First impressions count a lot towards how clients will feel about dealing with your business, and it is vital that you ensure that they feel welcome and comfortable. This also relates to existing clients, if you want to retain them.
Keep It Clean And Tidy
An office or waiting room that is messy will lead people to think that is the way you run your business and does not promote any trust in it at all. Torn carpets, magazines that are years old or chipped paintwork will all make the clients feel you cannot be bothered, so will you be the same to work with?
Make someone responsible for making sure that the entrance to your business is always in good order so that it reflects a professional business.
In fact, a Levitch medical fit-out is a perfect example of how good your waiting room and offices should look. The more effort that is put into the renovation, the more effective it will be.
Train Reception Staff
The staff in your reception area should always be trained to greet clients pleasantly and with a smile. They should be as helpful as possible and able to explain if there is some delay in the client seeing you, without making them feel unimportant.
They should not put doing other things in front of taking care of the clients, as this creates a bad impression. It may well be that your reception staff have other jobs to do, but they need to do them when there is no one waiting or needing help.
You do not want a client to feel dissatisfied before they even get past the reception area, as that will not bode well for the future business you may do together.
Any staff walking through the area should also know they have to be pleasant. They should make eye contact and acknowledge the visitor, not just walk through and ignore them.
These days, friendliness in a professional manner is important to the success of any business, and your staff can play a big part in this.
Items For Your Reception Area
If you want reading matter in your reception area, why not have today’s newspapers? Most people will be more interested in those than they will be in old magazines.
Have a water dispenser or a coffee machine that people can help themselves to. This will save your staff from having to make them a drink, so they can concentrate on others ways to keep them happy while they are waiting.
Brio Limited Edition Top Loading Countertop Water Cooler Dispenser with Hot Cold and Room Temperature Water. UL/Energy Star Approved.
It is surprising how well a chat between a client and receptionist can go down, as long as it is kept very general and does not relate to personal things or the business.
Thank You’s
Never forget to thank them for coming to see you, no matter what the reason has been. People really appreciate a thank you face-to-face or an email showing how pleased you were to see them. Some people believe that nothing says thank you better than a handwritten note, but the decision on how you express your gratitude is up to you.
Impress your clients and they’ll keep coming back for more!