How to Get the Right People Doing the Right Things
I had a great customer experience the other day. Nobody did anything out of the ordinary, no one exceeded
my expectations, but it was a great experience nevertheless.
What made the experience so good was that the person I dealt with was friendly, polite, knowledgeable
and most importantly, keen to help me. She also did what she said she would do. I think most of you
would agree it does not really take more than that to make customers happy. You might also agree customers
do not get those experiences often enough.
As a business owner or manager, you are dependent on your staff to create a customer experience so
good your customers will want to pay, stay and recommend you to others. Here are four ways to make sure
you have the right people doing the right things.
1. Hire for attitude and train for skill.
What is the first thing you think about when considering whether to hire someone? Their skill base?
Their experience? Their availability? Their wages? Their attitude?
It needs to be their attitude, of course. More than anything else, customers want to deal with staff
who have a can-do, will-do attitude. They want to do business with people who are enthusiastic about
helping them because they actually care. They also want to deal with people who think about ways their
problem can be solved, not reasons why it cannot.
This attitude cannot be created by training, coaching, punishments or rewards. It comes from a person's
personality and temperament, both of which they are born with. Skills can be taught and experience can
be gained but people have the right attitude or they do not. Hire people who do. And pay more to get
it if you have to. It will be a wise investment.
2. Remind staff what customers expect of them.
If you have ever coached a sports team, you know you have to remind your players at every practice and
before every game about what they have to do to succeed. For some reason, in business, where the stakes
are generally higher, we do not think this is important. Rarely do staff meetings focus on what we
have to do to create an outstanding customer experience. At least three times a week you need to remind
staff, either individually by walking around or through staff or team meetings, that customers want
to do business with people who are polite, respectful, friendly, caring, reliable and competent.
3. Train
You cannot expect your staff to be competent unless you train them. I know that sounds obvious but if
most of us are honest withy ourselves, we employ new staff with the intention of providing them with
training that we never seem to get around doing. I was shopping in a commercial stationers yesterday
with a list of very straight-forward items I wanted to buy. The staff member I approached did not know
where any of the things were. “I’m sorry. I’ve only been working here a few days,” she
said. I told her the problem was not that she was new but that her manager had put her on the floor
without first giving her some basic training. How can a sales person, who does not know where even
the basic products are, provide a customer with a great shopping experience? Make sure your people
know your products and services, how your businesses work and who is who in your business before you
thrust them into the faces of your customers. It is also important you make sure they know who they
can turn for help and that the person is available when needed.
4. Recognise effort. Reward Achievement. Celebrate Success.
Human beings need encouragement, praise and fun times to stay motivated. I know that is a nuisance and
employing staff would be a lot easier if they did not but, as a former clinical psychologist, I can
assure you that is the way we are built.
To get the most out of your people you need to recognise their attempts to get something right. This
is difficult to do because most of us would rather point out where people are going wrong than congratulate
them for making a jolly good effort. But it is proven fact that you are more likely to get the performance
you want by pointing out what people are doing right and by encouraging them to try again than by ignoring
or criticising them. When they do get it right, reward them. This does not have to be in the form of
money. It could be a small gift voucher, a morning tea, dinner on the company for the person and their
partner or even the chance to do something at work they have always wanted to do. But again, you will
motivate people to repeat their performance if you reward them from time to time.
If you are successful in getting your staff to deliver the kind of experience your customers are looking
for, then you will see an improvement in your business performance. Customer retention should increase,
new customers will come in because your existing customers have recommended you and people will generally
buy more. I saw some research last year that showed every $1 spent improving the quality of the customer
experience added 42 cents to the bottom line. That’s is not a bad return on investment! When you
have win in business, celebrate it with your staff. It reminds them what can be gained from looking
after customers and it will motivate them to provide that great customer experience. When is the last
time you celebrated in your business?
In saying all this, I probably have not told you anything you did not already know. Of course, success
is not the result of what we know, but what we do as a result of what we know. What do you have to do
to make these four steps part of the way you manage your staff?
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