Six Customer First Impressions

1. Website

Most successful organizations have a well thought out and designed website. Today’s customers use the internet to find out information about an organization. What products and services they have to offer, hours of operation, locations, customer testimonies, service guarantees and to get a general feel for the business. It is critical to take a good look at your website and try to wear a customer’s hat when doing so. Things to think about:

• Is the look of the website current or outdated?
• Is the content accurate, clear and error proof?
• How easy is it to find the needed information? The last thing you want to do is frustrate a customer by making it difficult to navigate the site.
• Are there pictures or video that engage the customer and tell a story?

Ask someone who has never been to your website to go though it and give some honest feedback from a customers’ perspective. You’ll be surprised at what you learn when someone who is objective shares their thoughts.

2. Telephone

For some organizations, a customer calling in to ask questions or make an appointment, may be the first point of contact. There are not many things more frustrating than calling a busy and interacting with a rude, incompetent or apathetic employee. Things to think about:

• How is the phone answered?
• Does a live person answer the phone?
• What are the wait and hold times?
• What does the hold background music/information sound like?
• Is the person answering the phone friendly, knowledgeable and able to answer questions?
• How many times does a customer need to be transferred before getting information or a question answered?
• How quickly are calls returned?

Training employees is the key to a great phone experience and scripting employees who answer the phone can help ensure that customer questions are answered friendly and efficiently.

3. Business Lobby

When someone comes to your business, some first impressions may be the cleanliness of the parking lot, entryway and lobby. Things that we may not necessarily notice will be very obvious to a new guest. Things to think about:

• Is the parking lot free from debris or blowing trash?
• Is the entryway free from debris or blown leaves, etc?
• Is the glass on the doors and windows clean?
• What does the building smell like? I personally have sensitivity to smell and I make impressions based on smells, either good or bad.
• What does the furniture and carpet look like in the waiting room? Is it clean and fresh or stained and worn?
• Is the public restroom clean and fully stocked?

Take some time to clean, paint and refresh an outdated facility.

4. Receptionist

The receptionist is often the first representation of a business. How well they are trained, or untrained, communicates a lot about a business. Things to think about:

• Is the receptionist friendly?
• Do they have a pleasant speaking voice?
• Are they knowledgeable about the organization?
• Can the receptionist answer questions about the business or products?
• Is the receptionist equipped to do service recovery if a customer is not happy?
• Does the receptionist do personal things while on duty, for example do they eat at their desk, read or polish their nails?

5. Business Culture

When someone visits your business, are the workers happy and helpful? If employees are not engaging they can leave a negative impression on customers. Ask yourself:

• Do employees vent or voice frustrations in front of customers?
• Do they ignore customers thinking that it is “not their job” or do they stop what they are doing to help the customer?
• Are there underlying internal issues that are seeping out to the customers?

Customers don’t really care about the internal workings of an organization. They just want to know that their needs will be met. If there is an employee engagement or morale issue in the office, figure out what it is and fix it.

6. Marketing Materials

I know marketing materials can be expensive but they really do communicate a lot about an organization. These materials should always be professionally done and represent the organization by having current, clean, error free information that is clear and informative. The goal would be for these materials to answer the questions that someone might have about the organization. When creating marketing materials, think about answering questions that answer the questions – who, what, where, when and how.
By Patricia Lotich