What was the Old Color?

We just had the exterior of our house painted, and every time we drive up, we are impressed. To my wife and me, the difference is dramatic, but our friends have apparently not been as concerned with our fading siding.

The house is mostly brick, but the siding under the gables, the trim and the battered front door were a splotchy, faded beige. Fifteen years had not been kind to the green shutters, either. And our garage door was the same stark white it was when we had it installed eight years ago.

Today, the siding, trim and garage door are dormer brown (OK, darker beige), the shutters are shiny black and the front door is barn red. It is clean, fresh, and it makes the house look terrific.

People we told about the painting or saw it in process, comment about how great it looks. But others have noticed with less consistency. One friend didn’t notice anything, but her 8-year-old daughter said, “Hey, your door is red.” Another friend complimented us on the new welcome mat.

Now, before I get all judgmental, I readily admit that I would be very unlikely to recognize a change in a friend’s house color, either. The point is that people often don’t recognize better, they just recognize good – even if they are not sure why.

It is important to make improvements to our business, too, but don’t expect people to notice that you have changed the bullet points on the back of your business card. Just make sure those points are great. It doesn’t matter what you have done before (unless it was illegal, then someone will probably care), it just matters that what you are doing today is the best you can do.

People want a great experience and will recognize and appreciate it. They just may not realize what you’ve done to get there.