Sometimes, busy people need to remind themselves (and us) how busy they are by shaving off the last two seconds of what would otherwise be a pleasant interaction.
At Nobu in London the other day, the hostess, who is paid to be busy, looked up our name in the reservations book and then said, “over there against the wall,” while she pointed. She repeated this approach with at least three other parties.
How much longer to say, “Welcome, we’ll be ready for you in just a second. Would you mind waiting over there please?” Amazingly, saying that while smiling takes precisely the same amount of time.
I know you’re busy, so I’ll keep this short… if you’re going to interact, spend a few extra beats to be calm and gracious. It’s hard to overstate how much better everyone will feel and how much more productive you’ll become as a result.
1 response so far ↓
andrew weir // May 23rd 2009 at 6:10 pm
I totally agree.
Why are so people usually so bad at getting this sort of thing right?
It doesn’t take much to show a some good manners and even a little charm.
When they get it right it can make a huge difference to how people feel about the experience and, more importantly whether they return.