A Truly Key Position in a Small Business

(or any size business for that matter)

Who is the first person that your customers (or prospects) come into contact with? Is it your receptionist? Is it someone who takes incoming calls? Whoever this person is, they can have an enormous impact on your business.

We're all pretty familiar with the expression: "you don't get a second chance to make a first impression." Well, this definitely applies to the business world. If the person who makes this first contact for your business is not SUPER friendly, then I suggest you make every effort to get someone who is.

When you consider all of the competition there is for your customer's attention and patronage, it is vital that you make their first encounter with you an absolutely positive experience. This is not an airy-fairy concept. This is legitimate business know-how. Unless you've got a complete monopoly on what you're selling, the people coming to you have options. They have the option to shop elsewhere. They have the option to wait. They have the option to spend their money on something completely different.

When this person contacts your business for the first time, they are evaluating very carefully what your business is all about. How quickly does the call get answered? Are they put on hold right away? Are they put on hold for too long? How friendly is this "first contact" person? Are they treated with respect or do they feel like they've just taken a number.

I should probably clarify what I meant a bit earlier by "super" friendly. I mean someone who just genuinely likes people. They are truly interested in other people. Factually this kind of person has most of their attention on others, not themselves and they really enjoy being in communication with other people. And yes, this person does exist. And your business will be greatly enhanced by having this kind of person on your public contact lines, especially first contact.

Let's say you're new in a town and you want to find a nearby dentist. You pull out the yellow pages and you list out three that are just a couple of miles away. Ideally you'd get a referral from someone you know and trust, but in this case you don't know anybody in town and, well, you've got a toothache, so you're a bit pressed for time.

In calling these dental practices the following happens:

• The first one answers with a voice mail giving you five different options to listen to first. You wade through these five options...and a few more...and eventually you're put in touch with a live person.

• The second practice is answered by a lady who seems rushed and just a wee bit irritated that she had to take your call.

• The third practice was answered by someone VERY friendly and genuinely eager to talk with you about your needs and wants. You come off the phone with this person feeling acknowledged and even appreciated.

Without knowing much else about these three different dental practices, which practice has the best chance of getting your business?

Yes, this was somewhat of an obvious example. But I submit this kind of decision-making (on the part of your prospective customers) is happening all the time. And I also believe this is happening with your current customers, some of whom may have taken their business elsewhere without telling you it was simply a not-so-friendly phone call that soured them. It's amazing what we don't know about the customers we lose.

Yes, there are other skills this "first-contact person" may need to have. They may need to know quite a bit about the business to answer people's questions fully and professionally. However, the focus here is simply their level of friendliness. Bottom line: a high level of friendliness allows more prospects to become customers.

Comments

[Armand Rousso]

No candies for knowing my choice of the dentist there, Stan!

It is a much ignored area and we hardly realize the enormous impact the first contact makes on the prospective customer/client. We brush up our operations, polish our products, get the latest technology to make billing etc. easier, buy gadgets to check there is no shoplifting, install cameras to see if everything is in order, have additional manpower to substitute the key people on bad days....

But we completely ignore the skills that must be honed and the need to appoint the right person at the reception who would be the face of our business for an outsider.

I couldn't agree with you more Stan! Small details and the attention we give them make a large difference to our bottomlines.

Armand Rousso

[Mary]

The first and last thing to remember about doing business is the people and when the people we do business with show respect and responsiveness we will be inclined to do more business with them.

Profits will normally follow where the other "P" (Product or Service) also fulfills our needs.

This is why smaller, smarter businesses can show a fleet foot to big businesses where the customer, more often than not,becomes frustrated from talking to a phone machine instead of a problem solving human .