Checklist: Greeting Office Visitors

Your receptionist is in control of visitors' first impressions of the company. Here's what this crucial person should do to ensure that those first impressions are positive ones:

1. Project professionalism. The receptionist is a gatekeeper, but they're also charged with giving visitors their first taste of the office culture.

2. Greet all visitors loud and clear. Saying "Good morning" or "Good afternoon" in a steady, audible tone imparts an air of capability sure to be appreciated by all office visitors.

3. Ask visitors whom their appointment is with. Assuming a guest is there to see the wrong person suggests inefficiency, something no one in your business wants that person to feel going into a professional exchange with your company.

4. Ask for the visitor's name and note the pronunciation. This way, when the receptionist alerts a member of your office that their visitor is on site, they'll also guarantee they know how to address the visitor.

5. Keep the visitor informed. After a receptionist has notified a colleague that their visitor has arrived, they should let the visitor know they've done that — i.e., "Mr. Fox will be with you shortly."