I’m starting a marketing analysis with a Baltimore company in about an hour, and I’m waiting in a pre-renovation room at a Holiday Inn near the airport.

The place ain’t so great. The only elevator took me to floor three instead of two (yes, I pushed the right button). The ice machine is broken. The desk is torn up, and the desk chair is an armchair that is 4 inches too short.

But I walked into the bathroom a few minutes ago, and I saw the soap. Semi-concealed in a little waxpaper bag, the lable said two simple words: “Aromatherapy” and “Face.”

My first thought? “Oooh… nice soap.”

Nice soap? How the heck do I know it’s nice soap? My mind, well trained from years of rampant consumerism, automatically associated “aromatherapy” with luxury. And the little wax bag (kind of like the ones that hold fried pies) just added to the upscale thought association.

Why do we do this, and, what’s more important, how can we as small business owners capitalize on it? I’m almost positive that the “Aromatherapy Face” soap is the same quality as the little bars that come in hotels that cost half the price. But the packaging made the difference, and we can learn from that.

Remember Calvin and Hobbs, the comic strip? Calvin was convinced that he’d get a great grade on reports as long as he encased his gibberish in a really nice report cover. That’s kind of what the soap label is… a really nice report cover. But I was fooled, at least for a moment.

Here’s what I learn from this: the first impression does matter… a whole heckuva lot. That’s why I create official proposals on letterhead. That’s why I printed out the agenda for today’s meeting with a colored printer and made copies of all the relevant materials. They’re all in an attractive report cover. That’s why I have glossy business cards and a real cover sheet for faxes. First impressions matter, and then we have to prove that we haven’t just sold the packaging without the substance.