Customer Servces
Putting Energy Into Your Effortsby Gail Howerton
People like doing business with people who like doing business. It’s a simple truth that we like to associate with friendly, upbeat, positive-energy types of people in our personal lives. Customers choose professional services in much the same way. If we have any question of that; just think how we choose to do business with an organization and why we choose to stop doing business with them. Research has shown that we can control 96% of why people stop doing business with us and that 96% is primarily based on service.
Putting some energy into our training and our service efforts not only increases the knowledge of workers; it also helps recruit and retain customers. The golden rule applies here - all levels of the organization need to serve each other (internal customers) and those coming in the front door (external customers) just as we would like to be served. We are similar to bovines in that contented cows give more milk... contented workers produce more. When workers feel valued and treaded fairly; they are more likely to treat customers similarly. If they work for an organization that is not congruent with their work ethics and values; then they are more likely to treat internal and external customers with disregard, or seek other employment.
Creating a workplace that is a liberation of talent, rather than a restraint by rule takes support from all levels and backed by management. Managers must understand that their job is to break down the barriers to quality service so the front-line can perform better. Empowerment to the front-line is critical since they are closest to the customer and can sense the needs and wants of those they serve first-hand. The front-line is the bottom line in the organization and they can make or break the image of the company in the customer’s eyes.
Your organization can then capitalize on the ideas from the customers brought back by the front line. Perhaps the idea was raised as a complaint which should be seen as gift from an ‘unpaid consultant’. They are telling you exactly what is needed to serve them better and perhaps give you an edge on your competition now that you’ve tweaked that point of service to their satisfaction. Send them a “thank you for caring” card as well as responding to their suggestion. Recognize the employee who fixed the matter or somehow announce that there has been an improvement because of the efforts of an employee. You can use this point as a marketing tool to establish rapport with your clients and set you apart from your competitors who may not yet know this secret to better service.
Communication, recognition, and reward are critical to creating an energizing, enthusiastic, and enjoyable workplace. Using timely, small awards goes a long way in creating goodwill for internal and external customers. Pocket Praise cards telling an employee you couldn’t have done it without them, a thank you note to a client for calling you, a follow-up phone call to see if the work was satisfactory, or reward cards for an hour off or a free vending machine snack all go a long way to energize the efforts of your workforce. Celebrate and make a big deal out of the little things to make the little things a big deal, then you will find your organization not only doing things right, but doing the right thing by putting energy into your efforts.
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Gail Howerton, MA, CLP, is an international author, speaker, and CEO (Chief Energizing Officer) at Fun*cilitators-facilitating fun and effectiveness to energize your enterprise. Contact www.funcilitators.com, 800-930-6096.
Marketing