Why having a physical office is important to your business

Your office - and who you staff it with - are important to your business. Here is why.

Trust is built through experience, and that experience starts the second someone meets you. But what if building trust actually starts before the hello?

Before a handshake or a conversation, people are forming opinions based on what they see online, how your physical office feels and who works there. These details shape how trustworthy and professional you seem. Your physical space, team and overall presence can either build confidence or push potential clients away.

Let’s say someone finally decides they want to get their finances in order. That’s a big step, right? They’re already nervous, doing their research and scrolling through different websites. Then they come across your website and they like what they see. But before they take the step to reach out, they check to see where you’re located, only to find there is no office address listed. Just like that, they’ve moved on. You have been dismissed and you lost a lead in seconds.

As we all know, the pandemic shifted much of how we live our lives - especially when it comes to the way we work. It’s no secret that remote work provides more flexibility, saves you money on renting office space and is overall more convenient. But is it the best way to build trust, especially when meeting with a potential client? The short answer is no. It’s impossible to build a strong relationship in such an impersonal setting. And when it comes to making decisions about someone’s financial future, the stakes are even higher.

You might think traveling to their home is a solution. It feels more personal and more convenient for them. But let’s think about that setup: You walk in with your laptop, stacks of paperwork, maybe a few business cards, and spread it all across their kitchen table. The dog’s barking, someone’s watching TV in the other room, and you’re trying to have a structured meeting in a completely unstructured space. Whether you realize it or not, you start to look more like a salesperson than a financial professional and your credibility no longer holds the same weight as it did before.

Let’s take a positive approach and say the consultation went well enough that they would like to move forward. It’s a win and the hard part is over, right? You’re feeling good, your chest is a little higher, and you decide to hand them your business card before leaving. Since they don't see a location listed on the card they ask, “Where is your office?” but because you don’t have one, you hesitate. Now you have lost the trust you tried so hard to build with them throughout the meeting. People tend to associate a physical office with professionalism, stability and legitimacy. Without one, something will feel incomplete. So eventually, you invest in an office.

Within milliseconds of walking through your office door, your guest has already started to decide whether they trust you. That is why your office space matters more than you might think. It’s not only the space itself they’re judging, but also the people working in it as well.

Think about what a person may see, hear, smell and feel the moment they walk into your office. Is the space clean and calm? Or is it disorganized and chaotic? Does it seem like you have thought about their comfort at all? Does it smell like the tuna salad you had for lunch, or the freshly baked cookies you set out for them? These may seem like insignificant details, but to the subconscious mind, these are big signals.

Next comes the human interaction - that first hello. This sets the tone for the rest of the visit. When the employee greeting your guests has a friendly, confident and genuinely positive tone, your client will feel more relaxed. But what if you have a hyper-focused, monotone front desk associate and a bubbly, outgoing client services specialist hidden in the back. Who do you think your guest would have a better experience with? Your front desk associate does very well with paperwork and data entry, but you’ve received complaints about their attitude. Meanwhile, the friendly, talkative client services specialist who can't focus on their paperwork is tucked away. That’s why fit matters. Your staff should be placed in roles that align with their personality.

The physical office, its atmosphere and the people you choose to staff it all play a huge part in how successful you can become. If something feels slightly off, you are losing trust quickly. Most people think success is based on the amount of sales they make, but that’s not always the case. It’s about the full experience, which begins the moment they research you and your firm, and likely before you even know a new lead exists.

The experience ties your entire brand together. Why not tie it with a big red bow?

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Lena Dakroub is an account manager at M&O Marketing. Contact her at [email protected].