Customer Service Strategies no.5

Strategy #5: Know Your Customers

Instituting a formal way of tracking your customer interactions will help you identify your best customers, as well as those who may not have frequented your business in a while. You can also see if someone has needed repairs or is due for servicing on a product.

There are many software applications designed to do this, ranging from powerful — and expensive — “enterprise software” products to simple Web-based applications that cost less than $20 a month. As you gain new customers, you enter their contact information and notes about the transaction into the software. Later, you can sort this data or analyze it to uncover useful information.

But you don’t have to use a computer to track customers. A small shop could simply prepare an index card for each customer and file them alphabetically. If the customer returns, sales staff can pull the card from the file, review the history, and note the latest interaction. Even though people do not take in serious the process of creating a client data base because they cannot see short term advantages, the difference that can make such a data base are incredible.

Customer Service Strategies no.4

Strategy #4: Empower Your Staff

In some cases, where there is no policy — and occasionally in cases where the policy needs to be flexed — you need to empower certain people to make decisions, use good judgment, and bend the rules.

Ask them to document these special cases; you can provide a pad of paper forms, let them enter information into the computer, or simply leave you a voice mail. Depending on the size of your operation, you may want to designate one person per shift as chief problem-solver.

Customer Service Strategies no.3

Strategy #3: Store Collective Wisdom

One of the most important customer strategies is to set up a system for responding to customer inquiries or complaints.

The last thing you want is for your employees to provide inaccurate information to your customers. Neither should they fail to provide a solution to a problem or quote policies that may not accurately address the situation.

Customer Service Strategies no.2

Strategy #2: Make Great Service a Priority

Excellent customer service requires training your staff and constantly reinforcing the message that customers come first.

Start with the little things, such as a standard way of politely greeting people on the phone or asking that sales staff courteously greet anyone who enters the store.

Customer Service Strategies no.1

Strategy #1: Stay in Touch

Let your customers know you value their business by reaching out to them. Use newsletters, postcards, individual letters, or e-mails to deliver news about products, special promotions, and store events. (Allow customers to sign up for these missives in the store, and never send an e-mail without their express permission.)

Send a thank-you note after a major purchase, inviting the customer to contact you with questions, feedback, or to discuss additional requests. Focus all these communications on letting customers know that you can solve their problems and meet their needs.

Managing Creative People

While all employees are capable of being creative, and most have some degree of creativity, there are special things to consider when managing self-identified right-brain thinkers. Here are some ideas for managing “creative types” in the workplace:

1. Give creatives some structure. Creative people can sometimes be prone to flightiness. Provide enough structure to keep your creative employees on track and on schedule. Let them know when it is time to complete the task and move on to something new.

2. Give employees time to dream. Remember that creative employees need downtime to recharge. Make sure your employees are given time and room to think, explore, question, even play. An atmosphere of constant crisis will not help creative ideas to flourish. As the boss, your behavior sets the tone of the workplace for everyone else.

3. Stress the importance of balance. Left to themselves, many creative people will neglect the less interesting, routine aspects of their work. But such tasks are important, too — work must be documented in reports, paperwork must be completed, customers must be attended to. If your business is to function, that “boring” routine work must get done. Therefore, while you should be flexible with your employees, you must also insist that they not neglect the less exciting aspects of their job.
4. Trust the process. At the same time, creative people need to spend time working without being micromanaged. Yes, reports are important — but so is trust in the process. This means allowing them the freedom to spend time developing wild, off-the-wall ideas without having to constantly report on their progress. Some creative work must be sheltered from the cold light of day, especially when ideas are incomplete and untested. This allows creativity to blossom.
5. Direct them at your actual problems. Communication with your employees is crucial if you want them to turn their natural skills to solving your real business problems. Provide your employees with information and direction so that they grasp the big picture rather than becoming obsessed with the smaller details. Define a real problem your organization is facing and turn them loose — the results may surprise you.
6. Be generous with praise. Provide reinforcement and support for your creative employees. It may appear that employees who are engaged in creative work have all the reward they need from the work they do, but in fact they need support as much as anyone else. Avoid taking creative people for granted. These workers are no different from your other employees — everyone needs praise and recognition for work well done.
7. Allow for employee input. Make sure that every employee has the opportunity to contribute, to feel challenged and motivated. Ask all of your employees for their input and suggestions.
8. Build a team. Employees want the respect of their peers; peer recognition and the power of the team are great motivators. Find ways to ensure that your workers can earn the respect of their peers, and if necessary employ group pressure to hold them accountable for their work. Make certain that people’s productivity is measured in terms of more meaningful criteria than mere hours spent working.
9. Be open to new ways of working. As much as possible, creative people should have the freedom to work on their own terms and on their own schedule. (Some companies even allow employees to spend a percentage of their work hours on their own personal projects.) Allow them to be responsible. This does not mean there is no accountability, but the accountability is not necessarily measured in hours hunched over a desk. Rather, the accountability is seen in quantifiable results — that brilliant new idea, amazing new design, or anything else they can dream up.

