Welcoming people at the front door

A few weeks ago an email with a subject line, “Front Door Ideas-and a Cookie-Worth Stealing” popped into my inbox. It was a post about how a hotel chain welcomes customers at their front door with cookies (not ours – but that’s okay). It made me think about some of our customers and how they use our cookies to welcome clients “at the front door”. Perhaps more importantly, I thought about how we welcome clients to our front door – our website.

Making others feel welcome is something I grew up with and had the chance to share with Debbie several years ago when we visited my Aunt Opal, before she passed.

Aunt Opal welcomed us as soon as we arrived
Aunt Opal with Debbie and Anna

We were traveling back home and decided, on a whim, to stop by. She lived in the house where my grandmother was born in 1890, a chance to re-visit a piece of family history. We knocked on the front door for our un-announced visit (family visits in the country do not require reservations) and after exchanging greetings and hugs, we were welcomed in the house. It was close to lunchtime and she offered to prepare us a ‘little something’.

I like to think that Aunt Opal was really a seven foot tall woman packed into a five foot frame. With seemingly no effort and barely taking a break from telling stories, she put together a feast that would have fed at least two dozen people. We sat down in the kitchen where my grandmother ate as a child and I can’t remember a time in my life when I felt more welcome.

After lunch, we spent time catching up on family news. She gave us a tour of her garden, a plot that would have been a challenge for people half her age to tend. We left well fed, with an arm full of preserves and some rich memories. I can almost smell the cornbread and find myself re-telling this story almost fifteen years later.

What does this have to do with Anna’s Gourmet Goodies? I’ve said this before, but it bears repeating. We bake cookies, but are really in the experience business, creating memorable impressions. To make that happen, we do our best to practice principles I learned growing up of making people feel welcome as soon as they come in the door.

This past week, we added a new client. After sending us their order, we helped them edit the message a bit, corrected a few typos (did not even tell them) and offered up an alternate package that better suited their needs and actually cost less. Yes we are happy to have the business, but more important, we wanted to make them feel comfortable and welcome right away.

When we send cookie gifts for our business clients, branded with their logo and message, we know that in many cases they are trying to make their clients feel welcome. By practicing the family values I learned growing up over and over again, we try very hard to make it look as easy as Aunt Opal did preparing that meal, leaving an equally lasting impression that hopefully will inspire recipients to tell their story to others as well.

Our ‘house’ might be digital (website, Facebook, Google+, Twitter), but if you happen to stop by, we’ll try our best to make you feel welcome right from the start whether you are a first time customer or a member of the Anna’s Gourmet Goodies family. And if we do it right, perhaps you’ll tell that story to someone else 5, 10 or 20 years from now and in turn, welcome others the same way into your ‘house’, wherever that might be.

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