MH Marketing Sales Management

by Heather Vela

When I first started working as an administrative assistant, I was taught a few rules about etiquette. These rules, at the time, had seemed self-explanatory to me. Some of the rules I was told included be respectful, don't chew gum while speaking to somebody and to make eye contact. I learned later on that not all front desk personnel operate under the same guidelines. I can't tell you how many times I've walked into a business and seen the person at the front desk chewing gum, ignoring clientele or even acting hostile towards someone. I find this behavior to be unacceptable and believe that there should be a certain standard for how to conduct yourself when you're the first person clients are to interact with. That's why I'd like to share some tips with you about proper etiquette and how to provide sales support.

Proper etiquette is essential to running any business well. It can also be a challenge to teach some people. I've found that the easiest etiquette rule to teach is smiling. It was the first thing I was taught while working in customer service A smile can go a long way to making a positive first impression. This doesn't only apply to communicating in person either. Smiling while you are on the phone makes your voice sound more inviting and enthusiastic. This enthusiasm is certainly infectious and will make it easier to turn a caller into a client. One way to make sure you're smiling is to keep a mirror by your phone. Another tip to help you smile is to keep a picture of something that makes you happy such as family or friends.

Even though smiling is an important rule for proper etiquette, it's not the only rule. One of the most important rules is to treat everybody equally. This means treating all customers or residents with the same level of respect. Greeting clients or residents by name when they come in is an essential part of treating everybody equally. Front desk personnel must be polite to even the most irate clients. It's critical to know how to keep your cool in a stressful situation. Being rude to a client is a sure way to decrease business prospects and potential deals.

Proper front desk etiquette is not only essential to the happiness of clients, but also with the staff. Part of the responsibility of being at the front desk is knowing how to effectively handle calls. This obviously applies to multi-person offices. Handling calls not only includes how to route them, but also how to capture information from callers without giving too much information. This is especially important when providing sales support. For example, when I receive a sales call from somebody interested in a home, I try to capture their name, phone number and how they heard about us. If they ask me questions, I will typically respond with the following: "I'm only the secretary and don't have too much information, but if you'd like to leave your name and number, I'd be more than happy to pass the information onto our housing/sales consultant who will give you a call as soon as they can". Callers, for the most part, are satisfied with this response and more than happy to leave their information. This tactic frequently helps expedite the call to the correct person. Additionally this leaves front desk personnel time to handle other duties. Occasionally, a caller will say they demand information and don't want to leave their number. In that case, I find it better to give them options such as leaving an email address or home address where information can be sent. This usually satisfies the difficult callers.

The advice I've given will surely prove useful to you, as well as to your front desk staff. I find that proper etiquette is all too lacking in many businesses and these tips should help alleviate this issue. These are only a few tips to help your front desk personnel reach their full potential. The information I've given is what I believe to be the most critical to the success of any person at the front desk. ##

Heather Vela is an administrative assistant for Capital First Realty at their Sunset Village office. Chicago based Capital First Realty owns and operates Manufactured Housing Communities in the upper Midwest. Vela is a graduate of Purdue University, with a BA in psychology and a minor in sociology. Heather spent two years assisting with the Purdue literary magazine. After graduation she worked as an administrative assistant in companies throughout Illinois, with additional experience in customer service in Florida. Vela eventually returned to Illinois to work as a administrative assistant for the Sunset Village manufactured housing community she grew up in.