Q&A: What’s the “Creepy Threshold” in Guest Services?
Q:
We’re having a debate on our Guest Services Team as to whether or not it is “creepy” to approach someone already seated in the auditorium with an extra “Hello, welcome!” So my question is: is it actually creepy?
[Question submitted at a recent One-Day Workshop]
A:
First, kudos to you and your team for picking a topic like this to debate over. It shows that the folks on your team really do care about your first-time guests’ experience…even though you may have different definitions of what defines “creepy.”
Here are six ways I’d lead your team to think about it:
1. Consider the alternative.
As much as we don’t want to be “creepy,” imagine what happens if we’re not intentional with our first-time guests. Think about sitting in a room where people are talking around you, but no one is talking to you. You’re the elephant in the room that everyone sees, but no one acknowledges. I don’t know if you can define that as creepy, but it’s … something.
2. Read the room.
If your pre-service environment is quiet and subdued where no one talks to each other, then yes, targeting certain people to talk to can come across as creepy. Alternatively, if your Guest Services Team can clearly see that the first-time guest is being actively engaged by their seat mates, then maybe an additional “Hello, welcome!” feels perfunctory.
3. Work front to back.
Nothing says creepy like a sneak attack. If you spot someone new from the back of the auditorium, at least do them the kindness of making your way to the front of the room and slowly getting to them. It’s kind of like the offering plate: as long as they know it’s coming, they have time to steel themself for the inevitable.
4. Don’t single out the newbies.
Another way to be creepy is if you only talk to new people and ignore those around them. So have a dozen ten-second conversations with folks that you know, and seek to have one 1-2 minute conversation with folks that you don’t know.
5. Enlist Zone Greeters.
I gave you six ways to use Zone Greeters in this post, but the gist of a Zone Greeter is that (a) you should have them, (b) they should own a certain piece of auditorium real estate each week, and (c) they can act as further connectors between the first-time guests and the regulars.
6. Don’t succumb to “worse-than-creepy” methods.
Did I just use point #6 to shoehorn in my personal pet peeve / hill that I will die on of the “turn and greet your neighbor” time? You’re darn tootin’ I did. Things like the turn-and-greet might feel less creepy because they’re a part of the service structure, but for the vast majority of first-time guests, it feels performative and so much worse. So very, very much worse.
Again, hats off to you and your team for even having the debate. We’re all cheering you on as you discover how to make your auditorium the least creepy it can be.
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