Keep Customer View In Mind

This week I taught a class on Having a Heart of Hospitality at our church. The focus was on getting past the things that make it hard for us to be welcoming or that keep us from inviting people to be part of our lives.

One of the activities was based on two table settings (see picture). We had the fancy side and the casual side. The group looked at both settings and then were asked for their observations about how things made them feel and what thoughts each setting evoked.

The responses varied from:

* The fancy side makes me feel like I need to dress up in something fancy.

* It doesn’t feel very real to me.

* It feels like I’m going to be served versus serve myself.

* It’s formal. I’m going to feel awkward at that table.

* It feels like the ladies are having tea. It feels like the holidays. It feels like a lot of time was spent getting ready.

* The casual side makes me feel like I can come dressed as I am.

* I feel like I’m at home.

* I don’t have to feel nervous about the work the host has done to prepare.

* I don’t have to worry about creating dishes for the host to do when I leave (or better, I don’t have to help with dishes!).

* When I see the casual side, I know I’m going to be part of the process. It’s feels easy.

My takeaways from the activity were:

1. We want people to be comfortable in our worlds, whatever that business realm may be. We get to play a role in making folks feel comfortable on our teams and in our environments.

2. We can spend a lot of time making sure everything is perfect, but the message it sends to others is that we are unapproachable and not very welcoming.

3. We need to remember to treat our guests as we would want to be treated – and that’s as if we were really family, not formal guests, in one another’s lives.

This week as you think ahead to the Thanksgiving holiday, relax and enjoy, keeping how your guests would like to be treated in mind.

From a business perspective, remember, we all want to see the genuine side of someone else, and we need to keep how our everyday interactions can impact how clients feel about our relationship.

Keynote speaker, trainer, and consultant, Sarah Gibson, helps organizations leverage the power of communication, teamwork and diversity to improve engagement and transform teams. To buy her book or inquire about her speaking programs, please visit www.sarahjgibson.com.