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If customers are getting the wrong idea about your business, maybe you've overlooked a detail that shapes their first impressions. Consider, for instance, your employees' clothing. Carl Schmitt found out at University National Bank & Trust Co., in Palo Alto, Calif., sometimes even slight changes in frontline attire can send patrons a new message.

When the bank opened, in 1980, it was perceived by some potential customers as elitist, in part because of its lofty account requirements (now at $1,500 minimum or $3,000 average balance for free checking). To create a more folksy feeling, a kind of dress code was developed: most of the men, from chief executive to teller, shed their jackets at the door.

"They work in their shirtsleeves," says Schmitt, who usually can be found coatless. "The idea is to go against that exclusive aura." Schmitt is quick to add, however, that the shirtsleeves are not rolled up.