Keys to Total Customer Loyalty

Customer loyalty is critical to your bottom line. The average company loses a third of its customers every year, and replacing them is no small matter. It costs five times more to recruit a new customer than to hold on to an existing one. No matter what business you are in, there is one sure way to improve customer retention: Improve your customer service people.

Make sure you have the right people interfacing with your customers. The wrong employees in customer service fall into two categories: One, they are either unfriendly or incompetent. Some people are just antisocial or unmotivated and should never deal with the public. Two, they might be outgoing and motivated, but have not been thoroughly trained before they are sent out to serve your customers.

To improve you customer service, the first thing you need to do is to make sure that you hire the right person for the position. Anyone can convince you that they are a "people-person" during an initial interview. But to find out what they are really made of you need to invest more time and money. As part of the interview process you should have them take a personality profile. You can very quickly find out if they have a natural ability to be people-oriented, a good listener, empathetic, organized and outgoing. If they do not have the fundamental characteristics for this type of behavior, don't hire them for customer service.

The second thing you need to do is see how smart they are. One simple and inexpensive way to do this is by having them take the Wonderlic© Personnel Test (WPT). This is a 12-minute timed test that will give you a definite heads-up on how well the person can reason, comprehend and do math. If they don't meet the minimum requirements, don't hire them. What's the point of spending time and money trying to train someone, when the reality is they do not have the competence to really catch on?

After you know that this person meets the criteria to work in customer service, you should then have them spend a day on-site doing customer service tryouts. Have other customer service staff conduct an interview with this candidate. Let them have an opportunity to decide if this person is going to be a benefit or a burden to the team. Have the candidate do some actual on-the-job testing. Give them a script and have them answer the phone for a while. You could also have them contact a couple of your customers to do some follow up on orders. This should tell you if the candidate is outgoing, organized, patient and levelheaded. If they do not have those qualities, then don't hire them.

A couple things to think about:

Once the candidate has passed all of the tests, you can have some confidence that you have hired the right person. Now you need to invest in training. Never put an inexperienced employee on the front line without close supervision. For most companies, essential training includes classes in people skills, problem solving and basic technology. Consistent mastery of your phone system and software alone can go a long way toward reducing customer-service chaos.

Continue to provide training until your people reach the point at which they can be empowered to make decisions on the spot. They need to know what the guidelines are for providing outstanding customer service, but then they need to know when to break the rules to keep a customer. You need to provide the standards for your staff and train them so you can trust their judgment in handling all of your customers. By the way, empowerment should be a major goal for these key positions. Too many owners and managers withhold any authority from their front line people, no matter how well-trained and competent they are. In order to attract and hold top performers, you need to display the confidence to let them speak for your business with authority and with your support.

The bottom line is that you will only win customer loyalty through your people. Make sure you have the right person in place. Then train them to be the best.

Visit us online for information
on personality profiling and the Wonderlic© test.

Article Archives

In addition to publishing this newsletter, we author many articles which are featured in other newsletters and industry magazines. We have now set up an archive on our website where you can view many of these articles. These articles can also be used in your own publications. You have permission to reprint these articles in your newspaper, magazine, trade publication, at your Web site or in your e-zine. All I ask is that you use the entire article as it is written, the byline and the identifier paragraph below each article. Also, we would appreciate it if you would send us a copy your publication in which it appears.

You will find a wide variety of articles discussing all facets of people management, customer service and employee staffing. We are also always looking for article ideas for future publications. So let us know what you would like to hear about. Send your ideas to debra@tgassociates.com. Thanks!

Termination: You Have to do it Right!

When I do my seminars on hiring and retaining employees, I always ask if anyone is currently thinking of hiring somebody and there are usually a few raised hands. Then I ask if anyone is currently thinking of firing somebody and nearly every hand goes up. When I ask why the person is still there, I get a myriad of excuses for not addressing the issue. The bottom line is that if you have a problem with an employee, the sooner you deal with it, the sooner things get better for everyone and everything, including business profitability.

