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Casual Articles - Three Steps to Welcome
How many times have you sat in a conference room listening to your fearless leader drone on about one initiative or another and you wonder who put this bozo in charge? How many times have you walked by the guy who is perched up at his desk gloating over his latest promotion and you think someone put this bozo in charge?Well, you are not alone. Many people who work in organizations where the hierarchy is very organized can pick out quite a few characters who they think would be better off shoveling hay than leading any sort of team. As onlookers we tend to be rather critical of others flaws and in many cases see us m
Your ‘Three Steps to Welcome’ will depend on where you work, whom you serve and what reputation you wish to create. This may take fine-tuning before you get it right.
When Giordano clothing stores first opened, the staff were too excited, cheering new customers and scaring timid ones right out of the store! Today, Giordano’s has refined the welcoming process to an elegant dance of body language, gestures, facial expressions and spoken words. They watch customers carefully and observe how they react. Staff know when to go slow and let new shoppers browse, and when to step forward with person
There are two main directions of change. The first is about resistance, the energy that is spend to keep a change from influencing you, of your organization. The other is the promotion of change. This is exactly the opposite direction. In both cases you need to analyse the stakeholders for understanding why the change is resisted (in the first case) or why it is proposed (the second case).The recent Pluto statement -- about redefining the definition of a planet -- is a typical example of the second case. Somehow there are stakeholders who will benefit from this new definition. Who are they? There is a difference between fundamen
We talked about the service we received at retail stores, banks, restaurants, hotels and airlines around the world. We each had very different opinions about what constitutes ‘good service’.
The logistics guy likes fast and efficient; pleasantries are incidental. The entertainer wants time to browse before she is approached, and feels ‘hurried’ if someone comes too close, too soon. The Australian feels just the opposite. She wants attention right away or she walks right out the door. And me? I like the ‘human touch’: a smile, friendly tone of voice, a twinkle in the eye.
Our differences are not surprising given our backgrounds. But what a challenge for committed service providers!
Should your service be reserved and polite, or outgoing and friendly? Should you be fast and efficient, or personal and attentive? Should you initiate contact and offer immediate help, or wait discreetly until you are asked?
What pleases one customer may easily disturb another. But you’ve got to do something. So what should you do?
Beneath the preferences of one person and another, I found ‘Three Steps to Welcome’ that always apply:
1. Acknowledge the person
2. Make a positive gesture
3. Extend an offer to help
Acknowledge the person means letting them know that you know they are there. This can be done with simple eye contact, a tip of your head or a momentary opening of your hand.
Have you ever been in a store with sales staff who completely ignored you? Did you feel awkward as they talked on the phone, or invisible as they chatted with each other?
Have you ever been happy to wait several minutes while a clerk helped someone else, because she acknowledged you first with a tiny gesture, raised eyebrows or a smile?
It doesn’t take much to acknowledge another person. But it does require something. One small gesture makes the difference.
Make a positive gesture doesn’t mean waving your hands and shouting ‘C’mon in!’ That might be good for a carnival or a bustling street on a busy night. But theatrics can be out of place at government offices, hospitals or jewelry stores where couples search slowly for rings.
At the government service counter, a positive gesture could be simply, ‘Next, please’. In a museum or fine restaurant, a slight tilt from the waist is enough. In a retail store, the wide sweep of your hand invites shoppers to browse freely.
Extend an offer to help is easy when spoken: ‘How may I help you?’ ‘Your passport, please’, ‘Good morning. My name is Ron’. In silence, two open hands mean ‘I am here to help you’. One guiding palm says ‘Come this way’, or ‘Have a seat’.
Your ‘Three Steps to Welcome’ will depend on where you work, whom you serve and what reputation you wish to create. This may take fine-tuning before you get it right.
When Giordano clothing stores first opened, the staff were too excited, cheering new customers and scaring timid ones right out of the store! Today, Giordano’s has refined the welcoming process to an elegant dance of body language, gestures, facial expressions and spoken words. They watch customers carefully and observe how they react. Staff know when to go slow and let new shoppers browse, and when to step forward with person
Prior to privatisation in China, business only existed in the form of State Owned Enterprise (SOE). These were (and still are) run by people with strong political backgrounds and relationships, usually connected by family ties to someone in the government. This sort of closed organisational structure gave no opportunity for its employees to be involved in any decision-making processes. Often, principle-based leadership was substantial to motivate staff to be productive, although the extent of government financial support available meant that SOEs frequently didn’t need much in the way of business knowledge or understanding of the market
Our differences are not surprising given our backgrounds. But what a challenge for committed service providers!
