Making an impression: what sound systems say about your business

For many businesses, music may seem like an afterthought. You have your infrastructure, working environment and shopfront to think about, so it’s understandable if a sound system isn’t on the top of your priorities list.

However, music can play an essential role in building up your brand identity, while also creating an atmosphere that's ideal for customers, clients and employees alike to maximise productivity and encourage purchases.

Business owners are often hesitant to play music; fearing that it will distract employees or deter customers from purchasing. Yet, a recent study found that 35% of customers are more inclined to stay longer in a store if it’s playing music that they appreciate, and 31% agreed that they would revisit. What’s more, another similar study for work environments suggests that, on the whole, employees found that music boosted their morale and productivity.

There are also a number of benefits for making strong first impressions when meeting with clients, and here, we’ll explore how music could be a key business tool for you to use within your company.

Music's influence on buying behaviour

First impressions count for a lot when you’re trying to keep your customers engaged with your products and services. According to a 2015 study, the kind of music played in a restaurant can deeply affect how customers make decisions when it comes to purchasing products.

In the experiment, one hundred and twenty Scottish students were assigned to four rooms, three of which featured themed music - American music, Chinese music and Indian music. The final room was silent.

The participants were then given a highly varied menu of cuisines to order from. The study found that not only did the music affect the participants' choice of food, but also the types of food that they remembered from the menu.

Another experiment from the same study found that music even affected the participants' perception of price. The students priced products like jewellery and cologne as higher when classical music was played in the background. Interestingly, when the group listened to country music, they priced utilitarian products like toothbrushes and disposable pens as higher.

The researchers also found that customers tended to price products lower when the background music didn't compliment the products on show. This is proof that it's essential to get your ambience just right when picking the type of music you want to use in your business.

Music as a productivity tool

Music can not only affect your customers, but it can also be a major motivator for your workforce. Choosing and playing the right music can ultimately spur them on to provide the best experience for your customers.

A study of staff working at a voucher processing company found that when music was played in the workplace, productivity increased by 12% — and even more so when the music was fast-paced. The participating staff were surveyed afterwards with results overwhelmingly positive about the motivating effect of music and the atmosphere it brought to the environment.

Making an impression with clients

Happy staff help to make lasting impressions for both customers and clients alike. Don’t overlook music’s ability to enhance your business.

It can work wonders for your company's image, ensuring that your brand identity is at the forefront of your engagements with clients. When used strategically music can uphold your brand values. For example, a coffee shop that proudly serves beans from local independent farms could benefit from replicating this ethos in the café playlist. By featuring the music of independent musicians and local songwriters the café reiterates its values a second time.

Likewise, when entertaining clients, it's important to instil an air of atmospheric consistency, to allow recurring visitors to find familiarity within your workspaces.

Choosing the right sound system

If you’re going to use music to motivate your staff and create an atmosphere for customers then it stands to reason that you should invest in a quality sound system.

Both plug in and play speakers, as well as the more modern wireless Wi-Fi and Bluetooth sound systems are ideal. They enable you to provide a bespoke and adaptable listening experience without the hassle of messing around with complicated audio systems.

At Orbitsound, we pride ourselves on delivering an unparalleled experience for anybody interacting with our speakers, whether it's through home use, a collection of customers on the shop floor, or clients liaising with your key decision makers.

Our Airsound technology is dedicated to providing a listening experience of supreme quality to anybody, no matter where they're positioned in a room — making it a great choice for busy floorplans or customers and clients that will be on-the-move.