Establish Contact With Customers

Greeting Customers at Reception

There are many tasks a receptionist performs, apart from answering the telephone and greeting callers at the reception desk. Some of these are listed below. In order to perform all these duties effectively, you will need a number of resources to assist you in scheduling appointment, taking messages, and recording mail items and the movement of internal personnel.


Correct Protocol When Receiving Visitors

There are three different types of visitors to the office:

1. Those expected visitors (with appointments): clients transacting business, representatives from other business, applicants for job, visitors from different countries and cultures.
2. Those expected visitors without appointments who provide regular services: couriers making deliveries and collections, maintenance and service workers.
3. Those not expected visitors (without appointments): people making enquiries about products, customers making complaints, sales representatives from other business, people from charity organisations asking for donations.

The protocol for recieving all types of visitors must be the same. Recieve and welcome visitors promptly, pleasantly and courteously, and put them at ease by giving them your undivided attention and using thier name often. This is not as easy as it sounds, particularly if you have a busy reception desk. The correct procedure is to make sure your visitors does not wait for long (Horsfal & Turner:2010).