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Customer Service – One Critical Step to Get Employees on Board!
| Guest post by: Meridith Elliott Powell |
Article Overview: All the money in the world, all the the best experts and all the latest ideas and techniques will never do as much to help you improve customer service as taking the one critical step you need to get your employees on board. Customer service begins on the front lines of your company, and taking this one critical step will make sure your front line staff has the same goal in mind as your top Executives.
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Customer Service – One Critical Step to Get Employees on Board!
My work as a business coach and sales and service speaker has me traveling quite a bit. I often have to run errands and take care of family business while on the road. This past week, in between speaking engagements in South Carolina, I needed to pick-up a graduation card for my nephew. Luckily for me, I easily found a CVS pharmacy and pulled right into parking lot and headed in to make a purchase.
As I selected the card and headed to the counter I noticed a long line and one poor service person handling it all. Now I know she was a “poor” service person because of the irritated look on her face and the story she shared with each and every customer in line. Here is what she said: “I am sorry for the long line, CVS says they want to improve customer service but they keep cutting our staff. They are so greedy.”
So now let’s think about this. Ten customers standing in line, each waiting our turn and listening over and over again that CVS is understaffed and greedy. What kind of impression does that make, and what kind of brand is CVS creating? I dare say not the one they want.
Now imagine how much CVS, and other corporations, are spending on marketing, advertising, sales training, and big customer initiatives. Big money is being spent, big decisions are being made, and big initiatives are being undertaken in the name of improving the customer experience and increasing revenues; all while overlooking the most critical factor in the customer experience . The element that is going to decide whether the customer service experience improves or falls flat. That element is the employee.
Oh, I don’t mean that employees don’t know, that employees are not sent to training, and that employees are not required to perform these new tasks. I mean that they are not involved, not engaged and not on board. Therefore they are not “really” improving customer service.
So why if we are spending all that money, engaging all the experts, and implementing the right programs are we still getting employees who act like our CVS customer service rep? Because we miss the one critical step that ensures we get our employees on board.
The one critical step? Get your employees involved right from the start. You can tell your employees what they need to do, but you need to ask them how to do it. Employees support what they help create. If you want your employees to truly implement your customer service strategy then you need to give them a voice in the process. Get them on board early, help them understand why customer service is important and then include their ideas in the strategy.
Getting them involved, giving them a voice gets them motivated, engaged and a reason to take ownership. In addition, they live this day-in and day-out they have great ideas!
All the money in the world, all the the best experts and all the latest ideas and techniques will never do as much to help you improve customer service as taking the one critical step you need to get your employees on board. Customer service begins on the front lines of your company, and taking this one critical step will make sure your front line staff has the same goal in mind as your top Executives.
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Related Forum Posts
Re: Ways to Boost Productivity
- 1. Give Employees More Than a Paycheck
2. Provide Better eSupport Channels to Promote Self-Service
3. Complete your most dreaded tasks first thing in the morning.
4. Outsource as much as possible
5. . Turn off the TV.
Re: Your choice between...
- I will take the $100,000 and double it on it becomes millions before I spend it. Though I am crazy about information, yet I would rather take the money and turn it into a million before I spend a dime out of it. I will do it in 4 steps.
Step 1 turn $100,000 to $200,000
Step 2 turn $200,000 to $400,000
Step 3 turn $400,000 to $800,000
Step 4 turn $800,000 to $1600,000.
After getting the goal of step 4, I will spend the $600,000 on myself then continue to double the millions again. I could then by the book for $1,000,000
Re: Service Or Product?
- I agree with starting a Service-based Business in the economy. Here is what I think is critical:
1. Researching that your Service business has a market.
2. Marketing the Service with as much leverage as possible.
3. Product-izing the Service (aka Package Expert Knowledge). This will only help elevate you as "the" expert in your niche and make you accessible to people in different price points.
Just A Hello From newbie
- Hello All its Adalia From Yucca Valley , California . i just want to say that i'm glad i join this Board , Such a nice Board with lots of info, can spend hours here reading all the great post.
Thanks
Advisory Board - Steps 9 & 10
- Hey Everyone - Sorry for the delay. I have been battling the flu the last few days which has been brutal. But I guess I cant complain, my jeans are loose and I'm down 6 pounds in 72 hours. ;0) Pretty soon I will be back at my high school weight of 117 only 5 more to go! ;0)
Anyway, onto the last two steps for setting up your Advisory Board. The caveat with each of these steps is that it is YOUR board. You decide what you want and need and then work it out so it delivers.
Step 9) Keep your Board Members Informed
There's nothing worse than having a great team of advisors - who dont know what's going on.
Once you have your board in place, its important to keep them motivated and excited about your business by giving them updates at times when you arent soliciting their advice. The fact that they have agreed to be on your board means they care about your company - so keeping them up to date will help them be of greater value to you. They are champions and evangelists for your business - commit to giving them constant communications so they can share the message.
10) Fire Bad Board Members.
if you realize you have made a bad choice, get rid of him or her as fast as you can. Because your advisor board is not a formal board of advisors you wont have the typical legal issues - but you will have a good management/leadership task on your plate. Tread carefully and lightly but remember that the longer a 'bad seed' sticks around, the longer it takes to remove the 'stench' after they are gone.
Just think Omarosa - and cut em loose!
This can be very uncomfortable but if you act with integrity and are really upfront about what you need, you should be able to bypass having to let anyone go. Go slow in bringing your board together - perhaps have existing advisors talk with / interview potential new advisors in order to confirm your decision of fit.
Good luck!
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