Tag: CEO

It’s often been said that customer contact employees are key to creating great customer experiences. There is a lot of validity to this statement as customers depend upon the person with whom they interact to provide a high level of service. In continuing the series on the necessary ingredients for creating great customer experiences, let’s focus on employee morale.

During my management days, I expected my team to be ready to handle their duties every day. However, I also knew that it was my responsibility to maintain a high level of team morale. When employees are happy, they are more inclined to create happy customers. When one takes the time to understand what impacts the customer facing employee, one is in a position to create an environment conducive for high employee morale. Here are a few issues that impact the morale of customer facing employees.

Corporate Culture
When the culture of the organization is employee-friendly, morale has a tendency to remain high. Employee turnover is more than likely very low, which leads to highly experienced customer facing personnel. Does the culture allow employees to express their needs and or concerns? Is leadership responsive to these needs and concerns? Are core values in place that include the importance of employees to the organization’s success? A healthy corporate culture is important to sustaining employee morale. Remember, your paying customer is the direct beneficiary of high employee morale.

Management Expertise
Oftentimes, managers/supervisors are placed in their role without the proper training. This can certainly impact employee morale as it leads to managers making decisions that may negatively impact their subordinates. I suggest that companies take the time to properly indoctrinate new managers/supervisors. Provide people skills training. Managers/supervisors should possess competent communication skills, have the ability to create synergy amongst their direct reports and be able to be the spokesperson for their team with upper management. When faced with situations that may negatively impact their team, managers/supervisors must be courageous enough to tactfully address their concerns with upper management. Make sure they understand how what they’re responsible for impacts the rest of the company. Be sure to also help them to understand how the rest of the company impacts their responsibility. This knowledge helps managers/supervisors make good operational decisions, which usually leads to an improved level of employee morale. Remember, one of the most common reasons for employee discontent is the level of supervision provided by the front line manager. Make sure that this is not the case for your company by properly developing manager/supervisor personnel.

Objective Performance Evaluation
This is a major component in consistently maintaining employee morale at a high level. Employee performance appraisal should be based upon reasonable objective standards. The standards should in turn be built from a job description. A performance appraisal based on subjectivity instead of objectivity is a recipe for disaster. Employees lose confidence in the company’s ability to properly appraise their performance, which leads to lower employee morale, which can certainly lead to employee turnover. Make sure that positions within your company have a job description. Develop performance standards based upon reasonable expectations. In other words, develop “real world” performance goals. A sure fire way to antagonize employees is to hold them accountable to goals that you can’t explain. The only way to develop “real world” goals is to spend time in the “real world”. Determine what is achievable. Look for ways to improve the employee experience that will assist them in creating a great customer experience. Make sure employees understand what they’re being held accountable for and be consistent across the employee base. Refrain from preferential treatment as this will lead to a drop in employee morale. Employees want to know that they are all held to the same standard.

Keep employee morale high in your company. Create a great Corporate Culture, make sure management/supervisory personnel have the proper level of Management Expertise and provide Objective Performance Evaluations. Your paying customer will certainly benefit from your decision to do all three! For more insights on improving morale, see this article “How to Improve Employee Morale and Job Satisfaction”.

During a recent client assignment, I noticed the frequency in which customers found themselves in the waiting mode. Waiting to be told what to do next. Waiting to be acknowledged. Waiting to be serviced. Now there’s one thing that customers delight in and that’s being provided with service in a timely manner. Waiting is high on the how to antagonize customers list. Can you put your finger on the reasons your customers wait? Here’s a few of the more common reasons customers wait.

Supply vs Demand
Oftentimes there’s just not enough personnel available (supply) to handle the number of customers (demand). Is the demand the result of a marketing campaign or new product release? Perhaps a glitch in your product has created an unexpected influx of customer inquiries or complaints. When you know what the issue is, take a moment to proactively advise your customers. If yours is a call center, utilize the Interactive Voice Response (IVR) to advise customers that you’re aware of the issue and include an estimated resolution time, instructions to obtain a replacement product or whatever it is that you want to communicate. Most customers will simply choose to take this as enough information and disconnect the call. Is it possible to place the same information on your website? Perhaps in a retail environment, data mining can assist in determining the peak periods for customer/employee interactions resulting in proper scheduling of personnel in accordance to historical data. These are just two examples for possibly alleviating stress for both customers and employees.

Seasoned vs Non-Seasoned Employee Ratio
Perhaps the “seasoned to not quite seasoned” employee ratio is somewhat on the low side resulting in a longer than normal transaction/customer interaction time. When there are not enough properly trained personnel available for customer interactions, more often than not, customers will find themselves in the wait mode. However you describe this mode – queue, line, column, etc – most customers prefer not to be there. It’s important to combine great training with great employee relations to reduce personnel turnover. The more tenure an employee obtains, the more nimble he or she becomes at servicing customers. I have a saying – “Knowledge coupled with repetition creates experience. Experience assists in creating efficient interactions.”

Options for Self Service
It’s a good idea where possible to allow your customer to self-serve. Most customers today don’t mind serving themselves as long as the transaction is easy to complete. Oftentimes when given the option to self-serve for the checkout procedure, I’ll choose to do so rather than wait in line to be checked out by an employee. What self-service opportunities are available within your organization? When the customer has the option to order products and services or set appointments via your website, is the process seamless and easy to complete? Are you able to verify the number of transactions actually completed via your self-service options vs those customers choosing to opt out to a live person (either via phone, web chat or in person)? Monitor your self-service options to insure customers find it easy to complete interactions.

