Estimated reading time: 4 minutes

It’s Only Common Sense: It’s the Small Things

Great companies always pay attention to details. I have read numerous times that Steve Jobs and Jonathan Ives would spend hours working on the boxes their products came in. They would hold the cover of an iPod box over the bottom of the box and drop it, seeing how long and how elegantly the top of the box would slide onto the bottom of the box. They even judged the sound it made. If you have one of these boxes—and I am sure you do—you can’t throw them away. Try it, and you’ll see what I mean.

Now that is pure elegance of design. I don’t know about you, but it always disturbs me that I have to destroy the box my HP printer cartridge comes in to get to the cartridge. To me, that is the antithesis of elegance. You should not have to tear and destroy a box to get to the product. It’s downright shameful!

Now that I have that out of my system, let’s talk about another thing that is much more important: receptionists. Seth Godin recently wrote about this in the latest of his must-read books called The Practice: Shipping Creative Work. Full disclosure: I have always loved the idea of receptionists and had a deep appreciation for what they do in a company, even long before I read Seth’s words on the subject.

Now, I’m talking about receptionists who work at the desk in many lobbies. In this case, I am not talking about phone receptionists, who are just as important. (Don’t get me started on automated phone systems. We’ll save that rant for another day.)

To many people, the role of the receptionist is not very important. To those people, I can only say, “Get an imagination, open up your mind, and read on.” As Seth points out,” A receptionist can have a huge impact on the marketing of an organization.” Yes, he mentioned marketing, so pay attention.

The receptionist can influence the way the company is perceived and how the company does business. They are the face of the company. They are the first person a visitor sees, and the first one who talks to visitors to your company. Let’s check out some examples.

If a job applicant comes in for an interview, they will be very attuned to the way they are greeted and treated. If the receptionist understands that this is a person whom the company wants to hire and treats the applicant with a welcoming smile that puts the applicant at ease, they will always remember that when making the decision on whether to work for the company.

How about a customer who is coming for a site visit? A great receptionist will make sure they know the customer is coming, what company they are from, and what their names are. Nothing wins people over more than knowing and saying their names, especially when they don’t expect it. A great receptionist will also make sure to know something about them so that they can allude to the city they are from, personalize their greeting, and make them feel comfortable. This will work especially well if the customer is not very happy with your company. A friendly receptionist will help to soften their mood.

How about the tired bag carriers among us—those of us trudging from lobby to lobby, selling our wares? We’ve all been there. There is nothing like a smiling, friendly receptionist to welcome us back to their company. We all have had favorite receptionists in our careers—ones who not only remember our name and company but also know who we are coming to see. What a difference that person can make in our daily lives in sales.

And who can forget the receptionist who goes the extra mile to help you when you are making that dreaded unsolicited sales call instead of turning you away with a brusque “Mr. Stonewall only sees people who have appointments?” Compare that to a receptionist who—you can’t prove it, but you just know—chucks your business card and brochure into the circular file before you can crawl back into your car in humiliation. We’ve all done that walk of shame and know how it feels. What was your impression of that company at that moment?

Now, compare that to when you meet a friendly and smiling receptionist who not only spends time advising you about who you should see and the best time to make an appointment but also offers you some Hershey’s candies or peanut M&Ms on your way out. Do you remember how that feels?

If you do, then you’ll truly understand why so-called small things, like the kind of receptionist you have in your lobby, will make a great difference when it comes to how your company is perceived.

It’s only common sense.

Dan Beaulieu is president of D.B. Management Group.