Is smiling, listening and being nice good for business?

It was a nice and sunny day.  I had a day off work.  I woke up in a great mood, dressed casual.  I decided to go out and take advantage of  the nice weather.

As I was driving, I passed by this business that can be very useful for Home Staging®.  I parked the car and got inside.

I was welcomed by a non-smiling secretary who seemed very busy with tons of phone calls.  She asked me if I had an appointment.  I answered that I didn’t.  It seemed to be the first problem.

I waited for about five minutes and met a charming employee.  He seemed to be in a great mood and loved what he was doing!  He spent at least 20 minutes with me talking about the products they had and how helpful they can be for my business.

At the end, he wanted me to meet with the sales representative.  She was not as charming as him.  She quickly shook my hand and asked the employee to give me a brochure.  Then, her eyes went straight back to her computer.  Busy day I guess.

The employee escorted me back to the exit and the secretary did not look up at me as I was leaving.  I said goodbye, so she mumbled the same thing back.  Still not smiling.  It must have been a very hard day.

Moral of the story?  I was not really impressed by my experience with them.  As a client, I did feel neither important nor welcomed.  My first and last impressions were cold, so it cancelled the effect of my time with the charming employee…  Will I call them for business?  What do you think?

The essence of marketing is the relationship with the client.  The more, as professionals, we work on making the client feel important, the more he feels comfortable and understood.  The client cares about how you manage to fulfill his needs and how you treat him.  Period.  That will make him talk positively about you, refer you to his friends, family and colleagues. It will definitely help your business to grow and to keep a good reputation.

Is it expensive to smile and to listen and to be nice?  No!  It’s free!

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