How well do you and your employees greet your customers? Do you offer warm, friendly greetings? Or do you barf up the robotic, “How’re you doing?” when customers enter your business?
I encountered just that sort of treatment while in the checkout line at the supermarket. It dawned on me that business people could use a refresher on how to greet and thank their customers.
How to greet customers
Too many customer service people rely on the robotic “How are you doing?” It means absolutely nothing: The clerk couldn’t care less how you are and couldn’t do anything about your situation if he did. Try these the next time:
1. Good morning!/Good afternoon!
2. Welcome to ….. (Could be preceded by “good morning, etc.”)
3. Welcome back, [Mr. X/first name].
4. Hello, there!
5. Hi, there, [Mr. X/first name]. Nice to see you again!
Be friendly, show enthusiasm, and look the person in the eye.
Proper send off, farewell for your customers
Again, avoid the robotic, “Have a good/nice day!” Yuck. Here are some examples that will sound like music to your customers’ ears.
1. Thank you!
2. Thanks for shopping with us [banking with us/whatever]
3. Thanks for stopping by.
4. Thanks, [Mr. X/first name]. We appreciate that.
5. Thanks, [Mr. X/first name]. Hope to see you soon!
It doesn’t take much to really connect with your customers. Teach your front line personnel some great opening and closing lines. They will appreciate it, and so will your customers.
For related reading, see “A wrong-number call becomes a sales call with proper technique” and “Good customer service starts with the incoming call.”
I’d love to see your feedback. How do you greet and thank your customers? Feel free to offer a comment. If you liked this post, could you do me a favor and share it with others? You may use any of the buttons below. To contact me, send an email.
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