Global Gardening

Keeping clients comfortable is important in business. If they are uncomfortable physically because of the chair they are sitting in they will feel perhaps subconsciously, that you don’t care enough about them to ensure they are comfortable. But some outdoor furniture in a small green area can provide a lovely outdoor ‘office’ to delight clients.

You may be wondering what psychology has to do with business and why it is important.  If your business relies on clients and suppliers, then psychology is always an important part of it, whether you know it or not. For instance, the ability to get on with other people is as much about psychology –  understanding how people think and feel – as anything else.

Yes, you may need to be transparent, honest and like people in order to run a business successfully, but knowing how they feel is also an important part of the equation.

For instance, suppose your business needs a waiting room and you decide to add a comfortable 2- seat sofa as the seating because you only have a few clients in at a time. What you’ve done is actually provide seating for one, so the first person in will get the seat and the other person will stand. Why?

Because very few people will sit down right next to a stranger. And if the sofa has room for three, only two people will use it at any one time. They will sit one at each end and no one else will approach and sit between them. This is because people have something called personal space and for most people that means they feel uncomfortable if someone gets closer to them than about a metre.

Not all people are like this, but those who are will never choose to sit on a sofa between two strangers. However, they may sit next to another person in a row of chairs because ordinary chairs are not intimate seating like a sofa is.

If you need seating for three or four people who are not family members, you need to provide single chairs, not a sofa.  These should be easy chairs so they are comfortable, but not the kind that sink down because with an aging population, many people find it difficult to get out of such chairs and this will cause them embarrassment.  They would sooner stand than risk having to ask someone to help them up.

With all the many different styles and types of seating available these days, it is not difficult to choose easy chairs that are suitable for your clients.  It’s also a good idea to add a small bookshelf with interesting magazines for them to read if they have to wait more than a few minutes.  These should be placed within reach of the chairs, because many people don’t like to get up out of the chair and cross the room just to get a magazine. It makes them feel like everyone is looking at them.

By understating the psychology of your clients you can easily work out how to ensure the waiting area of your business will make your clients feel much more comfortable and they’ll happy to do business with you.