In the businesses I've overseen, two things remain consistent.
1. Employee retention and engagement rates are high.
2. Customer satisfaction rates are high, and customer complaints are low.
Why do I think this is? Why do these truths remain regardless of the industry I've been in, regardless of the teams I've been given, or built?
It revolves around the idea of service.
Service to your team.
Service to you community.
Service to you customers.
When I was in the battery industry, I often said "we're not in the battery business, we're in the people business". No matter the product, ultimately we're all in the "people business". Every person that comes through the door has a problem. We are uniquely positioned to solve that problem. We are here to serve. We serve them honestly, ethically, and to the best of our ability. Does it serve them best to tell them the battery is under a free replacement elsewhere? Does it serve them best to sell them a budget minded battery? Does it serve them best to offer a premium product? Does it serve them best to tell them their current battery is fine? Through customer engagement and asking questions, the customer will tell us what they need. I'm not interested in making the sale, I'm interested in building a customer for life.
The same can, and should be said of our employees, our direct reports. How do we serve them? By offering a trade of money for time? We need to do more. In order to offer the exceptional customer experience, we need to offer an exceptional work environment. It starts with a culture of caring and service. As a leader, I work for my team. It's my job to provide the tools and means, and remove obstructions, so they can do their jobs effectively and efficiently. Is one of the tools they require, additional time off? If an employee is worried about finding time to get to a dentist appointment, they won't be as focused on their work. Is one of the obstructions to outstanding performance a lack of work life balance? If they lack time to decompress, they won't be as efficient, or as personable with our customers. Is one of the obstructions they face a necessity to work a second job, thereby reducing their ability to focus on our customer, and business' needs due to an unlivable wage? I get it, we have staffing needs, we have budgets to meet. Sometimes this means working FOR your team. Picking up the extra slack. It's our job as leaders to find a way to make it work. Are we short-staffed and require additional head count? Do I need to cover a shift for my team member? Have I offered to put my teams interests before that of my own? That's leadership. This drives loyalty, it drives a desire to excel within our team when we demonstrate service to them. It drives a culture of looking out for each other, adds to happiness in and outside of the workplace. A happy employee with take care of the customer. A happy customer will take care of the business. If those two things are in place, the business with thrive.
Add comment
Comments