How to properly greet a customer

Gene Mage

“We do not have to be told. We do have to be reminded.” Zig Ziglar

I find it astounding that any business would neglect training personnel how to properly greet a customer. Why would you, the business owner, manager, or not-for-profit administrator pay someone to offend your customers?

Ok. I know you did not purposely neglect this training. You got busy. The person seemed nice when you hired them. Nobody complained, so you assumed that everything was fine. Well everything is not fine with your front-line customer service personnel. And if you do not do something about it soon, you customers will flee in droves.

Your unhappy customers will not demand to see the manager. They will quietly take their business to a place that treats them with dignity and respect. By the time you hear about an “incident” it is often too late.

How should front-line personnel be trained to greet a patron? Here are some “Tips” you might try at your next staff meeting, and begin modeling how you greet customers yourself.

1. Make people feel welcome. A gruff “What do you want?” or “Yes?” does not exactly put people in the buying mood. Imagine greeting your best friend that way. Instead, invite them in! How about “Good morning, how are you today? Thanks for coming by.”
   
   Smile if you’re glad they are patronizing your establishment rather than your competitor’s. If you do not like smiling, please return to a job in the back room where your bad attitude will only bring down the morale of your co-workers.
   
   
2. Stop talking to me like I’m a charity case. Throw out the fast-food restaurant verbal short-hand. “Can I help you?” is a dead give-away that you have ill-trained personnel. Fast-food order-takers say “Can I help you?” It is the phrase used to escort a bum out of a jewelry store.
   
   When someone walks in, they do not know yet whether you can help them. What if customers responded by saying, “Yes, you can help me, if you can meet my needs for a fair price!” Instead, talk to customers about what they need. Ask, “How may I be of service today?”
   
   
3. Stop talking and start listening. Customers, given a chance, will tell you exactly what you need to know to make the sale or create a satisfying experience. But untrained help rarely listens well enough to let the customer get the information out. Interrupting, making suggestions before hearing the details, or other rude behaviors frustrate shoppers and undermine your ability to meet their needs. Instead, shut your mouth until the customer completes the request, and then paraphrase what you heard. Try, “So, if I hear you right, your main need for the minivan is to transport sheet metal signs to your customers.” Give people your full attention, and then confirm your understanding. People give their money to people who listen to their needs.
   
   
4. Work hard to solve problems. Customers are not the enemy. Yes, customers interrupt your day, make demands upon your time, and send you off looking for hard-to-find things. But responding to those needs is your job. If you find that fact irritating, I suggest you get a job that does not involve customer contact.
   
   Instead, if a customer asks a tough question, hustle a little to get the answer. Never just blow the question off, or make something up, because you just “know” that you don’t have what they want anyway, so “why bother looking for it.” You do not “know” that you do not have what they need. Even if you do not have the obscure ten cent connector they need today, your courtesy and professionalism in handling the request might convince them you are a worthy vendor for the $5000 color laser printer they need tomorrow.

As Abraham Lincoln remarked, “Things may come to those who wait, but only the things left by those who hustle.”

Syndicated columnist Gene C. Mage is author of the book Managing for High Performance. Visit www.makingitwork.com for the complete column archive.