As an entrepreneur, be sure to prioritize in-person customers
During a recent trip to South Florida, a colleague was checking out of the hotel where we were staying. The morning that we were to check out, the hotel neglected to put a bill under her door, so she went to the front desk to request a copy.
Just as she began speaking to the front desk attendant, his phone rang. He answered the phone, leaving my friend standing there while he dealt with the problem – a guest needed directions to a restaurant.
As soon as he hung up, another call came in. This time it was directions to the airport, and my friend was basically being ignored while the attendant helped the caller.
Believe it or not, this happened a third time with a guest who wanted to leave a wake-up call.
Each minute that passed, my friend got angrier and angrier, but she managed to maintain her composure despite the poor customer service.
I struggle to understand why so many staff members believe that they have to deal with the telephone rather than the client who is looking them in the face.
I cannot tell you the number of times this has happened to me, especially at a doctor’s office, and I have found this to be one of the worst things you can do to a customer. You make a trip into the office, yet the priority often is given to someone who calls in, regardless of the purpose of the call.
This is just bad business.
I believe the best policy is to always give the priority to the customer who is physically present in the business. However, this is not to say that the staff should ignore the telephone if they are with a customer.
If an employee is dealing with a live customer and the phone rings, the employee should ask the customer if he or she could answer the phone quickly and ask them to hold. This way the staff member acknowledges the customer on the phone but gives priority to the person in front of them.
While this sounds like such a simple concept, it needs to be reinforced and monitored.
As an entrepreneur, make sure your staff has been trained on how to assign priority when serving customers.
Jerry Osteryoung, a business consultant and Jim Moran professor of entrepreneurship (emeritus) and professor of finance (emeritus) at Florida State University, can be reached at jerry.osteryoung@gmail.com or 850-294-7478.
This story was originally published July 13, 2017 at 10:43 AM with the headline "As an entrepreneur, be sure to prioritize in-person customers."