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New Year Resolutions:
It's the beginning of a New Year time to start fresh and plan your goals and resolutions for the year ahead. Sadly, as we know, many resolutions don't make it past the first few weeks of January. Rather than making a resolution why not set a goal to improve customer interactions and first impressions.
Make a Great First Impression
In the fast paced world we live in it's so easy to let courtesy slip and  for snap judgements to be made. How many times have you been "served" in shop and been abandoned by the assistant because the telephone has rung? Or waited to be greeted at a company's reception whilst the receptionist finished their chat with a colleague.
Often we don't notice or take for granted when people are courteous but you can be sure we will notice and mention to others when they are not. Your company's reputation hangs on every interaction. It's important that all employees are trained and their personal brand aligns with corporate brand.
Read more of this article on getting those first impressions right in person and online...
And it's not just personal interactions that count, more and more frequently they are made virtually. Which is why you should;
Think before you tweet
Make a conscious effort to have a polished online brand. In the past we were told to 'engage brain before putting mouth into gear' now we should be 'engaging brain before putting fingers into gear on our keyboard.'
In the last week we have seen a classic example of how much damage can be done with a throwaway comment on twitter:
Whatever your thoughts are about the row that has ensued, the result is the same - Diane Abbott has damaged her Personal Brand by using a comment which she says "was taken out of context". Unfortunately on twitter this is easily done as you only have 140 characters to make your comment. If that comment could be taken out of context because of the restrictions in available length then it shouldn't be made publicly - unless you are prepared to face up to the consequences. It is easy to build up an impression of someone by reading their tweet history - we really need to think about what impression of our personal brand would be made if someone looked back at our tweets. I recommend you do this excercise and then add "Think before you tweet" to your list of resolutions. | 
ability to interview well, good use of grammar and effective writing styles, the ability to target a message to a particular audience, produce appealing CVs and memos, to dress in a way appropriate for the world of work is critical for future success and progression." What we at Walking TALL Education would call Personal Branding, as well as much more.
