10 things your guests will notice first

We list the 10 things that your guests will notice in your home, and how they should be primed to appear to their advantage.

Entertaining guests at home is pure pleasure, made more pleasant by your beautiful home. But your home is so much more than just the four walls and a roof – it’s about how you decorate and maintain your house. An unpresentable home becomes a conversation starter for the wrong reasons!

So here’s presenting, in no particular order, the 10 things your guests will immediately notice about your home:

1. Your doormat. The doormat is often the first thing anybody sees, and it speaks volumes about what to expect inside the house. A tattered, dusty doormat implies that you are not interested in cleaning and caring for the house. Get a new rubber doormat with a quirky print on it, so that it immediately attracts attention. Be sure to vacuum it clean every week.
2. The nameplate. A nameplate bearing the names of the house’s owner(s) helps identify the house. But instead of a generic metal or plastic one, why not get an interesting nameplate in canvas, or one with an asymmetric shape? If you have a large entrance foyer, get an imposing nameplate mounted on a large metal or wooden board.
3. Your furniture. A home is made more inviting by its furniture. It is always a good idea to coordinate the furniture pieces, especially in the living room, so that they represent a unified whole. Every room in the house can have its own colour combination, and the furniture in it must reflect that combination.
4. The colour of the walls. The rule of thumb when choosing wall colours is this: The larger the room, the darker the colour, and vice versa. But it is not enough to pick out an unusual shade of colour for the walls – keeping them clean and free of dust is equally important. You may have displayed the best arrangement of photographs or a stunning oil painting, but if there’s grime on the walls, that’s all anybody will see!
5. Your furnishings. Furnishings are meant to make the home prettier, and you can have a lot of fun picking out the drapes, sofa cushions, designer bathmats, bed runners, tablecloths and other items that add creative touches to your home. Your guests will quickly notice if the furnishings are picked with care, so as to create an interesting contrast with the furniture and serve a functional purpose.
6. The crockery. Serving your guests tea or coffee in generic tea cups is a strict ‘No’, unless you are serving refreshments in the 1980s. You can pick beautiful steel and glass tumblers, or coffee mugs with matching coasters. These pieces are eye catching and good conversation starters.
7. Your coasters. Always have coasters handy when you serve tea, coffee or drinks – they will protect your tables from getting ‘rings’ of condensation later. But there’s no need for plain boring wooden ones – pick tough plastic, or ceramic or even rubber, with a gorgeous print.
8. Your artwork. Now that your guests are comfortably seated and having their refreshments, their eyes will fall on the art you have put up on the walls. If you’re an art connoisseur, you’re bound to have a stunning painting or two on display. Or you can get wall art online and display it in an interesting manner, so as to invite the guest for a closer look. A montage of family photos is also a good idea for wall art.
9. Your light fixtures and lamps. An evening party requires mood lighting, or at least enough visibility without becoming too obtrusive. Coloured lampshades can soften the glare of the lights, while stunning metal candle holders can diffuse light softly. Choosing the light fixtures depends entirely on what suits your living spaces, and the kind of effect you are aiming for.
10. The state of your floor. A plush home demands an excellent floor. If you haven’t got patterned tiles, you could consider throwing an elegant rug in the seating area, or carpet the bedroom floors. Your guests will be wary of a slippery floor, but a parquet or carpeted floor will make a big difference.

The Apple stores: Beyond magical

Apple’s staggering success in the retail store space is not a lucky fluke – it is down to understanding customer psychology, picking the right people and pushing products in an interactive manner.

When the Apple stores first opened their doors in the US over a decade ago, most critics were quick to predict an early demise of the idea. With the online boom in shopping taking shape, it was felt that people would not really take the trouble to go check out Apple products in a brick-and-mortar store.

But an Apple customer is not like other customers. Apple signifies high quality and superlative performance at a premium price. So an Apple customer is willing to invest both time and money in understanding the product they wish to buy. If this means a trip to the Apple store, so be it! 

What sets Apple stores apart from others

Apple invests heavily in both product optimisation and staff training. That affable Apple store employee that sold you your last Apple product is not just a smiling salesperson who has all the answers – he is recruited after several rounds of tests and training cycles till the parent company is sure that he is able to take on the responsibilities of working at an Apple store. That means knowing exactly which products are available in the store inventory, how to handle a harried customer’s queries quickly and politely, how to let customers browse peacefully but keeping a watch on whether they need anything, etc. Most importantly, staff personnel are trained to not just sell Apple products, but be totally committed to the product. 

Another factor in favour of Apple stores is the excellent customer service one has come to expect from them. This comes from the detailed training programmes that Apple carries out for its personnel. Reportedly, staff are instructed on what to say to customers, and even what not to say. Thus, while the staff is not pushy, it is certainly curious about the customers’ needs and empathetic towards them. The personnel are trained to get an idea of what the customer needs and then to show them the most relevant products suitable to those needs.

Dealing with queries and upgrades

Customers who end up damaging their Apple products, or who are unable to download important upgrades, are a harried lot. But they are ably helped by trained Apple experts, who can solve the biggest crisis in mere minutes. Again, it’s all about offering reassurance and understanding the problem exactly. 

Apple applies its customer service philosophy to all its stores all over the world. So whether you are dealing with a premium Apple store in Amritsar or one in Detroit or Saudi Arabia, you can expect the same level of attention and assistance.