"One doesn't get to the future first by letting
someone else blaze the trail."
- Gary Hamel
Recommended
book of the week:
'Competing
for the Future' - Breakthrough Strategies
for Seizing Control of your Industry and Creating
New Markets of Tomorrow. - Gary Hamel & C.K. Prahalad,
published by Harvard Business School Press.
This
week's "moment of truth".
Acknowledging
your customer's presence.
I'm
sure you've had it happen to you. You enter a place
of business and the shop attendant or receptionist
is either busy attending to another customer or
speaking to someone on the telephone. Even though
the person is obviously aware of your presence,
they continue on with serving the other customer
without so much as a glance in your direction.
Now
I'm not about to suggest that he or she should immediately
stop what they are doing and serve you, but what
I believe is at minimum a show of plain good manners,
is for the person to momentarily pause and acknowledge
your presence. A more courteous and professional
way of handling this situation is to momentarily
excuse yourself from the customer you are presently
attending and say to the new customer, "Good morning,
welcome to ABC company, I'll be with you in a moment
(an exact time frame is better) when I've finished
attending to this customer". If you happen to know
either or both of the customer's names, use them
as this personalises the encounter even more.
This
is a win/win/win situation. The new customer feels
acknowledged, yet the first customer is also being
acknowledged as being there first and that you will
continue to look after them ahead of the new customer.
The third win is that you get an opportunity to
demonstrate your manners, your professionalism and
how much you care about the welfare of your customers.
The
same goes for when the telephone rings and you are
already serving a customer. Excuse yourself from
the first customer, answer the telephone, but DO
NOT attend to the needs of the telephone caller.
Courteously explain that you are with another customer,
ask for their telephone number and commit to ringing
them back within a specific time frame.
A
slightly different version of this is when you are
already on a telephone call and another call comes
in. Politely excuse yourself, answer the second
call, get their contact details, commit to a callback
time and return as quickly as possible to the first
caller. Another option is to put the second caller
on hold; but again there are some no-nos. Do not
put them on hold if you know you are going to be
some time, and do not put them on hold and insult
their intelligence by subjecting them to an inappropriate
radio station, crass advertising or the worn out
bells of Greensleeves. (more of this at a later
date)
Acknowledging
your customer's presence only takes a moment, it
costs you nothing, yet the potential return for
you and your business is immeasurable.
Until
next week, stay true to yourself and your customers,
and remember that great service happens in the moment,
moment by moment.
