26 Say hello
Just say it. Just bloody say it. “Hello”. “Hi”. “Good morning”. “Good
afternoon”. It doesn’t really matter but the first thing a customer
should hear is “Hello” or ideally, if they are a regular, “Hello Mrs.
Jones”, and the first thing they should see is a smile.
Let us put it this way, you have two types of customer:
1.Existing customers who have been before and have already
given you a fair bit of money. Surely they deserve a “hello” for
their loyalty? Surely they deserve a smile and an
acknowledgement of the fact that you value them coming
through the door.
2.New customers who are trying you out for the first time. A
pleasant “hello” and a smile are so rare these days that it marks you
out as a good place to visit before they’ve even tried your coffee.
Worried that this is too
cheesy? Try it yourself.
Walk into a variety of shops
or cafes and gauge how
you feel when you are
greeted with a smile and a
“hello” versus the feelings
you have when you are
ignored. And most of all it
costs nothing.
Just, as Nike say, do it!
Wake up to your customer
“You can never tell what type of
impact you may make on another’s
life by your actions or lack of action.
Sometimes just a smile on the street
to a passing stranger can make a
difference we could never imagine.”
Ed Foreman51