Customer service training often focuses on the human element of the first impression. Visual first impressions are equally important, and signage can play an important role. Signs can reinforce your brand and your customer service commitment or they can negate the very image you are trying to project. When was the last time you did an audit of the visual first impressions received by your customers?

Some of you are traveling to beach destinations this summer. We once rented a condo at a beach property we had not previously visited. What was the visual first impression as I entered my vacation nirvana? A sign was taped to the elevator wall...