This chapter is about People, your people/staff.
It is important to keep in mind that anyone among your staff who comes in contact with your customers will make some kind of impression. This can have a profound effect – positive or negative – on customer satisfaction.
Customer satisfaction is key for your business. It will make the customers come back and purchase more goods/services from you.
Many customers cannot separate the product or service from the staff member who provides it. The reputation of your brand rests in your people’s hands. They must, therefore, be appropriately trained, well-motivated and have the right attitude.
I learned this lesson the hard way. When I first started my business, I hired a friend to help with managing my pumpkin stand at the market when I needed to pick up my children from school. Since she is a friend, I did not interview her or set rigorous expectations. I gave her information on the price of the different pumpkin products, showed her where the box for to collect the money was, and that was about it.
After a few weeks, some customers came to me to complain. They said that she did not greet the customers and was impatient when they asked her questions. I realized that I needed to provide more training for my friend as well as future employees to make my expectations clear.
Now, I have developed a process for new sales staff. I clearly list out the requirements for the role. I decided that they need to:
1. Have previous sales or customer experience
2. Have a friendly and engaging personality
3. Know how to clearly communicate our products to the customers
This process has really helped me. After I interview and select the employees, I provide a half-day training in which I share with them the vision of the company, routine daily activities, and our communication schedule, that is weekly check-in meeting once a week). The employee also gets the chance to shadow an experienced sales staff to learn about best ways to interact with the customer.
Now, what is your ideal employee? What do you expect from them? Do you current staff meet the expectations you have set and that of your customers? Do you have a training and management process in place? What improvements can you make?