The Front Door Experience is where Culture Really Begins

Leaders should spend their time defining purpose, values and strategy. They should debate organisational design, develop leadership frameworks and invest in training their team members to be the best they can be.

All of this is very important, but I also think leaders should invest time and attention to ensure their front door experience is in place as for me it is a strong barometer of culture within the organisation.

What do I mean by the front door?  It is the experience somebody experiences when they make contact with an organisation via the website, telephone, email response or arrive at the office reception.

One of my favourite examples that I think we can learn from comes from Bill Walsh the American football coach when he took over the San Francisco 49ers. At the time, the club was struggling both on and off the field and many expected Walsh to focus first on tactics, recruitment or fitness. Instead, one of his earliest changes caused some head scratching as he instructed the receptionist to answer the telephone differently!

Walsh believed that excellence is never switched on only when the game began but excellence is demonstrated in every interaction. Every conversation, every greeting and every process either reinforced or weakened the standards an organisation wanted to represent. He believed that changing how the phone was answered was not about customer service alone, it was a signal that a new standard had arrived.

A similar story comes from Toto Wolff during his early days leading Mercedes Formula One Team. He has described that during his first visit he noticed a dirty coffee cup and an old magazine left in reception.  He believed that there needed to be a mindset shift - if people become comfortable ignoring small problems, they eventually become comfortable ignoring larger ones and that to become a Championship winning team they needed a team focusing on all the tiny acts of improvement.

A few years ago, I visited Manchester based Music Magpie to meet their CEO Steve Oliver. I was met by a first class receptionist that made such a positive impression on me.  She knew my name when I arrived, she gave me a drink (offering me multiple tea options) and kept me informed when Steve was available (I had arrived early).  I knew that this was not accidental, this was the culture of the company being welcoming, friendly and professional and it was so positive.

So as a leader of a business ask yourself -

How long does someone wait before being acknowledged what ever way they approach you?

Does your reception area reflect the quality of your products or services?

How are visitors greeted?

What impression does your website create before anyone speaks to a member of your team?

Would your newest recruit immediately understand what “good” looks like simply by walking through your front door?

At the front door your culture is visible long before anyone reads your values statement.

I am not advocating that every company should have a flashy HQ far from it! The other day I read an interview with the CEO of AIM listed Judges Scientific who have been very successful driving shareholder returns for 20 years.  They purposefully have a very frugal basic office in London as they want to ensure that they send the message to internal team members and shareholders that they are frugal with overheads and allocating shareholders capital wisely.

They say first impressions count when you meet a new person and it is the same for encountering an organisation.

Whether it is the way the telephone is answered, the cleanliness of the reception area, the warmth of the welcome, or the speed with which someone is acknowledged, these seemingly small details communicate something much bigger.

They tell people what standards are accepted, what the organisation truly values and a strong signal to the culture.