Impeccable Customer Service Tip #407
Always plan to arrive early. By arriving early, the statement you’re making to your customer is: Your time is important enough to me that I planned ahead. I considered possible traffic delays, navigation, parking, and I built in time to prepare for our meeting. I respect you.
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I’ve wondered about this Steve. Although I always arrive 5-10 minutes early for a client meeting, I usually wait in the car (often down the street) so as not to inconvenience them by knocking on the door earlier than expected. Do you feel there’s a different set of rules when making visits to someone’s home vs. arriving early and sitting in a waiting area?
What a great question, Mina. I do believe the rules are slightly different when visiting homes or offices:
Homes: In most cases, I would recommend knocking on that front door of a client’s home at the agreed upon meeting time or perhaps just a minute before.
Offices: When meeting someone at their office, I plan to enter 4 to 5 minutes early, meet the receptionist, exchange names, announce who I’m there to see, and say, “…But I’m a few minutes early and certainly don’t mind waiting.”