Customers are depending upon companies to provide prompt efficient service. Make sure your company is ready by checking to insure Supply Meets Demand, that the Seasoned Vs Non-Seasoned Ratio indicates you’re successfully retaining tenured personnel and that your Options for Self Service are efficient and effective for the “I Like To Do It Myself” customer.

There are a multitude of in-home service providers in today’s economy. Carpet cleaners, appliance installation/repair, cable TV/internet service just to name a few. When providing in-home service at the customer’s residence, it’s important to have a plan for providing a great customer experience. Take the following into consideration when developing your plan.

Communicate, Communicate, Communicate
Timely communication is a key aspect of your in-home service plan. When your customer sets an appointment, advise the customer that you will contact them again 24 or 48 hours prior just to verify that they will be available at the scheduled time. Provide your customer with instructions on how to cancel or reschedule their appointment. Call the customer again the day of the scheduled appointment. Verify the service to be provided. Make sure that the service provider is clear on the service he/she is to provide. If possible, have the service provider call when en route to the customer’s residence. Your willingness to effectively communicate will set your business apart from the competition.

Before You Ring the Door Bell
I remember having an issue with my home AC unit where service was required. When the service provider arrived, I couldn’t tell what company he represented. No signage on his truck. No uniform. No company ID. And his girlfriend was in the truck with him! Not the way to make the customer feel at ease. It’s important to make a good presentation of one’s company at the customer’s residence. Is the company or contractor vehicle clean with company signage readily visible? Is the service provider dressed in a clean company uniform? Does the service provider present his/her company ID before entering the customer’s residence? Has the service provider slipped on shoe covers so as not to inadvertently soil a customer’s floors? These are all things to consider before ringing the doorbell!

The Service Experience
When it comes to the providing a great in-home service experience, two key ingredients are one’s ability to ask the right questions coupled with excellent listening skills. As a service provider, it’s a good idea to establish the service the customer is expecting to receive during your visit. “Sir/Ma’am – I here today to -” just to make sure you and the customer are on the same page before starting the actual physical service process. When at a customer’s residence to resolve an issue another key ingredient to add to your skill set is the ability to ask the right questions? When did the problem start? Where is the noise located? What time of day is the issue most prevalent? By allowing your customer to answer questions, you make them a part of the service experience. Most customers appreciate being asked these questions and it helps one to possibly pinpoint the issue or maybe change resolution strategies.

Rate My In-Home Service Please!
It’s important to know how your customer feels about the level of service provided during their in-home service. Customer feedback is important to consistently providing great in-home service experience. While in the customer’s residence, provide a short (5 to 10 questions) survey for the customer to complete right on the spot. The experience is fresh in the customer’s mind which oftentimes leads to a more accurate rating. Offer the survey right before removing equipment, tools or whatever is required for service completion. The customer can complete the survey while you’re loading the truck. Create the survey with what’s important to the customer in mind: Timeliness, Effective Communication, Level of Service Provided and Service Provider Appearance (clean uniform, shoe covers, company ID, etc.) among other possible categories. Customers love to give feedback – let them give their opinion regarding your service. It helps service providers stay on their toes and helps one to determine what’s really important to customers.

In-home service is a big deal in today’s world. Make sure you’re creating great in-home customer experiences by Communicating, making sure service providers create the right impression Before Ringing the Doorbell, providing a great Service Experience and allowing the customer Rate Your Services.

Several years ago I decided to relocate to a different part of Houston, Tx. Because I was moving to a newly built home, I chose to utilize professional movers – didn’t want to scratch those new walls! One thing that thoroughly impressed me with the moving company was their frequent reminders and updates. “Mr. Allen we’re calling to confirm your move for next Tuesday.” “Mr. Allen we’re calling to remind you of your scheduled move for tomorrow. The crew will arrive between 8:00 and 8:30 am.” One sure-fire way to impress your customers is by providing timely updates, confirmations and progress reports. Let’s take a look at three reasons why it’s important to do so.

Customers Love It! – Customers really appreciate companies that provide timely updates and progress reports. Doing so means customers spend less time calling or emailing for information. This simple task creates goodwill for your company and will surely lead to referrals from your present customers. While it may appear to be time-consuming to keep customers informed, believe me it’s time well spent. If a customer has to call you for an update or progress report, you’ve just lost crucial customer experience points.

It Means You’re On Top of Your Game! – When a company makes it a point to provide confirmations, updates and progress reports, customers feel that you’re on top of your game!. It shows that you spend time tracking progress and status of situations which impact your customer’s experience with your organization. Maintaining situational awareness is a critical exercise as it allows one to proactively identify issues which may negatively impact the customer. One can usually quickly resolve these issues to prevent delays in completing the service paid for by the customer. Be proactive to stay on top of your customer experience game.

Repeat Business Will Blossom – Because you take the steps to keep your customers informed, it’s most likely they will choose to utilize your services again when the need arises. Customers are more prone to continue to do business with proactive companies. The less work the customer has to do, the higher the probability that you’ve just created a repeat customer. As your repeat business grows, look for new business to grow as well. Satisfied customers will share their experience with others in need of your services. Make it a point to keep this in mind when deciding whether or not your company will proactively provide service updates.

With the competitive climate in the service industry, it’s critical to do something that sets your company apart. Choose to keep your customer informed because Customers Love It, It Means You’re On Top of Your Game and Repeat Business Will Blossom.