Receptionists need to keep their tempers in check, always remain courteous and put on a smile even on the worst of days.
And that right there rules me out of this profession. I tend to wear my heart on my sleeve when it comes to difficult people and my patience has been worn so thin over time that it's become near transparent.
I wouldn't last a day.
And that's just one little part of it. Receptionists need to have outstanding communication skills, organisational skills and be great at customer service.
You see, before a customer does business with the company they will likely speak with the receptionist. If a good impression is imparted during this interaction the likelihood of the customer feeling more positive about the company is highly increased.
Conversely, if you have a poor receptionist - who is ignorant of proper phone etiquette, brings their mood to work and dresses inappropriately - you'll start seeing a lot of your business walking straight back out the door.
We can thus see just how important it is to have a top-notch receptionist receiving our customers, organising our offices (filing, replenishing stationery etc.) and acting as ‘shop windows' for the business.
Business can even improve when doing things as seemingly small as training your staff how to answer a telephone (this goes for anyone who might be in the vicinity of a phone) and ensuring regular skills training for receptionists.
So I take off my hat to our receptionists.
I'm just thankful it's not me behind the telephone…