Customer reception: presenting an option without steering the choice
Offering a remote meeting or an on-site visit may seem like a straightforward exchange of information. The management question is more precise: how can we check whether reception wording influences the choice more than the actual characteristics of the options?
What the literature establishes
Amos Tversky and Daniel Kahneman (1981, Science) show, in experimental decision problems, that different presentations of equivalent consequences can change expressed preferences. Describing outcomes in terms of gains or losses is therefore not merely a stylistic choice. These studies establish a framing effect in the situations examined, not a universal rule for every reception conversation.
The reference point changes the evaluation
Daniel Kahneman and Amos Tversky (1979, Econometrica) propose a model of decision-making under risk in which outcomes are evaluated relative to a reference point, with different sensitivity to gains and losses. At reception, presenting a remote meeting as a journey avoided or as a visit forgone could therefore prompt different evaluations. This is a hypothesis about transferring the findings to a new setting, not a result directly demonstrated for these exchanges.
The premature conclusion
One might conclude that options should always be presented positively. That would turn a descriptive finding into an influence technique, without establishing that the resulting choice better serves the customer. A more defensible requirement is to present the same relevant dimensions for each option: the access offered, constraints, opportunities and restrictions. (our executive and employee training programmes)
What the evidence does not establish
These articles examine neither reception in Basel’s industrial organisations nor choices between physical visits and remote meetings. A different preference may also reflect genuinely different information, a technical requirement or unequal language comprehension. Conversely, finding no difference between two formulations would not establish the overall neutrality of the process.
A practical check in Bâle
Within SHR’s “Accueil client” programme, an exercise set in Basel could involve directing a contact from pharmaceuticals, life sciences, Rhine logistics or international R&D towards a remote meeting or an authorised visit. Randomly assign participants to two versions of the same scenario in the same language, keeping the options, constraints and their order identical, but presenting the journey as “avoided” or the visit as “not taking place”. For each version, measure the proportion choosing the remote option and the proportion able to correctly recall the access restrictions. A difference would warrant examining the script and repeating the test; it would not suffice to identify the best option for actual visitors. To go further: explore the Client Reception training in Basel in the canton of Basel-Stadt, or browse our executive and employee training programmes in Switzerland.
In pictures: Client Reception in Basel
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