Ms. Bermont

Sales & Marketing

A First Impression Can Make Or Break Any Customer Relationship

By Debbie Bermont, President, Source Communications

Unfortunately, with all the branding efforts towards educating the mass market on good service, you now have to deliver exceptional service on a consistent basis or you will fall short of the customer's expectations.

The first point of contact with your company sets the tone for your future relationship with a prospect. You only get one shot at making a positive impact on that person with an exceptional first impression. If you lose them in that first moment, you might have damaged the possibility of even making the first sale - let alone getting customer loyalty.

The only way you can develop and strengthen a relationship is through a first positive impression followed up with constant care, attention and nurturing. Every connection you make with the same individual adds to the experience of the relationship. In business all it takes is one negative person in your company to have an unpleasant experience with a customer and all the good has been wasted. If you start off on the right foot with an exceptionally positive first impression, you have to follow up with more exceptional connections to make the relationship strong.

Most likely the initial contact with your company is going to be by phone, mail or through your website.

When the first connection is an incoming phone call from another person you want to leave the caller with a good first impression so they have a desire to call your hotel again. Proper phone etiquette is the most obvious way to leave a good first impression. Unfortunately it's not uncommon to call a company and get a person on the other end of the line who sounds hassled, frustrated, bored or apathetic. Obviously this doesn't leave a good first impression.

This is the age of automation where companies use phone features such as auto attendants, voice mail, call waiting and placing someone on hold. While each of these features is meant to improve communications, they also can lead to frustration for the caller. We have entered an era where people have very little patience. They expect answers immediately. If someone goes out of their way to connect with your company by phone, they will appreciate an immediate courteous response on the other end of the line.

You could be losing a potential customer in the first 60 seconds of the connection by how your phone is being answered. Here are four phone etiquette guidelines you should follow.

#1: Answer your phone by the third ring.

Last week I called a major hotel in Los Angeles during normal business hours to make a room reservation because I had a conference to attend there. The first time I called to make the reservation the phone rang ten times and no one answered. I thought I dialed the wrong number. I checked the number of the hotel and sure enough it was the right number. I redialed and let the phone ring 15 times and still no one answered. (I counted the number of rings.)

I called the operator to make sure I had the right number and she verified it was correct. So I called a third time and counted the number of rings and minutes it took this hotel to answer their phone. On the 18th ring someone answered and said, "Good morning, thank you for calling XXX Hotel (I'll spare this hotel any embarrassment by not telling you their name). How can I be of service today?"

My first thought was to tell them that they should start by answering their phone in a timely manner. Very few people will let a phone ring even five times, let alone 18 times before they hang up. How much business do you think this hotel loses everyday simply because they don't answer their phone in the first three rings?

People will think you're no longer in business or they have the wrong number if you don't answer by the third ring. If I didn't have a conference to attend at that particular hotel in Los Angeles I would never have tried three times to connect and make a reservation. I would have called another hotel to make a reservation. This hotel did not make a good first impression in my eyes. The experience left me feeling frustrated rather than happy.

#2: Your company phone should be answered by a live person who is pleasant, courteous, friendly, helpful and easily understood.

Imagine calling a company and the person who answers the phone sounds irritated, confused, upset or ambivalent. What warm and fuzzy feelings would you have about that company? Whoever answers your phone should be cheerful at all times irregardless of what is going on at that particular moment. And your phone should be answered at all times by someone who is easily understood.

#3: Do not place anyone on hold for longer than 60 seconds.

Sixty seconds seems like a lifetime to the person waiting on hold. Last month I had to call the phone company to report a problem with my phone line. When I called the customer service department and explained my problem, the woman told me that she needed to talk to her supervisor about my situation for further assistance. She asked if she could put me on hold. I said it was ok since I thought it would only be for a minute. It was ten minutes. I thought she forgot about me. When she returned she said she couldn't help me but she would transfer me to the correct department.

When I connected to a live person in the other department I had to go through my explanation all over again. It took me forty five minutes to finally get to the right person. During the 45 minutes I talked to two different departments, was put on hold three times and was cut off once. By the time I finally connected with the actual person who could solve my problem I was far more irritated and frustrated from the experience than I was with the problem with my phone. While I sat on hold for the third time I wrote an article entitled "Ten Surefire Ways To Lose A Customer." Then I sent it to the supervisor at the customer service department. At least my time spent waiting on hold wasn't a total loss.

#4: If your phone is answered by an auto attendant, let the caller know right up front they can reach a live operator by pressing a specific button.

When someone calls your company they shouldn't need an advanced degree in math just to connect with a live person. When someone calls your company are they greeted with a long menu of options from an auto attendant that's almost impossible to memorize? Always give the caller the first option to bypass a lengthy message by hitting a certain key or the option of speaking to a live person.

Check your phone etiquette

Now call your own hotel and compare the answers to these questions to the phone etiquette guidelines to see how you stack up.

The First Connection ... Through Your Website

It is very common for someone to look you up on the internet before they ever contact your hotel. Your website is representing you 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Essentially your website is your fulltime, around the clock sales person. Other than what is written on your website you won't have a chance to add any additional information, commentary or explanation. You won't personally be there to add the warm and fuzzy. How does your website stack up in leaving a positive first impression?

Check your website effectiveness

The First Connection Through Mail

When you initiate a contact with someone through the mail, you only have one shot at making a positive first connection. When you are connecting with someone that you don't know you run the risk of being categorized as a company that sends out junk mail. This is the opposite of the kind of impression you want to leave.

You must be targeted in your mail and make sure that you are only sending the correspondence to a qualified audience that fits your ideal customer profile. Sending your unsolicited messages to an unqualified market is a waste of money. Junk mail is a communication from a company who sends solicitations to the wrong people.

Your communication should be personal in nature and speak to the needs of your target market. It should leave a positive first impression and make an exceptional offer that moves the prospect into action.

Exceptional connections make a difference in people's lives. As long as we are humans with feelings, the smallest things matter. The smile matters. The greeting people enthusiastically matters. The exceptional service matters. Every little act of kindness and thoughtfulness matters. People pay attention to the small acts of kindness and thoughtfulness. When you start off on the right foot with a positive first impression and continuously follow through with exceptional connections you are guaranteed a lifetime of customer loyalty.

Debbie Bermont is president of Source Communications, a marketing consulting firm, and author of Outrageous Business Growth- The Fast Track To Explosive Sales In Any Economy. Debbie is a leading expert on helping businesses reduce their marketing costs and accelerating their sales growth. Ms. Bermont can be contacted at 619-291-6951 or Debbie@outrageousbusinessgrowth.com Extended Bio...

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