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Empowering employees to deliver customer service

By Brian Phillips

Bill Hogg tells how Home Depot impressed him because an employee was empowered. An employee offered to discount an item to match a sale price. When asked why he did this, the employee responded, “I am empowered to make our customers happy”.

This may seem like a simple thing, and in many ways it is. But are your employees empowered to make customers happy? Certainly, we don’t want employees arbitrarily discounting prices or caving to every demand made by a customer, but there are many other ways to make a customer happy. And we must empower our employees to do so.

While systems and procedures can provide structure and guidelines, they are not enough. Systems and procedures cannot address every possible situation that might arise, particularly when dealing with customers. In an unusual situation, it can become easy for an employee to “go by the book” and fail to make the customer happy. We must do more than tell our employees what we want them to do. We must also explain why—the result that we desire.

When an employee understands the desired result he is better equipped to deal with these situations. He is empowered to exercise his own judgment when the situation calls for it.

Comments are closed   Customer Service   ,  

Employees and your personal goals

By Brian Phillips

A small business is a blank canvas. We get to determine what we put on that canvas. We get to determine what type of company we own. This applies to every aspect of the business, from the clientele we target to the image we present. From the type of work we do to the types of painters we employee.

An artist does not simply throw paint on his canvas (not a true artist). He begins with a vision of what he will create. He plans his final product long before he begins to create. We must do the same with our business.

If we wish to hire good employees we must begin by identifying where we want to lead them. We must identify our vision for our company. We must picture what our company will look like in a year, five years, or ten years down the road. We must identify our Definite Chief Aim. Only then can we determine the path to take to get there and the type of people who will help us.

Our vision serves as our guiding light, as the goal toward which our efforts are directed. If that vision is unclear or undefined we essentially have no direction—we move aimlessly and inconsistently. We are shooting at an unknown target.

However, if that vision is clear our actions can become more consistent. Our actions can move consistently towards our goal. And we can communicate where we are going and how we will get there.

Comments are closed   Success   , , ,  

Building a team

By Brian Phillips

A family member recently started a new job and he was lamenting the fact that he is on a team of one. Even though he works for a very large corporation, he is working on an assignment by himself. And this assignment involves a topic with which he has little experience.

My immediate thought was that this is no different from the typical small business owner. Most of us likely started our business as a team of one, and most of us gave ourselves an assignment with which we had little experience–operating a business. This certainly was the case in my situation.

When I started my business, I assumed that common sense and hard work would be sufficient to address the issues that would come up. While both are important, and certainly help, they simply are not sufficient. The result was a continual process of trial and error, which was often costly, stressful, and inefficient.

On occasion I would solicit input from family or friends regarding specific issues. While their advice was often very helpful, they didn’t understand enough about my industry to provide the kind of assistance I sometimes needed. So I continued to plod along, making slow but gradual progress (with occasional pauses to pull out large tufts of hair).

The Internet certainly helped change this. With the advent of chatrooms and forums, I suddenly had access to hundreds of other people who had “been there, done that”. I was no longer dependent on trial and error.

Of course, the quality of the advice offered on the Internet varies considerably. As I identified those individuals or organizations that offered sound advice, I slowly began to include them on my “team”. In addition, I was better able to communicate my vision to my employees and subcontractors. This too improved the quality of my team.

Every small business owner should have a team, even if he is a one-man shop. Obviously a smaller business will have a smaller team, but getting quality advice and input is important no matter the size of a company. Even a one-man shop will have need for occasional advice concerning legal, accounting, marketing, or other issues. Having competent professionals available–professionals who have some understanding of your industry–can help avoid costly mistakes.

Your team can also consist of others in your industry. While a direct competitor will not be likely to share as much information, general discussions can be beneficial. If you are in a large market, there are likely many in your industry who are not direct competitors.

Running a small business can be a lonely endeavor at times. There are many ups and downs, many issues that must be addressed, and many options. Building a team can be an effective way to avoid the problems of trial and error, and build a better business.

Comments are closed   Biz Systemz   ,  
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