Entertainment
Home > Entertainment > Entertainment Industry (240 hours) > Compulsory Units > Provide quality service to customers > Provide quality service to customers
Personal presentation
When you are working in a service industry your personal appearance and presentation are very important. People tend to make judgements about others in the first few seconds of meeting them and this judgement is mainly based on their appearance and presentation.
An article at the Erupting Minds website explains how people make judgements about other people very quickly. The article provides some very useful tips on how to present yourself. It can be found at http://www.eruptingmind.com 
>>People Skills>>How To Make A Good First Impression
Some things to consider are:
Personal hygiene
Customers are easily put off by an employee with ‘bad breath’. The customer will tend to end the discussion quickly and often not continue the discussion as they would prefer their experience to be more pleasant.
Likewise an employee with unpleasant body odour will have the same effect on the potential customer. Customers are also unimpressed with dirty hands or fingernails (unless the person is a mechanic who has just finished working on their car).
Simple personal hygiene habits such as always wearing fresh clothes and showering before work, using a deodorant, practising good dental hygiene and using a breath freshener each day ensure your personal hygiene will not turn away potential customers. Be aware, though, that wearing strong smelling deodorants or perfumes can also be offensive to some people, so don’t overdo it.
Hair
Your hair should be neat and clean. If you have long hair it should be tied back for safety as well as for neatness.
It is very important that your hair is away from your eyes as it becomes a barrier to communication if your hair covers your eyes. People don’t like to deal with people if they can’t see their eyes.
Generally, ‘radical’ hair colourings are not appropriate for most areas of the customer service industry although if you are working at a trendy night club it might be appropriate to have ‘radical’ hair colouring or styling.
Uniform
If you are supplied with a uniform you need to keep it clean and well ironed. Wear it how you are expected to wear it. If the company policy is to have T shirts tucked in, do it.
Standard Entertainment Industry uniform is black trousers, black leather shoes or boots and a black or white collared shirt (black if you are a technician, white if you work Front of House).
When your working on staging or are bumping a show in or out, high visibility clothing is often worn for safety reasons.
Deportment
If you have poor posture, hang your head or slouch in your chair you will make a poor impression regardless of your impeccable grooming. Good posture helps to give the customer the impression that you are interested in talking to them.
When speaking to a customer, look them in the eyes, don’t fiddle with a pen or your phone, and show interest in what they have to say. Use Active Listening techniques to ascertain their needs.
Use appropriate language, don’t use slang and be polite. Use body language to show you are interested in what the customer is saying.
An excellent article on the use of body language can be found at the Erupting Mind website http://www.eruptingmind.com >>People skills>>How To Communicate Using Body Language.
Back to Important Notes
|