Providing the best first impression can go a long way in dictating the outcome of your customer interactions.
Set the right tone and customers will be immediately enamoured by your staff and your offering.
Rub people up the wrong way and you’ll be clawing to win them back each and every time you connect.
A study from the Harvard Faculty of Communications found that…
“It only takes seven seconds for you to make a first impression”.
HARVARD FACULTY OF COMMUNICATIONS
So when it comes to your customer facing teams, are you prepared to take the risk on a sub-par first impression?
If so, it might well be your competitors’ lucky day…
Building Blocks Of A Great First Impression
Creating the best first impression possible is surprisingly simple and straightforward.
Often it’s as easy as being polite, informed and engaged in helping provide the solution to your customer’s wants and needs.
Here are 4 key things to remember for ensuring your first interactions are memorable for all the right reasons…
Positivity
A warm, buoyant, energetic welcome will do wonders for a first impression.
Your attitude is infectious and will be matched by the customer.
There’s nothing more deflating for a prospective client than arriving to a store to be greeted by grey clouds and downbeat employees.
Positivity is essential.
Presentation
Both personally and professionally, how you present yourself can hold huge sway over first impressions.
Whether online or in store, the environment you create for the initial engagement will dictate how comfortable customers feel and their confidence in your ability to serve them.
Whether a visual presentation in store, or your tone on the phone or online, being professional yet personable is a significant step in the right direction.
Research & Investment
Showing you’re knowledgeable about your offering, and invested in making your customer’s aims a success, can help you stand out as a retailer who cares.
Research can constitute any number of things but ultimately boils down to understanding you customer and insightfully diagnosing which part of your offering is best suited to their needs.
Likewise, investing in them personally is a sure fire route to the best first impression.
Rather than being a mere number on a revenue sheet, proving you are there to help them specifically goes a long way.
Find Common Ground & Establish A Mutual Goal
Last of all, finding common ground helps form the basis of a solid relationship.
From here, make it clear to all parties what you’re both aiming to get out of the interaction.
Once agreed, you can take the required steps to reach that destination, marking the interaction as a success upon arrival.
Setting out the next steps is also useful for forming a solid impression as it demonstrates you know what you’re doing, when you’re going to do it and why it matters.
Process Provides The Best First Impression
So how to make this a reality?
First impressions are created by your employees and, by extension, your workflows.
Whether that interaction is digital or face to face it makes no difference.
You wouldn’t want a client to experience a dramatically varying level of service depending on who, where or how they interact with you!
“86% of employees and executives cite a lack of collaboration, or ineffective communication, for workplace failures.”
3 Ways Process Can Bridge Your Business Gaps
Fortunately, there are ways in which you can support the efforts of your employees.
So instead of being made up from several, isolated interactions; your customer experience feels like a single, flowing entity.
A disconnect can be perceived as a lack of interest or a lack of competence. Both realities can drastically alter their perception of your brand’s reliability and trustworthiness.
The risk you place on yourself by having an inconsistent customer process can create significantly deeper problems than simply souring a first impression.
Having the appropriate infrastructure in place to ensure your team, no matter the location or medium, follow your best practice approach will work wonders for creating a memorable first impression.
There’s simply too much at stake to leave it to chance.
Ready to explore how Anthill can help give your customers the best first impression? Schedule a demo today.
Intrigued to learn more? Check out our Insights Hub to keep your business at the cutting edge.
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- May 31st, 2022