FIRST impressions matter. Businesses are no different. Arriving in office reception areas for the first time is often a good opportunity to take stock of how much care a business takes in the way it presents itself to its personal callers.
Not so long ago, these reception areas in larger, conventional offices were the domain of the redoubtable Corps of Commissionaires, whose staff in their splendid uniforms were often drawn from military backgrounds. They provided a very visible and effective link (or barrier) between the business employing them and the outside world.
Times, of course, have changed. Reception desks these days are very likely to resemble a small- scale mission control, bedecked with CCTV monitors and other surveillance equipment allowing firms to keep their corporate eyes on everything within a determined radius of their premises.
It's all undoubtedly high-tech, but that personal touch – and with it the first hint a visitor may have of the culture of the business they are visiting – has ebbed away.
Landlords at some larger buildings try to strike a balance between old and new, placing the uniformed Commissionaire in front of a bank of monitors and joy sticks controlling the movement of their surveillance cameras.
How many times have you arrived at an office to be greeted by a receptionist acting like an extra in You've Been Framed? They may pass comment on your parking skills or your walking route to the office, having watched your progress from the high-backed chair in their own mission control.
Companies’ main reception these days can be their own website, and this really is when first impressions count; whether it is investors looking for the latest share price or potential employees looking to find out more information, the company's website has become the first port of call for information.
Managing the sheer volume of correspondence that used to come through the mail room into reception is becoming more and more complex. To help manage this process, I stumbled across a new piece of technology called: www.xobni.com; Xobni is the Outlook plug-in that helps you track email conversations, contacts and attachments making information much easier to find.
Gone are the days when the reception was the main interaction customers have with your organisation, it is now controlled by your website, emails and media relations which may make you think again about what these tools are saying to the outside world.
MATT JOHNSON is chairman of Mando Group
