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Whatever you call it, ‘‘First and Last Impression Creator’’ is among the most important positions in your enterprise.

Quick, think: Who is the first and last person your customers talk to when they’re on your premises, or on the phone?  It may be your receptionist,  office manager, host, or another employee who greets most of your visitors — and who later bids them farewell; regardless of title,  did you carefully vet this person?  Train her? Supervise her?  Or is this an entry-level position, a stepping stone, almost a “throwaway?”

I’ve  talked already about the huge influence that first and last impressions will have on your customer’s overall evaluation of you.  Truly,  these moments can make all the difference in your brand image.

Greeted with genuine caring and courtesy, a customer will forgive later minor problems, and will be more pleased with your later successes.  Start off  your customer’s visit with a good feeling, and the rest of their time with you is so much more likely to feel good to them, too.  And a caring farewell has the power to assuage a customer’s lingering concerns., and it can transform a fairly positive experience (”Most things were pretty good”) into a wonderful memory (”Everything was just perfect!”).

–Micah Solomon

P.S: Sometimes — many times–it’s not a person but a physical impression, left by a now-invisible person, that makes the first and/or last impression of caring or not caring.   For example, this first impression when I opened the door of my hotel room: a bicycle-style security chain implying I wanted to make off with their $1.75 wine key:

(Jonesing for more on this specific subject? Check out Chapter 11, Exceptional Service, Exceptional Profit: The Secrets of Building a Five-Star Customer Service Organization, Leonardo Inghilleri and Micah Solomon,  foreword by Horst Schulze, Founding President and COO, The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company. Publisher  AMACOM BOOKS, international distribution by McGraw-Hill, available here.)