You Had me At Hello: Greeting Customers
Posted by Deborah Chaddock Brown on November 24, 2008 under Customer Moments, First Impressions, Greeting, Training | 
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Remember this scene? Tom Cruise’s self-absorbed character in the movie Jerry McGuire has finally realized what is important in life.
Renee stops him before he cries her a river and says “You had me at hello.”
Don’t we wish our customers would feel the same way? The first impression we give; our location, our merchandise, our staff, and their initial greeting – that MAKE OR BREAK MOMENT is so fantastic that when they look back on the experience they say:
“YOU HAD ME AT HELLO.”
On Friday I wrote about an unfortunate restaurant experience in which I waited in vain to be seated at a table. At one point an employee came within speaking distance to fill the salad bar but chose not to speak or acknowledge our presence.
It makes me wonder at the focus that is put on greeting customers in our company training programs. We worry about making sure the employee knows how to clock in and out, how to make the widgets we sell, how to fill out paper work and other task oriented assignments, but how much time do we spend on HELLO?
Do we assume people know how to greet effectively?
Here are just a few tips for greeting customers in person (please comment with your additions and together we’ll create a tutorial for how to say “hello”
- greet within 15 – 30 seconds of their entrance to the business (think that’s too fast? Raise your arm up high and now count “one, one thousand, two one thousand” up to 30 and see if your arm gets tired – that is about the length of your customer’s patience
- Put a smile on your face – even a fake one is better than none
- Make eye contact – eye contact coupled with a smile sends a message that you are happy to see them
- Say “HI WELCOME TO XYZ, HOW CAN I HELP YOU?”
- If you are busy with another customer, excuse yourself for a moment to look up and say “hi” with a smile and eye contact and mention that you’ll be right there
- If you know you can’t be right there – grab the attention of another associate or manager to help
- Keep the person informed (I’m tied up but Sue will be right there)
- If you are busy with a task (like the salad bar guy) ask yourself this question: who pays my check, this broccoli or the customer at the door? Then give your attention to the person or vegetable most likely to use cash
It’s that simple. Each company will have their procedures for after “hello” but everyone – even the person who has only been working 60 minutes – if they are visible to the customer – should confidently greet and welcome each person entering the business.
We’ll talk about the phone greeting another time. But remember this:
A potential customer greeted warmly is immediately made to feel valuable and that is the beginning of developing a relationship you hope will be lifelong. How long does it take to say hello? Just a second.
How long is the damage you can do to your business if you fail to greet promptly and warmly?
Never ending.
Add your hello tips here!
