Top tips for providing a warm welcome at reception

Whether you go for bright and vibrant colors, an industrial look, a historic feel or a muted white-on-white palette depends on the look and feel of the brand your trying to espouse, but even small amounts of color and texture help set the tone for your business.

Color should also feature a nod to your branding, allowing a business to encapsulate its ethos from the outset of the customer experience.

Seating for clients and guests need not be expensive but it should tie in with the intended feel or your reception area. Importantly there should be enough seating to accommodate the maximum likely number of visitors to reception at any given time, and that seating should be relatively comfortable.

Also consider the use of your reception area. If it’s a place where people may be waiting for an extended period of time (while their car is being serviced, for example) couches, a coffee table or perhaps a table and chairs might be considered.

Not all reception areas feature a lot of space, but it’s what you do with that space that counts. If room is restricted, consider smaller sized reception furniture, lighter color tones and the use of mirrors to create the illusion of more space and light.

Meanwhile, make use of available ambient lighting or opt for artificial lighting with a warm rather than cool tone.

The reception isn’t the place for clutter, but it is a space where you can inject warmth through final touches like artwork, select ornaments, and plants. Each of these can help establish personality for the business while making the reception feel calm and enticing.

Even in the reception area, technology plays a role. If your patrons are likely to be seated there for a period (such as at the reception for doctor’s surgery), a wall-mounted television is a welcome addition, or alternatively consider tablets with access to games and apps that allow guests to occupy themselves (you can see our range of appropriate tablet stands here).

Meanwhile, Wi-Fi access is also a definite plus, and digital signage could be a feature to consider to further showcase your brand, products and services.

If guests are checking into your facility, a check-in kiosk can also assist. You can learn more about tablet-based visitor management systems here.

Just as the physical look and feel of the reception sets the tone for a business, so does the warm welcome that clients, visitors and potential customers receive from staff.

Frontline reception staff should encapsulate the values of your brand, offering an accommodating, professional yet warm welcome.

Meanwhile if there’s a chance reception staff will be busy attending to other tasks in addition to managing reception, self- check-in or tablet-based visitor registration are a must.

You can see our full range of iPad and tablet stands suited to reception areas here.