The Front Desk

You get to a hotel late, tired, carrying too much.

The person at the front desk takes your name, slides a key card across the counter and says, "You're all set."

You're not all set.

You don't know which elevator. You don't know whether breakfast is included, or when it ends, or what the Wi-Fi password is. So you stand in the hallway squinting at the little room numbers on the wall, dragging your bag the wrong way first.

Nothing went wrong, exactly. You got the room.

You just didn't feel expected.

Now picture the front desk that takes thirty extra seconds.

"Elevators are around the corner on your left. Breakfast is until ten. The Wi-Fi password is on the card. If anything's wrong with the room, call down and we'll fix it."

Same hotel. Same room. A completely different night.

The Moment Right After Yes

The moment right after yes gets less attention than almost anything else in business.

Someone joins your email list. Signs up for your community. Buys the thing you recommended.

Nearly all the effort goes into getting that yes: the headline, the post, the offer. Then the yes arrives, and what they get is a key card.

"Thanks for subscribing."

Then nothing for two weeks.

The person on the other side doesn't feel welcome. They feel the way you felt in that hallway, not quite sure they're in the right place.

What a Good Front Desk Says

A good welcome doesn't need to be long. It answers the questions people have and are too polite to ask.

Where am I? Say in one line what they've joined and who it's for.

What happens next? If you write every Tuesday, tell them it's Tuesday. If there's a place to introduce themselves, point to it.

What should I do first? One thing. Not ten. Read this, watch this, answer this.

Who do I ask? Let them know there's a real person on the other end, and how to reach them.

If you recommend a product, the same idea works. A short page for the people who bought it: how to get started, what you'd do first, and what to do if it isn't working for them. Only recommend what you'd actually use yourself.

Then keep the promise. If the welcome says Tuesday, it has to be Tuesday.

I wrote a while back about the cost of saying "I'll call you back." A welcome is the first promise you make to someone new. It's also the easiest one to keep.

People forget most of what you post.

They tend to remember how it felt to arrive.

You need to make sure somebody tells them which way the elevator is.