How many times have you heard the saying, “you only have one opportunity to make a great first impression?” Many front-line associates are so good at what they do that they are, in effect, Doctors of First Impressions. These are company personnel who make customers feel welcomed, important and appreciated. These associates make a great impression the first time you meet them and on every subsequent encounter. I refer to these special folks as Welcomers. They are special and deserve this distinctive title.
More often than not, consumers will randomly walk into one store instead of another, visit the first website found on Google or call a company’s toll free number listed on a package or label. I call these consumers Wanderers. They just happen to wander in and wander out. What turns a Wanderer into a lifetime customer? It’s a company associate who, from the very first encounter, engages the customer and treats them as a person first, consumer second.
Companies need to sit back and think how they can re-tool their front-lines to ensure that every associate placed at a checkout counter, teller window, hostess station and contact center makes a great first impression. First impressions are made within the initial 10 to 15 seconds of an interaction – so whether it’s a personal encounter, a phone conversation or a click of a mouse; make sure that your front line associates are making that first impression a great one.
What kind of first impression do your front-line associates make?
