When you think marketing – that is, if you think marketing – you probably envision something taking place outside your office: seminars, publicity, press releases, talks, and the like. But you might be surprised to learn that some of the most important and effective marketing activities take place in your office.

Most of us view our office almost exclusively in terms of its administrative role. The office is where work is done, where we shuffle papers and joke around with our co-workers. What is not recognized is that from the point of view of your clients, or potential clients, your office is an experience.

In their book, The Experience Economy (Harvard Business School Press), B. Joseph Pine II and James H. Gilmore point out that work is theater and every business is a stage. So what does your customer experience when they walk into your office?

One of my clients had an office where he had to walk down a corridor to get to the reception area. In the process, he passed two empty offices. Imagine the impressions of a potential client when you sit in the conference room: “Things are not going very well here. You better start looking.” (By the way, my advice to that client was to close the doors to the empty rooms and put up a sign that said “Computer Lab”).

One of the key marketing concepts is “touch points.” A point of contact is any interaction your business has with the public, whether in person, by phone, or through written communications.

Each point of contact is an opportunity to form, or not form, a relationship. At Smart Marketing we recognize that our relationship with potential customers begins when they arrive at our door.

We greet each of our visitors with a separate sign in the reception area that reads “Smart Marketing Welcomes Mr. and Mrs. James Smith, Date X”. Sign materials can be purchased at most office supply stores for less than $ 85. Many customers tell us that the special attention we give them is why they choose us over the competition.

Not long ago I was in a restaurant in Minneapolis with a colleague. We were in town on business and went to the restaurant because it was close to the hotel. The table we were sitting at was not very good. It was in the middle of the floor, near the swinging kitchen door. Also, the restaurant seemed too modern for my taste. While we were sitting trying to decide whether to stay or go, our waitress came over.

“Good evening, have you ever been to Zelo?” she asked.

“No, this is our first time,” I replied.

“You’re going to love it,” he said enthusiastically.

“It’s a great restaurant. The food is excellent.”

Okay, I’m staying. That kind of endorsement from an employee convinced me that a great experience awaited me.

In his book Marketing Your Services: A Step-by-Step Guide for Small Business and Professionals (John Wiley), Anthony O. Putman states that every business has both an internal and external mission. He emphasizes that your internal mission must be aligned with your external mission.

To me, that means three things: First, everyone in your company must know and work on the marketing component of your job. Second, each person must know how their work contributes to the external mission. And third, you have to be trained to promote that mission. In other words, your employees must know not only the “what” but also the “why” of the company’s mission, and they must be able to do something about it.

Does your company staff understand what the mission is and how their jobs contribute to that mission? Do you understand that marketing is not a department? You do?

What happens when a person calls your office? Since most of my clients are professional financial advisers and I do phone inquiries for potential new clients on a regular basis, I probably make 20 to 25 phone calls a week to the advisers’ offices. Let me tell you, the experience is dreadful. If financial advisers, as a group, are ever in a position where they have to rely on the telephone skills of their staff for income, they would be better off filing for bankruptcy now.

Here are a number of circumstances that I run into on a regular basis: an automated voice responds, tells me this is the Smith Financial Advisory Firm, and says that if I know the extent of my party, I should enter it now. If I don’t know it, I should check the directory. Or I can hold the line and someone will help me. So I hold the line, and the next thing I hear is, “You’ve reached Amy, the receptionist. I’m away from my desk right now, so please leave a message.”

Well, I don’t want to leave a message for Amy; so I hang up and call again. This time I consult the directory and dial the number of the advisor. He or she never responds. I leave a voicemail message. The bottom line: I’m tired and frustrated, and I’ve made two long distance calls. If I was a potential client trying to make an appointment, I would give up.

I once conducted a series of seminars on estate planning for a consultant. We invested thousands of dollars and a lot of effort to promote the seminars. But when people called to make a reservation, they had to go through five menu options to reserve a spot. Needless to say, the seminars were not well attended. Needless to say, the advisor did not blame himself.

If your marketing goal is to build a relationship with potential customers (and it should be), what kind of message are you getting across to your callers? What relationship do you expect them to form with an answering machine?

Maybe you have a live receptionist. Does the following conversation ever occur?

“Smith Financial Advisory Firm”. (Note: no greeting, no welcome, no smile in voice, no “How can I help you?”)

“Is John Jones available?”

“I’ll check. Who’s calling please?”

“Mr. potential customer”

“And what does this refer to, Mr. Client?”

“It’s about how I’m trying to give you my business.”

“Well I’m sorry. Mr. Jones is in a meeting right now. Would you like his voicemail?”

Sometimes I just want to bang my head against the wall. Does your receptionist know enough to offer her own help, or to schedule an immediate appointment, or even to interrupt you? Is your receptionist able to make a sales pitch for you as a consultant or for your company?

I can argue that the receptionist is one of the most important people in your company. In fact, for many people who deal with her company, she is the company. The receptionist’s voice is the first voice potential customers hear; his face, the first they see. She is useful or she is not.

Does he have a smile in his voice or not. It has the power to help callers, or it is simply a robot that broadcasts them to multiple voicemail mailboxes.

However, your receptionist can only stand out if you set the right tone. Everything comes from above. You have to show a friendly, welcoming and helpful attitude. You have to make that attitude part of your company culture. If your attitude is that customers and other callers are a headache, everyone in your company will reflect that attitude, I promise.

Therefore, it is up to you to select and / or train your staff accordingly. If you hire your receptionist based on her presentation skills and pay him $ 20,000 a year, you get what you pay for: a $ 20,000 a year filing clerk.

Here in Naples, Florida, where I live and work, there is a five-star Ritz-Carlton resort hotel. Like many before me, I am always amazed at the quality of service associated with Ritz-Carlton hotels. And I’ve seen the little pocket cards that Ritz-Carlton employees carry expressing the company’s philosophy and policies. Perhaps the most striking policy is this: when a Ritz-Carlton guest reports a problem or request to an employee, any employee, that employee “owns” the problem or request and is authorized and obligated to see that it is resolved to satisfaction. of the guest in 30 minutes.

So if you tell your buttons that your air conditioner isn’t working, it’s not your job to just pass it on to engineering. Your job is to make sure they fix your air conditioner. If you ask a maid for a pitcher of lemonade, it’s not her job to tell you to call room service. Their job is to make sure you get lemonade in 30 minutes.

Similarly, it shouldn’t be your receptionist’s job to transfer people’s phone calls to your voicemail. It should be your job to help them get what they want. But she can only do that if you train her to do it, and if you convey the attitude that helping callers get what they want is everyone’s job in your office. Is this how things work in your company?