Untitled - Hospitality Maldives

Three
Steps to
Welcome
What a conversation! A British gentleman
working in global logistics, his American entertainer
wife who recently became a mother,
an Australian event coordinator and me. Four
different cultures – and different points of
view.
We talked about the service we received at
retail stores, banks, restaurants, hotels and
airlines around the world. We each had very
different opinions about what constitutes
‘good service’.
The logistics guy likes fast and efficient; pleasantries
are incidental. The entertainer wants
time to browse before she is approached,
and feels ‘hurried’ if someone comes too
close, too soon. The Australian feels just the
opposite. She wants attention right away or
she walks right out the door. And me? I like
the ‘human touch’: a smile, friendly tone of
voice, a twinkle in the eye.
Our differences are not surprising given our
backgrounds. But what a challenge for committed
service providers!
Should your service be reserved and polite,
or outgoing and friendly? Should you be
fast and efficient, or personal and attentive?
Should you initiate contact and offer immediate
help, or wait discreetly until you are
asked?
What pleases one customer may easily disturb
another. But you’ve got to do something.
So what should you do?
Beneath the preferences of one person and
another, I found ‘Three Steps to Welcome’
that always apply:
1. Acknowledge the person
2. Make a positive gesture
3. Extend an offer to help
Acknowledge the person means letting them
know that you know they are there. This can
be done with simple eye contact, a tip of your
head or a momentary opening of your hand.
Have you ever been in a store with sales
staff who completely ignored you? Did you
feel awkward as they talked on the phone, or
invisible as they chatted with each other?
Have you ever been happy to wait several
minutes while a clerk helped someone else,
because she acknowledged you first with a
tiny gesture, raised eyebrows or a smile?
It doesn’t take much to acknowledge another
person. But it does require something. One
small gesture makes the difference.
Make a positive gesture doesn’t mean waving
your hands and shouting ‘C’mon in!’ That
might be good for a carnival or a bustling
street on a busy night. But theatrics can be
out of place at government offices, hospitals
or jewelry stores where couples search
slowly for rings.
At the government service counter, a positive
gesture could be simply, ‘Next, please’.
In a museum or fine restaurant, a slight tilt
from the waist is enough. In a retail store,
the wide sweep of your hand invites shoppers
to browse freely.
Extend an offer to help is easy when spoken:
‘How may I help you?’ ‘Your passport,
please’, ‘Good morning. My name is Ron’. In
silence, two open hands mean ‘I am here to
help you’. One guiding palm says ‘Come this
way’, or ‘Have a seat’.
Your ‘Three Steps to Welcome’ will depend
on where you work, whom you serve and
what reputation you wish to create. This may
take fine-tuning before you get it right.
When Giordano clothing stores first opened,
the staff were too excited, cheering new customers
and scaring timid ones right out of
the store! Today, Giordano’s has refined the
welcoming process to an elegant dance of
body language, gestures, facial expressions
and spoken words. They watch customers
carefully and observe how they react. Staff
know when to go slow and let new shoppers
browse, and when to step forward with personal
attention.