bond between customer and company, but it also lends legitimacy to the business.

Similarly, subtle branding can convey progress toward new goals. Feature imagery of existing or planned initiatives. Use adaptable lighting, signage, or even wall covering patterns that create a sense of momentum: lines that move horizontally or décor that draws the eye upward or to specific focal points.

Care and Quality

Customers want to know that a business cares about them. More than just the products or services, they expect to feel the company understands and aims to resolve the burden of their pain points. An office reception area that is full of overflowing garbage bins, stained seating, or dirty carpet can impact whether or not a visitor trusts your business.

If the business does not even take the effort to empty their trash, how can they be trusted to deliver on the product they’re selling or the services they’re offering? Spend time carefully curating the reception area by keeping it clean, organized, and bright. Crisp, beautiful custom signage or even backlit wall decorations can provide a sense of care, demonstrating they are willing to invest in a custom décor piece to help visitors feel at home.

Dedication and Innovation

People want to see that a business is making forward progress, not stagnating in old practices and outdated products. Consider how the office reception area might worsen (or improve) a company’s innovative spirit.

Small, subconscious changes such as décor that is displayed in a sweeping motion (e.g., a wall pattern that starts large near the customer and gets smaller as it moves down the hall) can convey a sense of forward progress or a vision for the future. Additionally, don’t hesitate to highlight all the areas where your company stands head and shoulders above the rest, either in dedication to customers or innovation in the industry.

Have you received commendations from professionals in your niche? Display their words directly on the wall. Planning something that will shake up the industry? Share details about it (or even early-stage prototypes) in the waiting area for customers to consider.

Level Up Your Reception Area with Custom Signage

The reception area is one of the most important spaces in the company’s entire footprint. It’s the first image customers see, and it can make or break how they feel about the business long before they ever purchase a product or try a service. While each business will need to approach revitalizing this area differently, custom indoor signs can be a great choice in a variety of reception areas.

From the company’s logo in bright, glowing colors to help customers find the check-in desk to a tasteful image or outline that tells customers what the business is all about without words, ShieldCo Art can help your company make a great first impression. Contact us to learn more!

Office lobbies are often hubs of activity, from employees moving about with administrative work to visitors signing in or stopping by to ask questions. As one of the most public-facing spaces in any business, it is essential that the lobby highlights everything that makes the company unique.

This first impression can make or break a customer’s decision to engage with the business or recommend it to friends and custom indoor signs can be one way of piquing their interest. Signage is attention-grabbing because people understand out of habit that signs usually contain important information.

However, simply plastering your logo onto a sign and hanging it in the corner won’t necessarily get your brand identity across. Here are a few do’s and don’ts when it comes to designing an office lobby, from signage to layout and more.

Do:

Embrace brand identity

Your brand is unique, or at least it should be if you want to stand out from the competition. Rather than feeling self-conscious about whether this identity fits in, embrace what makes your business unique! Use décor, such as custom indoor signage, to proudly demonstrate what differentiates your business, from cohesive designs that communicate your orderly and thoughtful business, to logos that keep your company top of mind.

Décor need not be visual, either. For instance, if your business focuses on providing a relaxing atmosphere (think a spa, hotel, or even a medical facility that wants to keep patients calm), embrace soft seating and rounded decorations and signage. Conversely, for businesses staying on the cutting edge (e.g., tech, finance), angular furniture and signage can convey identity without words or images.

Think about the layout

When a customer comes into the lobby, how difficult is it to find what they’re looking for? Designing an office lobby layout should be done with navigation in mind. Avoid putting large, obstructive decorations or seating arrangements between the door and the main destinations, hallways where visitors must go when called, the front reception desk, and so on.

Similarly, consider what visitors will be doing in their spare time, such as when waiting to be attended to. Is it easy for them to find a place to sit or wait? The layout of an office lobby can say a lot about what a business values, including visitor comfort. Cumbersome layouts can come across as cold and impersonal but may feel more welcoming with the right flow and signage for guidance.

Preserve space

For the sakes of both employees and visitors, avoid overdesigning the lobby. A space full of comfortable seating, coffee machines, and other amenities can still be overwhelming if it requires people to shimmy past each other because there is only a one-person width of space to move.

This is especially important for workers, who need room to go about their business without constantly being slowed by others in their way. Leave enough room around the entrance (or modify it) so that people coming and going are not using the same door.

Don’t:

Create distractions

Interesting installations can be well and good, but what effect do they have on the people in your lobby? Are workers struggling to concentrate because an aesthetically pleasing water feature is sputtering all day? Is there loud or repetitive music that can distract from workers’ attention?

This issue goes both ways: employees might struggle to get work done efficiently, and visitors might not pay attention to the things you want them to because they can’t focus. In some instances, less is more.

Forget first impressions

What is the first thing that visitors (and even employees!) see when they enter the lobby? A striking first impression can hit like a lightning bolt, cementing your position in a visitor’s memory. Consider eye-catching installations, such as backlit metal signs with your logo or an important design. These can not only associate your brand with a specific color or pattern but also help people find your business in the first place!

Ignore color psychology

Color psychology is the concept of how the colors people see impact their opinions or feelings. When creating signage and other office lobby designs, be sure not to neglect the role that color can play in what people think of the business.

Certain shades of blue might make both customers and employees feel sluggish and sleepy, while red can quickly become grating for workers who need to look at it all day.

Show Off Your Company’s Creativity and Identity

Your company is one in a million, and it should have décor that captures that. Designing your lobby with care is a top priority for anyone who wants to see their employees succeed and their customers return. ShieldCo Signs helps businesses demonstrate their identity by proudly displaying custom signs that blend the efficacy of business advertising with the artistry of truly creative design. Contact ShieldCo Signs to explore your custom options!