Should your service be reserved and polite, or outgoing and friendly? Should you be fast and efficient, or personal and attentive? Should you initiate contact and offer immediate help, or wait discreetly until you are asked?
What pleases one customer may easily disturb another. But you’ve got to do something. So what should you do?
Beneath the preferences of one person and another, I found ‘Three Steps to Welcome’ that always apply:
1. Acknowledge the person
2. Make a positive gesture
3. Extend an offer to help
Acknowledge the person means letting them know that you know they are there. This can be done with simple eye contact, a tip of your head or a momentary opening of your hand.
Have you ever been in a store with sales staff who completely ignored you? Did you feel awkward as they talked on the phone, or invisible as they chatted with each other?
Have you ever been happy to wait several minutes while a clerk helped someone else, because she acknowledged you first with a tiny gesture, raised eyebrows or a smile?
It doesn’t take much to acknowledge another person. But it does require something. One small gesture makes the difference.
Make a positive gesture doesn’t mean waving your hands and shouting ‘C’mon in!’ That might be good for a carnival or a bustling street on a busy night. But theatrics can be out of place at government offices, hospitals or jewelry stores where couples search slowly for rings.
At the government service counter, a positive gesture could be simply, ‘Next, please’. In a museum or fine restaurant, a slight tilt from the waist is enough. In a retail store, the wide sweep of your hand invites shoppers to browse freely.
Extend an offer to help is easy when spoken: ‘How may I help you?’ ‘Your passport, please’, ‘Good morning. My name is Ron’. In silence, two open hands mean ‘I am here to help you’. One guiding palm says ‘Come this way’, or ‘Have a seat’.
Your ‘Three Steps to Welcome’ will depend on where you work, whom you serve and what reputation you wish to create. This may take fine-tuning before you get it right.
When Giordano clothing stores first opened, the staff were too excited, cheering new customers and scaring timid ones right out of the store! Today, Giordano’s has refined the welcoming process to an elegant dance of body language, gestures, facial expressions and spoken words. They watch customers carefully and observe how they react. Staff know when to go slow and let new shoppers browse, and when to step forward with person
In economics, unemployment refers to the condition and extent of joblessness within an economy, and is measured in terms of the unemployment rate, which is the number of unemployed workers divided by the total civilian labor force. Hence, unemployment is the condition of not having a job, often referred to as being "out of work", or unemployedThe terms unemployment and unemployed are sometimes used to refer to other inputs to production that are not being fully used, for example, unemployed capital goods.The history of unemployment is the history of industrialization. It was not considered an issue in rural areas, despite
2. Make a positive gesture
3. Extend an offer to help
Acknowledge the person means letting them know that you know they are there. This can be done with simple eye contact, a tip of your head or a momentary opening of your hand.
Have you ever been in a store with sales staff who completely ignored you? Did you feel awkward as they talked on the phone, or invisible as they chatted with each other?
Have you ever been happy to wait several minutes while a clerk helped someone else, because she acknowledged you first with a tiny gesture, raised eyebrows or a smile?
It doesn’t take much to acknowledge another person. But it does require something. One small gesture makes the difference.
Make a positive gesture doesn’t mean waving your hands and shouting ‘C’mon in!’ That might be good for a carnival or a bustling street on a busy night. But theatrics can be out of place at government offices, hospitals or jewelry stores where couples search slowly for rings.
At the government service counter, a positive gesture could be simply, ‘Next, please’. In a museum or fine restaurant, a slight tilt from the waist is enough. In a retail store, the wide sweep of your hand invites shoppers to browse freely.
Extend an offer to help is easy when spoken: ‘How may I help you?’ ‘Your passport, please’, ‘Good morning. My name is Ron’. In silence, two open hands mean ‘I am here to help you’. One guiding palm says ‘Come this way’, or ‘Have a seat’.
