CUSTOMER SERVICE: THE FIRST IMPRESSION
by Skip Hyken
It takes eight to 12 good experiences to make up for a single bad impression. To renew the confidence in a customer, you have to go much further than getting back to even. Skip Hyken shows you how to cultivate positive first impressions.
Some of my clients ask me if there's one basic thing they can share with their employees that will make the biggest impact for better customer service. This isn't easy. There's no quick fix for problem service or some miracle elixir that will magically transform an organization into a first-class customer-driven company. It's a combination of many things. However, there is one basic concept: Managing the first impression. I'm not talking about meeting someone for the first time, although that's obviously a first impression — but about the first impression we make that sets the tone for any interaction to follow.
Here's a basic example: When you walk into work in the morning, how do you greet your coworkers? Do you strive for a positive early morning greeting? Or, are you one of those people who claim not to be an “early morning” person — at least not until you've had your three cups of coffee? So what if you're not an early morning person? Your goal is to make the people you work with want to be around you the rest of the day. Your morning greeting sets the tone for any interaction to follow.
Ask yourself these questions:
- How do you dress for success? Dressing for success doesn't mean wearing a business suit, etc. It means dressing appropriately for the situation.
- What do your body language and facial expressions tell people? Body language, eye contact, and facial expressions are read, sensed, and interpreted by those around you.
- How do you answer the phone? Do the people calling you feel that you welcome their call, or do they get the impression that they're an interruption?
All of these, and more, go toward setting a positive “first” impression. For example, my assistant, Lois Creamer, called to congratulate a business associate on an outstanding news article that appeared in the local paper about his company. Let's call this person Bob.
Bob answered Lois' phone call curtly. Lois immediately knew he was busy and started to feel uncomfortable. So, she just said, “Hi Bob, it's Lois Creamer from Shep's office.
Bob said in a sharp, almost angry tone of voice, “Lois, I am real busy and I can't talk.”
Lois said, “I can tell. All I wanted to do was congratulate you on the great article in the paper. Good-bye.”
There was a moment of silence as Bob realized that all Lois wanted to do was compliment him. He sheepishly said, “Good-bye.”
In this case, Bob got a double whammy. He not only gave off a negative first impression with his curt greeting, but he also caused himself a lot of embarrassment. By the way, Bob called back later to apologize about the way he acted on the phone
What if the person calling Bob hadn't been Lois, but an important customer? Would he or she have been as forgiving as Lois? Imagine the back peddling Bob would have had to do to get the client to feel comfortable with having called him.
I hope that Bob learned a lesson that day. If he was too busy to answer the phone, he should let a receptionist or his voice mail pick it up.
These first impressions come in many forms beyond greetings. Pay attention to what your non-verbal actions are saying. Managing the first impression lets you start on a positive note — and why should you start a conversation or a meeting at a psychological deficit?
It's been said that it takes eight to 12 good experiences to make up for a single bad impression (“moment of misery”). To renew the confidence in a customer you have to go much further than getting back to even.
Managing the first impression is easy, so why make it hard on yourself? Just manage this impression and set a positive tone for any interaction to follow. It all helps to create those moments of magic for your customers.
Shep Hyken, CSP is a professional speaker and author specializing in customer service and customer relations. This article is reproduced, with permission, from the VuPoint Newsletter of the IIABA Virtual University.