Coming in the front door...

I guess travelling over the summer has made me think about this... but aren't immigration officers funny?  And what do they tell you about the country you're visiting?

When you turn up in Italy they look fantastic (and the uniform worn by the customs officers is pretty neat too).  At Auckland in New Zealand they are amazingly friendly (I even noticed one chatting up a young visitor and they routinely let small kids stamp their own passports!).  In Britain they always seem miserable and there's a whole book to be written on the US experience (which is in marked contrast to the way you're treated in the rest of the country).

Once on a cycling holiday in Spain I crossed into Gibraltar and found myself stuck into a lengthy conversation about the relative merits of different types of tyre with a boarder guard.

Of course it's easy to stereotype and it all depends on who's on the desk and what kind of day they're having.  I'm still grateful to the guy at Los Angeles for his restaurant recommendations when I went through with my family. I guess if I wasn't white and travelling on a EU passport my experiences might be very different around the world.

Years ago, I heard about Wally Olins' concept of the journey into the firm.  He said that your impression of an organisation included everything beginning with how you are treated at reception and for your first few minutes inside the front door.

I doubt many of us have time to make sure that the receptionists or the security staff are properly exemplifying the corporate values.  But having visited many different organisations over the years I do think that those few moments at the front desk can be pretty telling about what you are about to find inside.

A visit to one place where the staff were terrified to break the rules began with a lecture on how cars were to be parked in the car park (all pointing outwards for some reason).  At another workplace in chaos I was welcomed by a charming but hopelessly disorganised chap in a portacabin.  And most PR agencies?... it's a lovely experience all round.

I wonder what your reception says about you....

Liam

Comments

[Les Potter]

Here in the USA, communication/PR practitioners have joked for years about the ubiquitous "help wanted" classified ads whose headings seductively say, Public Relations. Then when you read what the advertiser is seeking, you quickly see that the ad is for a receptionist.

But Liam, you make a good point. You never get a second chance to make a good first impresssion.

Les

[Liam]

Great to hear from you again Les.

On the Black Belt programme we're doing next week, we're thinking about re-working our session on being influential and I think there should be some room for a debate here.

In particular, we're thinking about stressing the point for internal communicators about the need for a clear personal proposition so that first impressions with an important stakeholder isn't left too much to chance.

Interestingly, arriving in New York yesterday I noticed posters in the immigration hall saying something like "the immigration service are here to welcome you"...I'd love to know how much that message is stressed in training around the world.

I'm in Connecticut and must say my first impressions are very favourable!

Lim

[Phil H]

Reading your post Liam reminds me of a company I worked for in London a few years ago. They were in some financial trouble and a new CEO came in to turn the business around. The very first thing he did was to renovate the reception area so that the first impression customers had of the business was a positive one. It also sent a message to the company that things were changing, a point he later made during a company meeting. What was more important to me however were the poor working conditions and selfish culture of the company...the part of the business the customers didn't see. As a result I left within three months.

I'm constantly astonished that many organisations fail to have friendly reception staff. As lovely as their marble floor and soft leather sofas may be, it's not a substitute for a genuine greeting and good customer service.

[Liam]

I guess the obvious point is how do you make sure that staff get the same experience as honoured visitors...?

Or even, do we fantasise that the front reception desk is the only touch point outsiders have with our organisation..