Your ‘Three Steps to Welcome’ will depend on where you work, whom you serve and what reputation you wish to create. This may take fine-tuning before you get it right.
When Giordano clothing stores first opened, the staff were too excited, cheering new customers and scaring timid ones right out of the store! Today, Giordano’s has refined the welcoming process to an elegant dance of body language, gestures, facial expressions and spoken words. They watch customers carefully and observe how they react. Staff know when to go slow and let new shoppers browse, and when to step forward with person
An executive search process includes a job analysis that can be subdivided into various subfunctions, like planning, recruitment and selection. Management should determine the kind of personnel required for a job and the number of persons to be employed. Thorough knowledge of the various jobs is essential to perform these functions.Establishment of a scientific standard in advance is essential to compare the applicant skills with the job requirements, and select the right candidate. This standard stipulates the minimum acceptable qualification, skills and qualities required for adequate job performance. Stipulating the standard r
Make a positive gesture doesn’t mean waving your hands and shouting ‘C’mon in!’ That might be good for a carnival or a bustling street on a busy night. But theatrics can be out of place at government offices, hospitals or jewelry stores where couples search slowly for rings.
At the government service counter, a positive gesture could be simply, ‘Next, please’. In a museum or fine restaurant, a slight tilt from the waist is enough. In a retail store, the wide sweep of your hand invites shoppers to browse freely.
Extend an offer to help is easy when spoken: ‘How may I help you?’ ‘Your passport, please’, ‘Good morning. My name is Ron’. In silence, two open hands mean ‘I am here to help you’. One guiding palm says ‘Come this way’, or ‘Have a seat’.
Your ‘Three Steps to Welcome’ will depend on where you work, whom you serve and what reputation you wish to create. This may take fine-tuning before you get it right.
When Giordano clothing stores first opened, the staff were too excited, cheering new customers and scaring timid ones right out of the store! Today, Giordano’s has refined the welcoming process to an elegant dance of body language, gestures, facial expressions and spoken words. They watch customers carefully and observe how they react. Staff know when to go slow and let new shoppers browse, and when to step forward with person
The Institute of Pension and Payroll Management (IPPM) has a saying developed and used by its members: "We don’t simply do payroll, because payroll isn’t simple". Recently the Inland Revenue has introduced major changes which affect payroll and include legislation covering extended maternity leave, new paternity leave and payment rules, student loan repayments and many more.Any company offering Stakeholder Pensions to its employees needs to be aware of the rules governing the application of pension through payroll.Payroll becomes a juggle of paying employees, understanding the legislation and how to apply it and then ensur
Your ‘Three Steps to Welcome’ will depend on where you work, whom you serve and what reputation you wish to create. This may take fine-tuning before you get it right.
When Giordano clothing stores first opened, the staff were too excited, cheering new customers and scaring timid ones right out of the store! Today, Giordano’s has refined the welcoming process to an elegant dance of body language, gestures, facial expressions and spoken words. They watch customers carefully and observe how they react. Staff know when to go slow and let new shoppers browse, and when to step forward with personal attention.
American Express went too far with their initial Platinum Card telephone service. Caller ID allowed Amex to know who was calling and answer the phone using the customer’s name. But customers were shocked to be addressed by name before they had introduced themselves. (Now Amex only uses your name after you’ve said it once yourself.)
Raffles Hotel understands that too much service can become unpleasant service. A personal welcome by the chef, the manager, the hostess, every waiter and busboy will scuttle the best hospitality intentions at dinner. Raffles’ Chief Executive Officer likens their style of service to ‘a gentle breeze’, soothing you when you want it, but never blowing too hard in your face.
Key Learning Point
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Everyone entering your place of work should receive acknowledgment, positive gestures and an appropriate offer of assistance.
Action Steps
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Survey customers of all types: old and young, male and female, hurried and relaxed, on a budget or on a spree. Ask them how they like to be greeted. What would be ‘too much’, what would be ‘too little’?
Discuss the results with your colleagues and ask their opinions, too.
Decide which ‘Three Steps to Welcome’ match your company’s image and your customer base. Then set standards, practice with role-plays, train and supervise new staff. Use these three steps to make your customers feel recognized, appreciated and welcome.
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