A smile, manners and a cheerful demeanor cost nothing but are so easily forgotten.
In an age where competition in business is constantly increasing, the first impression someone gets of a business is when the first contact is made. This could be a phone call, a face to face meeting or even an email and then from here, a judgment starts to begin.
I recently had a friend that returned from spending a number of months in the USA. I was chatting to him a couple of days after his return and he had just come out of a cafe where not only was the coffee $5, the person taking the order grunted at him, the cooks in the kitchen where aimlessly staring at customers and the whole experience apart from the coffee was awful. Comparing to his time in the States where customer service is high, he was appalled.
In my role I make a number of calls to companies and before I even mention anything I am experiencing more and more a monotone, almost automated answer to the phone. On the times that I get a cheerful, helpful and polite person on the other end of the line my thoughts on the said company are immediately positive. I was taught at an early stage in my career to never assume as you don’t know who you are speaking to. I am not sure if it’s because people don’t care so much about their jobs or they just assume that the person they are speaking to is not important, but we all need to remember that we are “Directors of First Impressions”.
So remember the following:
- You never know who you are speaking to
- A smile, manners and cheerful demeanor are free
- The experience you provide will stick
- People buy off people they like
