Your reception area is a super-important part of your office. If you fail to place the right amount of importance on your reception, you’re going to notice a sharp decline in the number of customers who come your way, and you’re going to notice that the ones you already have may also question their loyalty.
Why? Because your reception area is the face of your business. It’s the first place people go when they enter the building and the design of the reception tells them what your business stands for. That means the decor and design need to be in keeping with the mission statement and ethos of your business and you also need to make sure that whilst people are sitting on your reception seating, they’re comfortable and well looked after.
Of course, the role of the receptionist should never be overlooked. The receptionist holds more power than most people truly realise. This person can make or break the first impression customers have when they walk into the building. You can have the most wonderful reception area in the world, but if the receptionist doesn’t do their job properly, that first impression is going to quickly turn sour.
However, it’s likely that you have a wonderful receptionist at the helm and you simply need advice on how to create a positive feel to your reception area. With that in mind, let’s look at four useful tricks you can use to really make your reception area pop!
Use a Feature Wall
Feature walls are well known in interior design circles, but they’re ideal for turning the eye towards a certain area and adding a slightly different dimension to the way a space looks. A feature wall in your reception area could be a very easy to add element and one which will show your visitors that you take how your space looks and appears very seriously.
Use of Nature
Biophilic design is making huge waves in the office world, and that can easily be extended into your reception area too. This means having suitable office plants on your reception desk, perhaps a living wall, maybe a water feature, and materials in the reception space which are derived from nature, such as wood, etc.
An Entertainment Station
Depending upon the type of business you have, it might be that visitors bring their children into the reception with them. In that case, it’s a great idea to have an area where kids can play, occupying their minds and allowing their parents to relax whilst they wait.
This area doesn’t need to be large, it simply needs to be somewhere safe, e.g. away from the door and near a corner. You could also have a small gate around it, to stop children running all over the space with toys in their hands!
A Refreshment Area
It’s good practice to offer your visitors a drink of water, a cup of tea or coffee when they arrive but how about having an actual refreshment area? This could include a coffee machine, different types of teas, fridge with soft drinks in, and perhaps some biscuits. This will help your visitors to feel relaxed whilst they’re waiting and it gives a truly welcoming vibe.
The way in which you design your contemporary office matters generally, but extending this to your reception area is vital if you want to keep those positive first impressions coming your way. Making your visitors as comfortable and welcome as possible is vital, and once you do this, you’ll find that they probably tell their friends and family members about the experience they had too. Never underestimate the power of first impressions! Working with this idea could easily bring you new custom, whilst helping you to retain your current customer list too.