So the first step in dealing with any employee issue is to sit down with the employee as soon as an issue comes up and discuss the issue. It amazes me that after weeks or months of being upset with someone, the owner or manager has never broached the subject with the employee. When you see an issue, you need to act immediately to nip it in the bud. You can't let it fester or hope it will magically go away.

In this first interaction, you need to provide some guidelines on how to fix the problem and set a timetable for a follow-on discussion to evaluate if the behavior has improved. If it does improve, let the employee know that they have made a positive change and provide encouragement to continue the new behavior. On the other hand, if they have not improved in accordance with the timetable, take immediate action to let them go.

In those instances where there has been some effort at improvement, but it is not totally corrected, you could consider a revisit to the subject, recognize the positives and the negatives and set another timetable for meeting your guidelines. If the behavior is still not totally corrected by that time, it probably never will be. Therefore it is time to let them go. PERIOD.

If you want to keep your good people from jumping ship (and you really do in today's competitive marketplace), the one thing you must do is eliminate those employees who don't measure up. Top performing employees only want to work for top performing managers and with other top performing employees. If you allow bad behavior, the poor performers will drive out the top performers. The poor performers will stay as long as you let them because they are in their comfort zone. You allow their behavior; therefore, they don't have to change and they will stay there forever. It's your job as the owner or manager to take care of your good employees and get rid of the bad ones.

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We have forms available to assist you with employee discipline and termination.

Employee Interaction Report	Record all conversations with employees using this form to keep in the employee file. Interactions can be discussion on employee problems, rewards and recognition conversations or follow-ups on satisfactory response to a disciplinary action.
Employee Counseling Report	Record all disciplinary actions on this form. Make sure that the infraction, the discipline and the consequences are clearly recorded and understood. Unrecorded disciplinary action does not hold up in court.
Termination Checklist	The termination meeting can be painful and disruptive for everyone. Use this checklist to make sure that nothing is forgotten during the stress of the encounter and that the termination is handled professionally.
Termination Planning Checklist	Sometimes it doesn't work out. Before an employee is terminated, use this checklist to make sure that all actions are being done correctly and that all manager and employee rights are considered and fairly handled. Wrongful termination suits can be prevented if they are handled correctly.

If you need help in finding the Cream of the Crop,
check into our Customized Staffing Solutions

The "Experts in People Solutions" will find the top performers for you.

 

What Language Do You Speak?

Every business is full of news, both good and bad. It flows up and down the chain of command and it passes from employee to employee. All too often there is misunderstanding or misinterpretation of what was said. When that happens, the end result is costly because it creates an uneasy environment and can contribute to resentment and loss of productivity. Proper communication is key to business success. It is essential that both flowdown and feedback goes on, but it is important to recognize that personality type plays a major role in the giving and receiving of feedback.

It is easy to see that people are different. In our business we work hard with owners and their entire staff to understand the personalities of everyone on the team and of potential new hires to make sure they will fit into the team. Using our DISC based assessment tool, we evaluate personalities to find out if they are Dominant, Influential, Steady or Compliant.

Each personality has its own style of communication. Generally the Dominant and Influential personalities would be considered as extroverts and the Steady and Compliant personalities would be considered introverts. Extroverts are social, communicative and comfortable around people. Introverts are more satisfied working alone or working only with others whom they know well, feel safe with and trust. Consequently, the actions of an extrovert who comfortably greets coworkers with a warm, friendly hug might be misinterpreted by introverts as being pushy or as violating their personal space.

It is important to the improvement of communication that you thoroughly understand the different personalities and recognize that the key to good communication is to treat others the way they want to be treated. Messaging must be tailored to suit the individual to whom the message is intended. Speaking to them in their "language" will ensure more understanding, more responsiveness rather than reaction, and as a result more productivity.

Visit us online for more information on the DISC system and how to do personality profiling,

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Success is not a destination. It is a constant, continuous journey.

- George H. Denny; Bits and Pieces March 2004