I am Helping Someone Else—You Will Have To Wait!

“I am working on a project for another customer, you will have to wait!”  “The truck that was bringing your order broke down, we will not be able to deliver your order for another couple of weeks, OK?”  “I don’t know why you ask such a dumb question, I don’t work in this department—I work in shoes”  “I am off shift and off the clock—somebody else will have to check you out.” “You cannot check into your room until 3PM—that is when we check in guests!”

 

            Surprised by these comments?  We are not.  These are actual comments made by individuals who are clerks in various businesses around the country.  Each of these comments was made by a clerk to a customer, who had green dollar bills to pay for a product.  Those same dollar bills paid the clerk’s salary, however, they forgot to think about that!  What has happened to old fashioned customer service, where the clerk is trained to help the customer find the product, service or need that the customer has when he/she comes to your place of business?

 

            No, it is not a generational issue, however, many younger employees are more willing to say these comments than more mature workers.  Whose fault is that?  Our recommendation is that when one of your employees makes comments to your customer like those in the first paragraph, the real reason is that the employee is just as frustrated as the customer is.  The employee does not know the answer, so responds in a manner which is less than professional, and is probably the only way he/she knows how to answer.

 

            Employee training is the key in addressing this issue.  A good employee who is well trained and knows the products that he/she is selling will never provide a comment such as these.  The employee will know how to address the customer need and insure that the need is fulfilled in a professional and efficient manner.

 

            Customer service is the key in business today.  No matter the size of your enterprise, you can compete with any business if you have outstanding customer service.  This applies to not only retail establishments, but service providers as well. 

Communications Is Key to Strong Internal and Client/Customer Relationships

Frequent, dynamic, interactive communication is the glue that binds business relationships.  Knowing and understanding what the customer needs and wants is a critical component of success in business.  If your employees do not know to use all of the communications tools available to them – human and technical, now is the time to teach them.

And you’ve got the talent to do so right now. Your mature employees are ideally suited to teach new individual contributors how to use the phone, interact at meetings, present at a gathering and understand the human aspects of the business building process.  Millennial employees will be excited about it, too, as they can illustrate to more mature employees their best practices for texting and use of email. Resulting collaborative relationships close generational divides. When team members work together, they capitalize and leverage the others’ strengths

If there is a skill deficiency, identify and resolve quickly.  And as we know, the quickest way will be through human interaction and communications. 

Solid Business Results Often Depend on Human Interaction

Today’s modern business world is based on technology.  Computers, video cameras, smart phones, tablet computers, lap top computers, the Internet of Things are all tools that we did not possess, let alone understand well a decade ago. 

Today, each of these marvels controls and impacts our daily lives in a wide variety of ways that we never envisioned.  However, this proliferation of technology has not changed is the key role of live interactions and human relationships.

As human beings, we crave interaction with others.  Talking, sharing, caring, feeling, shaking hands, touching and hugging are all natural interactions.   When someone does not know how to engage another human and doesn’t understand the inextricable aspects of these human qualities, we actually can and must teach those skills.

One company we work bans any type of electronic device in their morning “Stand Up” meetings.  The meetings, conducted with attendees literally “Standing Up.”  Each lasts about 30 minutes and provides a strategic model for company leaders and staff for the day.  It’s done standing up so they present the material that is both topical and germane, then get out and go to work!  The concept has been very successful. No time is wasted. Everyone knows what is going on in the company that day. And most importantly, people must interact on a personal level without electronic intervention!  Leaders find that talking to someone in person actually obliterates preconceived prejudices and biases.  Talking is an active process. So more actions occur, and real work results! 

The bottom line (and a good one to stand on!) is increased efficiency and profitability.

We’ve got more good ideas for you to increase your efficiency and effectiveness. If you’d like to make the most of your humans, give us a call.  Let’s chat!  We can help.  Call 817-386-3032.