With so many businesses trying to compete with their rivals it is interesting to see the many different ways that service providing businesses are trying to impress potential clients, ranging from alternative usage of market techniques, like using a barely relevant advertising campaign riddled with aspirational connotations with little substance, to providing quirky little gifts for them after meetings. In my opinion, though, there is one way in which you can easily and subtly impress during your meetings, and that is with the usage of simple office comfort.

You need the right combination of seating and meeting room aesthetic design to make a positive lasting impression on your clients. Firstly I would recommend having a comfortable chair for them to wait in, in the reception area if you have one, so that, while they wait they don’t have to feel uncomfortable, meaning a good first impression may already have been made, providing you aren’t late to the meeting.

Secondly, you should have a comfortable office environment which still seems to be a professional looking office or conference room. To do this I would again recommend comfortable furniture, preferably a light colour and having the walls a light colour also, so the room seems continuous. There should also be a lot of natural light in this room, that said however, it is easy to bring in too much natural light and leave your client squinting which isn’t good for business. Finding this balance can be difficult so I’d recommend a room with many windows and blinds so you can adjust the light accordingly.

While in the meeting room you must also be aware of outside noise that may interfere with the meeting. For a large company I’d recommend having a room close to a quiet street with not many office cubicles nearby to shut out both traffic noise and the noise of the workforce answering phones or otherwise communicating. This is the cheaper option of course, as you can soundproof the room. You should also consider keeping the room at a comfortable temperature, and so should install both central heating in your meeting room, and have a built in air conditioning system so you can alter the temperature as you need to.