Small Business Marketing Tips
First Impression, or Last Impression?
July, 2008
Every business, no matter how big or small, has the same number of opportunities to make a first impression on a customer. One! If you don't handle it properly, your first impression can become the last impression you ever get a chance to make. Most solo entrepreneurs are conscious of the importance of this, because they're the person the customer meets, and it's their income at stake.
But when companies have employees, things can turn sour if the owner isn't paying attention. The average employee does not connect the customer walking in the door with their paycheck, and many owners make the mistake of hiring average employees - or worse.
I tried out a new business this week because I needed to get some work done on my wife's car. My experience was a textbook example of how bad things can get.
The counter clerk was sullen and uncommunicative, and even walked away and left me standing there in what I thought was the middle of our conversation. No smile, no welcome, no interest in what might need fixing, and no thanks for the business. Not even a quote for the work. When I picked the car up, I didn't even get an invoice detailing the charges, just a credit card stub. I felt like an interruption, not a valued customer.
Now the technical work that they do fixing cars might be the best on the Mountain, but I have no way of judging that. I have to form my first impression based on the way I was treated. And I won't go back.
Sales and marketing guru Dan Kennedy works very hard with his clients to make sure that they know what's going on at their point of first contact. The only reliable way for an owner to know is to have the company mystery shopped on a regular basis.
This is true for professionals like doctors, dentists and attorneys, too. What actually happens when someone calls you? Do they get left on hold? Are they greeted in a warm and friendly way? Do they get their questions answered accurately? If you are running advertising and tracking results (as I wrote about in a previous article) do callers get asked where they got your number?
Kennedy has written that when companies are mystery shopped for the first time, the owners are usually horrified by the results. "But they're not doing anything I told them to," the owner will say. The only way to know is to test.
Some companies are very clear about how the customer is treated. I read of a corporation a few years ago who had designated the person at the desk in their main lobby the Director of First Impressions. They hired, trained and paid her accordingly, and she reported to the President. No more bored, gum-chewing, minimum wage receptionists for them! They were focused on the customer and it showed.
One large corporation that is built around this concept is Southwest Airlines. Southwest has built their success on their friendly people, and they have legions of fans as a result. They create that result by, first, making the customer experience Number One on the company culture list from the CEO on down. Then, they specifically hire people who have the friendly, fun-loving, people-centered attitude that they want.
Their whole interview and selection process is designed to find and hire cheerful, friendly people. Then they train them in the job skills. Notice that most companies try to do the opposite - find someone with the job skills and train them to be friendly. Good luck with that!
A smaller East Coast company has applied the Southwest formula to convenience stores with amazing results. The WAWA stores have created incredible customer loyalty to the point that people are even getting married in the stores! They've distinguished themselves by being fun, high quality and people centered. They're also profitable and growing.
If you want consistently good first impressions, take a tip from Southwest and WAWA. Hire for attitude and train for skills. Don't make the first impression your last impression.
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