I was reading a recent blog entry by Seth Godin about receptionists. It made me wonder, can a receptionist sell? Should a receptionist sell? The receptionist is usually the gatekeeper, the first point of contact for most clients in your organization. Perhaps a little sales training for the receptionist might be an innovative way to get a competitive advantage. First impressions are important in business, right? Perhaps, an entrepreneurial firm can take advantage of this and make that first impression a great one.

Seth Godin communicates the idea that it may not be a good idea to hire the cheapest receptionist. If a receptionist greets one thousand people a day, that's twenty thousand people a year. Seth asks if it is worth a dollar per interaction to transform all of those interactions into something spectacular.

I would bet that those interactions are worth at least a dollar, if for no other reason other than to make a good first impression on clients, customers, and prospects.

I would take it even further. The interaction does not need to end at an initial greeting. I think the receptionist could be instrumental in getting the sales process rolling. Instead of asking the client to have a seat in the waiting area to wait for his appointment, perhaps the receptionist could begin with talking about the product, with providing marketing material, with starting a power point presentation. She could do just that if she had the proper training.

Could this help the salesperson? Would this lead to more closed sales? Would this be a competitive advantage? I think so.