Photo of handshake and quote: Helping organizations better define who they are, what they do, how they do it, and why anyone should care!

Branding Bytes Archives

Issue 35:
Thoughts On Using Social Media

Issue 34:
Reigning in Public-Private Partnerships

Issue 33:
Seven Ways to Avoid Toxicity In the Workplace

Issue 32:
A Few Bad Apples Bruise the Brand

Issue 31:
Branding Beyond the Logo

Issue 30:
The Yin and Yang of Celebrity Leadership

Issue 29:
Want to Raise More Funds? SPEAK UP!

Issue 28:
Government Funding Cuts: Act!

Issue 27:
"We Are Sorry":
Your Brand is Your Behavior

Issue 26:
Tell Your Story

Issue 25:
Good Leaders

Issue 24:
Think "People,"
Not "Organization"

Issue 23:
What's in a Name?
Just about Everything!

Issue 22:
Is Your Mission
Getting Creepy?

Issue 21:
Welcome to the Age
of the New Normal

Issue 20:
"Receptionist" vs Director of First Brand Impressions

Issue 19:
It's Not About How Your Message is Delivered

Issue 18:
When it Comes to Your Brand, Details Matter

Issue 17:
A Good Brand Requires TLC: Just Ask My Wife!

Issue 16:
Toxic-Work-Environment Syndrome Can Tarnish Your Brand

Issue 15:
Adjusting to the
New Face of Need

Issue 14:
Tired of all the Doom and Gloom? This is Your Time!

Issue 13:
A New Year's Resolution: Don't Cut Off Your Nose

Issue 12:
What You Do Is
About All of Us

Issue 11:
Ethical Standards
and Your Organization

Issue 10:
Leadership: Whose Journey is it, Anyway?

Issue 9:
Giving Circles
and Branding

Issue 8:
The World's Richest Men
— and Philanthropy

Issue 7:
What is an External
Brand Audit?

Issue 6:
Keeping Everyone
on Brand Message

Issue 5:
What is an Internal
Brand Audit?

Issue 4:
Turn Board Members into Better Brand Ambassadors

Issue 3:
Leadership, Vision
— and Branding

Issue 2:
What's 1st—Organization or Brand? / Govt. Cuts?—Branding Helps

Issue 1:
Branding Myths

Issue 20, Fall 2010

"Receptionist" vs Director of First Brand Impressions

I needed to change my flight plans — and dreaded going through the process.

I'd done it with other airlines, and it was always a protracted, frustrating ordeal. To make matters worse, this particular morning I was on a deadline and had little time to spare.

I braced myself for dealing either with an automaton-like personality, or worse yet, the dreaded "Press 1 for this….Press 2 for that….Press 3….Press 4….and if you'd like this menu repeated, please press…." Yikes! I drew a deep breadth and made the call.

"Hello, my name is Susie. How may I help you today?"

I paused, dumbfounded!

"Are you a real person?" I replied, after propping up my jaw.

"Yes," she said in a friendly, receptive voice. "My name is Susie. How may I help you?"

"Well, Susie, my name is Larry, and I have a problem. I need to make a change to my departure time to New Orleans."

"That's no problem, Larry," she said. "Just tell me what changes you need to make.

I did, and in the process we laughed and joked about my initial anxiety about making the call. I was off the phone in less than 10 minutes — and didn't even mind paying the $70 fee to make the change to my ticket.

But before hanging up I asked Susie for her supervisor's telephone number and called to compliment on how well Susie had served me over the phone. "Susie's a great Director of First Brand Impressions," I told her supervisor, without reservation. "And I'll fly with your airlines any chance I get."

But what really happened?

Getting off the phone, I tried to analyze what had just happened. What had Susie done to make me want to spend the extra time to call her supervisor — on a morning when I was pressed for time, at that?

My answer was surprisingly simple: Susie was just doing her job, albeit, in a competent, friendly manner. Nothing more. Nothing less,

Isn't it sad, I thought, how low our expectations have become for receiving good service — and how much we recognize and appreciate it when we are served well.

Fact is, the overwhelming majority of first-contacts to most organizations come over the phone. Yet we often overlook the critical impressions those contacts have on callers.

I don't know about you, but in my years of calling hundreds of organizations and dealing with countless "phone receptionists", I've often been given bad information, talked to as if I were an imposition rather than a valued caller, put on interminable hold, felt like I had just woken the person up, or been treated downright rudely. Heck, sometimes I don't even get past the receptionist and I'm already questioning whether or not I want to do business with this group.

Take the test yourself. Call your own organization, and then ask, "Was I received in a way that would make me want to call this organization again?"

What's it take to turn a "receptionist" into an effective "Director of First Impressions"?

And, for heaven's sake, if you need to use an answering machine, please, please make it sound like a human being recorded the message. And keep the menu options to a minimum. I beg you!

As always, I look forward to receiving your feedback, questions, success stories and branding challenges. Also, if you are in need of a motivational speaker, trainer, branding consultant/coach, or management consultant who can help you answer the questions: Who are we? What do we do? How do we do it? And should anyone care? I invite you to for more information.

In the meantime, good luck with your branding! — Larry

About Branding Bytes

Branding Bytes is a FREE quarterly e-newsletter courtesy of Larry Checco of Checco Communications. Please feel free to forward Branding Bytes on to others. However, Branding Bytes is copyrighted and may not be reprinted or reproduced without attributing Larry Checco of Checco Communications as its source and providing the following website address: www.checcocomm.net. Thank you.

Privacy Policy: WE DO NOT SELL, RENT, OR LEND THE E-MAIL ADDRESSES OF OUR SUBSCRIBERS!

To receive Branding Bytes email