Motivating Employees

To motivate means to use available methods or resources to persuade someone to work harder or excel at what he or she does. If successfully done, it is a means of enhancing the success of your overall business.

Accentuate the positive. One of the simplest and least costly methods of motivating employees is to show them recognition for a job well done. This can range from a pat on the back to an Employee of The Month Award to a token gift. Small gestures that recognize the positive accomplishments of an individual can often go a long way. It increases the employee’s sense of self-esteem, and makes him or her feel better about his or her job. The result is usually improved productivity.The accomplishments of a team or a group should also be rewarded, whether it’s for their ongoing work or for a special project. Employee certificates, small bonuses, or even giving the team Friday off, can show them that you have recognized their efforts.

The happy employee. Typically, studies and surveys have shown that the more satisfied the employee is with his or her job, the better he or she will perform. Therefore, to motivate on an ongoing basis, you need to create an environment in which an employee feels involved and enjoys working.

There are various ways of increasing job satisfaction, which include:

Providing flexible schedules. Many businesses are allowing employees to work alternative schedules that do not adhere to the traditional 9-to-5 workday. This might include part-time schedules or even job sharing, where two people share one full-time position.

Telecommuting. Some jobs can be performed by employees who telecommute from their home computers a few days a week.

Regularly scheduled performance reviews, which include positive feedback and let employees know what’s expected of them.

Encouraging employees to perform various tasks so that their jobs don’t become routine or boring.

Allowing employees to enhance, improve, and decorate their own workspace.

Providing a means of socialization through lunchtime or after-hour activities.

Stressing that employees can move up and advance within the organization.

An open-door policy, which encourages employees to ask questions or make recommendations.

Making donations to charities selected by the employees on behalf of the company.

Strong communication is also a key to having and retaining satisfied employees. Make sure that employees know what’s expected of them, and also let them know they’ll be heard if they voice problems or questions.

Become a Better Manager

“If your employees were given the opportunity to fire you, how soon would you be out the door? Bad bosses aren’t good for anyone’s health. Remember that and you’re likely to become a better manager; deny its wisdom and you’re likely to fail.”

Today’s managers must be self-aware, observant, and understanding. Here are some tactics to become a better manager:

1. Praise Your Star Workers

Just because they’re doing a superior job doesn’t mean you should ignore your best employees. Everyone needs recognition, some more than others. But if you pay attention solely to your problem employees, you could unwittingly build up resentment among those who are fulfilling, and often exceeding, your expectations.

2. Share the Knowledge

One of the best ways to get people on your side (and help them do their jobs effectively) is to let them in on what shouldn’t be a big secret: company goals, ways to improve, and other strategies intended to help everyone succeed. By keeping employees informed they’ll be more vested in the company’s success. Communicating with them about what’s going on will also indicate that you value their contributions and suggestions.

3. Schedule Meetings Only When Necessary

Before you schedule recurring meetings, make sure they’re absolutely necessary. These get-togethers offer an excellent opportunity to touch base and share concerns or ideas, but if they drone on endless, they become a waste of everyone’s time. And if you’re always sequestered in management meetings, your staff may begin to wonder if you ever really work, which can lower morale.

4. Engender Trust

If you want to win people’s trust, then you must show trust in them. Give your staff additional responsibilities as your confidence in them grows.

What makes a good manager?

Strong management is becoming more and more important these days. Are there certain characteristics that make a good manager?

Identifying management potential doesn’t have to be complicated. A good manager is someone who can plan, organize, instruct, and sprinkle their activities with a dose of leadership.

A good manager doesn’t require a strategic plan for the next millennium. They do need to know what objectives must be achieved within stated time frames, and be able to communicate that information in a meaningful way to other people. They also need to know how to put a plan in place to meet those objectives. Being organized doesn’t mean putting life on a spreadsheet, as much as it means setting and implementing priorities. Leadership means setting standards and living up to them, and showing others how to do the same.

Other management qualities to look for:

• Action-oriented;
• Ethical
• A sense of humor.
• Enthusiastic
• Approachable;
• Flexible
• Able to deal with ambiguity;

Questions for hiring manager

Referrals from your own top employees are the best bet. If your hiring manager found the applicant at a job fair, be skeptical. Great players aren’t hawking their resumé at job fairs; they’re working.

 

• Where did you find the candidate?
• Who did the interviewing?
• Why is the candidate leaving his/her job?
• Is the candidate coming from a competitor?
• Is the candidate connected? Could the candidate do my job?How long has this job been open?

More questions? tell them to me…