Think about how you respond when someone asks you, “How’s it going?” If you’re like most people I encounter on a daily basis, your typical response is probably, “good” or “not bad”. While it seems rather benign at the surface, subconsciously you may be setting yourself, or your customers up for a less than stellar experience. 

Your average canned response comes off as unremarkable and predictable. It’s commonplace, completely expected, and blends into the norm of everyone’s day. If you’re trying to make a lasting impression on a customer or client, your initial interaction must be memorable, not average. 

Rule 1: Never respond to a client or prospective customer with, “I’m alright”, or worse yet, “not so good”

While many are empathetic to others throughout a given day, nobody wants to be part of your bad day. Put yourself in their shoes, it drags you down, depresses your mood, and carries on for hours after the encounter. If this is your standard reply, (ego-check coming) you are the person nobody wants to be around. Save those responses only for your close friends and family, not your clients; they’re killing your customer experiences.

Rule 2: Don’t be average!

Not bad = Not much better. What does “not bad” convey?  Logically, this statement also means . . . not good. Yep, another average response that most people don’t consciously read into, but it does nothing for your customer experience. If your client heads back to the office and his or her boss asks how the meeting went and their response was, “not bad” or “fine”, I hate to break it to you, but your encounter was ordinary and unexceptional. Who’s going to race to schedule another coffee with you? Not them.

Rule 3: Be bold, be positive, be memorable

Try this next time someone asks how you’re doing. Tell them you’re fantastic, or outstanding, you’ll be amazed at how your response comes off. Anyone can say “good”, but very few people walk around having a fantastic day. If you happen to be one of them, I guarantee others want to be part of it. Not only will you catch customers off-guard, it’s human nature to want to associate with people who make their day better. And, last I checked, you want customers to want to interact with you.

People always remember how you make them feel, so make them feel better (not worse) with your initial response. By choosing to respond with excellent, phenomenal, or any other non-average adjective, you make their day better and brighter, and they will return again and again for the same experience. One last, selfish, fringe benefit…your day becomes exceptional, as well.