There are certain rules within a business that should always be adhered to. For instance, you shouldn’t leave office monitors or printers on standby over night, you should make sure you let plenty of fresh air in and avoid using the air conditioning all the time. However, some are truly make or break, and really create a sense of importance around business success.
The reception area should never, ever be left unattended.
Do you agree?
It sounds like a no brainer but you’d be surprised how many reception areas and waiting areas are regularly left unattended for a few minutes at a time throughout a working day. You might think that it doesn’t matter for just a minute or two, but what if a visitor walks in right at the moment you leave the room, and they’re standing there, wondering who to speak to and what to do? Does that give the best first impression of your business and its professionalism? Not at all.
A high quality commercial reception area needs to be attended by a receptionist or someone standing in for the receptionist at all times. If the reception is large and busy, there should be two reception desks, or one large one with two receptionists working to greet visitors and help whenever necessary.
Leaving a reception area unattended basically says “you can wait” to visitors and that’s not the greatest customer service, is it? Instead, focus on always having someone in the reception chair and doing their best to help out anyone who approaches the desk. It’s also very poor service to leave someone sitting in the reception area whilst you go elsewhere.
If you need to deliver a message, do it via email or telephone. If you need to take something to an office, call a person in the main office and ask for them to come and fetch it. The reception area is not a space that should ever be left empty, even from a security point of view.
The bottom line is that this is a space that can make or break your business in terms of the way people think when they walk in. If they get a positive first impression, all is well. However, if their impression is a negative one, you’ve got trouble on your hands. Negative first impressions take quite a while to reverse and by that time, the visitor has decided to take their business elsewhere.