Tweet Follow @sfitzyfly The people I meet everyday.: August 2014

Friday 1 August 2014

First Impressions.

I work with the public daily and first impressions are crucial. How you greet someone you have never met before is vitally important. You want your impression upon them to be lasting and positive. 

Recently,  I told an ignorant manager that he provided really poor customer service. Not only did he create an icy atmosphere with his work colleagues, but he treated his customers with utter contempt. And he still had the audacity to say to me in an insincere tone to "Have a nice day!"

In the thirty or so seconds he had interaction with me, he never once made eye contact. He shouted at his co-workers twice and waved his arms about as if he was the only doing some work. In fact, he was the only one sitting down on the job. 

His gait was disinterested and sloppy. And then he called the previous customer to me "stupid" under his breath - all while she was walking away.

So I called him out on it.  

I don't know if it's anything to do with getting older (or wiser), but my tolerance level for idiocy and ignorance is getting very low. I told him he was rude and in no way interested in the customer standing right in front of him. 

As soon as I spoke outside of a monotone he actually looked at me for the first time. I was polite and civil in making my point about his lack of respect toward his customers.  I will think again about frequenting this particular store - all because of his ignorant attitude.


And that's why a good first impression is so important. Setting a positive tone of interaction with a stranger is vital. I have recently had the opportunity to work with many new recruits to our business and can not emphasise the importance of starting as you mean to go on.


If the "face" of a company does their job really well - do you continue to do business with that company? Of course you do. 

That's where I point out where front line staff have a unique set of skills - not everyone possesses these attributes. These qualities include problem solving and excellent interpersonal communication skills. 

They also include the ability to work under extreme pressure in intense conditions. And the ability to cope with a problem that you have never encountered before with confidence, grace and gravitas.

So when I meet people who can not even grunt in your general direction, I sometimes go out of my way to be even friendlier the next time - just in case they did not hear me on the first occasion. 

So in short - my tips for creating a great first impression are: make good eye contact, smile sincerely, shake hand firmly (if appropriate) and be the best version of yourself.



P.S. Since I wrote this piece two weeks ago, I can report that the so-called manager of the store I mentioned above has "moved on."