Fly on the Wall #4: What Happens When People Are in Your Lobby?

It happened again.

I was visiting a new client. No one knew me yet. The receptionist was fine. Greeted me as one would expect. I was a little early so I expected to wait. She asked if I needed anything and made sure I was comfortable. Then she continued her work.

As I waited for about 10 minutes, I observed that the lobby served as part of the office traffic pattern as well as an open elevator bank. The seating faced the traffic flow.

As more than a dozen people went through, I smiled politely and watched each one. Here's what I took in:

• More than a dozen people passed by, in both directions, within 10 feet of me.
• Most people walked at a slow to moderate pace with the exception of one woman who bustled through.
• Most people looked down as they walked through.
• Not one person met my eyes or glanced in my direction...nobody said hello or otherwise acknowledged my presence.
• People passing each other did not exchange greetings or smile at each other! Nor did anyone speak to the receptionist.
• No one smiled, whistled, seemed amused, had a spring in their step, or in any way displayed that they were enjoying their day.

What are your impressions about this firm? (I know what mine were!)

Does this seem like a nice place to work? A friendly environment? Like people you want to work with?

What if you were an important prospect? How about a highly desirable job candidate? A perfect referral source?

Could this be your firm? Wouldn't you be mortified?

Do you pay attention to the experience of someone in your lobby? Do people behave the same passing by an occupied lobby as when it is empty?

When people come visit you or your business, it makes you a host. Would you walk in your front door and pass a stranger in your living room without greeting them?

5 minute marketing idea:
E-mail your entire team and remind them to go above and beyond to be friendly and outgoing when people are waiting in your lobby. Link them to this post to save some time typing...

Comments

[Neil]

You know at first I was going to post a rebuttal, because I'm often seen bustling through the reception area by clients waiting to see partners. But the more I think about it, the more I think it could really help to stop and say Hi, since it would only take one of them mentioning to the partner how pleasant the Neil fellow who stopped and shot the breeze for a few minutes was, for me to prove my worth immeasurably. I'm going to give it a try next time I see someone (who doesn't look like they'll bite my head off if I so much as glance in their general direction - which is often the case).

[Gerry Riskin]

Michelle, you are not alone. I interviewed a pharmaceutical billionaire about the major law firms he used and what he liked least about the firms he frequently dealt with parallels your experience. It seriously bugged him. Sometimes I think as lawyers we get so deep into our cerebral world that we forget completely about the fact that the client is experiencing us as well as consulting us. Keep up your great blog!!

[Diana Knight]

I believe this entry is so right! We have a policy here to NOT walk through the lobby area or use it as a shortcut (we strategically placed our stairwell entry doors so that they DON'T open into the lobby area). However, sometimes it is unavoidable. On those occasions we need to remember that our visitors in the waiting area are NOT mushrooms - we need to acknowledge and greet them in a FRIENDLY manner. I sent this blog entry to all of our firm personnel to remind them to look at, acknowledge and greet our visitors whether they see them in the lobby, in the halls or anywhere on our premises.

[KeithCPA]

Another reality check, I call my own offices from time to time and really listen, both to how my live receptionist answers and also to my outgoing voicemail message, as if I were calling for the first time.

And how about that out-of-office email message? Every one of those is another chance to leave a negative impression...or a positive one.

[Brenda Richter, CPA]

Perhaps one of the problems is that the firm is billing by the hour, and the team members don't have a place on their time sheet to bill a client for saying "Hi" and being pleasant.