I have always been amazed at how some business owners will try to do something creative and end up hurting or even destroying their business. In fact, it is my sworn duty as a Small Business Coach to help entrepreneurs take evasive action before they blow themselves up.
It doesn't matter what business you are in if your signage says that you are into something else
One very memorable case happened a few years ago. I had just pulled into a parking lot of a local strip mall and parked in front of a new business. An entrepreneur opened his own storefront for customers to come in and concoct and bottle their own soft drinks. Problem is that I did not know this from the sign that hung over the front door. It was hand-painted, badly, and simply said “Soda-Mystic”. It did not go into any more detail than that and there was nothing in the store windows except black curtains.
I guess most of the adults who were aware of the kinky stuff in society were scared off and the puritan shoppers who could not spell were just a little bit nervous about what the heck went on in the shop, especially when they could not see in. The business folded within a few months because it did not attract actual paying customers. Only the curious, including me, actually went inside to find out what the sign meant.
Heck I would have just changed the name to “Bottle Your Own Mom & Pop Shop” or something innocuous like that.
Thursday, September 11, 2008
Saturday, May 17, 2008
CUSTOMER SERVICE IS EVERYONE'S RESPONSIBILITY
I worked in an area of Scotiabank called Automotive Finance. My job related to finance programs for car dealers to put cars on their lots for sale or lease and for financing their customers’ car purchases or leases.
So you could say, I was first a Scotiabanker then an automotive finance expert. I understood that without customers, Scotiabank would not be a very good place to work or to invest. I knew that we would lose customers if we did not provide them with great service. In the end, great service was all that separated us from the competition.
One day, I got a call from an elderly lady who was extremely frustrated. She had been shunted around to 5 different departments in the Bank and none were the right areas to handle her issue with GICs. She had received information regarding a special interest rate offer on GICs with a short time limit to take advantage. She wanted to invest in GICs. I asked her if she had gone to her own branch of the Bank and she told me she had and they knew nothing about the offer. Apparently, they told her to phone Head Office.
Now GICs were just about the furthest thing from my responsibilities in the Bank. In fact, I didn’t have a clue at that time what GICs were. And there was no Department in the Bank called “GIC Department”.
I kind of shivered when I told the lady that I would have someone call her back in 30minutes with an answer to her questions and they would solve her problem. I also told her I would call her back in 35 minutes to find out if her problem was resolved.
I then looked through the internal [paper] phone directory again and was not able to find the term “GIC”. Then I looked through hundreds of circulars (internal Bank notices) and finally found one with the heading “Special GIC Rate”. I tracked down the author through the circular department and phoned. Everyone was out of the office (12:30) except a clerk who took my call. I explained the lady’s problem and said “Now you have to keep my promise and call her. Then you need to call her branch and explain what they should do for her. And you only have about 15 minutes left before my promise runs out.”
When I phoned the lady back in 20 minutes, she was extremely happy that she had received 2 phone calls, one from the clerk in the Head Office Department explaining everything and one from her Branch Manager apologizing for her trouble and arranging her GIC transfer over to the higher rate.
In retrospect, was the Branch Manager responsible? Yes- he was her account manager and his staff should have contacted Head Office, not forced the client to call.
Was the clerk in the GIC department responsible? Yes because her job depended on the Bank successfully selling this product to customers. She was the only one holding down her department at the time.
Was her department responsible? Yes because they failed the Bank’s customers and branch staff by publicizing the special offer before they advised branches what to do.
Was I responsible? Yes because I represented the Bank, I took her call and I was this customer’s last line of help.
Was every department that shuffled her off to another department responsible? Yes they failed to serve the customer.
Everyone in your company has some responsibility for customer service. Owners should ensure all staff know what role they play and what roles others in the company play.
If a customer has a problem and you take the call, do the responsible thing and commit to providing your customer with a solution within a reasonable time frame. Then go after everyone in the company who can help solve that problem and get their commitment to do it. Tell them you are going to follow them up in a specific time and that you will be the contact point to provide status reports to the customer.
Great service comes only through great commitment.
So you could say, I was first a Scotiabanker then an automotive finance expert. I understood that without customers, Scotiabank would not be a very good place to work or to invest. I knew that we would lose customers if we did not provide them with great service. In the end, great service was all that separated us from the competition.
One day, I got a call from an elderly lady who was extremely frustrated. She had been shunted around to 5 different departments in the Bank and none were the right areas to handle her issue with GICs. She had received information regarding a special interest rate offer on GICs with a short time limit to take advantage. She wanted to invest in GICs. I asked her if she had gone to her own branch of the Bank and she told me she had and they knew nothing about the offer. Apparently, they told her to phone Head Office.
Now GICs were just about the furthest thing from my responsibilities in the Bank. In fact, I didn’t have a clue at that time what GICs were. And there was no Department in the Bank called “GIC Department”.
I kind of shivered when I told the lady that I would have someone call her back in 30minutes with an answer to her questions and they would solve her problem. I also told her I would call her back in 35 minutes to find out if her problem was resolved.
I then looked through the internal [paper] phone directory again and was not able to find the term “GIC”. Then I looked through hundreds of circulars (internal Bank notices) and finally found one with the heading “Special GIC Rate”. I tracked down the author through the circular department and phoned. Everyone was out of the office (12:30) except a clerk who took my call. I explained the lady’s problem and said “Now you have to keep my promise and call her. Then you need to call her branch and explain what they should do for her. And you only have about 15 minutes left before my promise runs out.”
When I phoned the lady back in 20 minutes, she was extremely happy that she had received 2 phone calls, one from the clerk in the Head Office Department explaining everything and one from her Branch Manager apologizing for her trouble and arranging her GIC transfer over to the higher rate.
In retrospect, was the Branch Manager responsible? Yes- he was her account manager and his staff should have contacted Head Office, not forced the client to call.
Was the clerk in the GIC department responsible? Yes because her job depended on the Bank successfully selling this product to customers. She was the only one holding down her department at the time.
Was her department responsible? Yes because they failed the Bank’s customers and branch staff by publicizing the special offer before they advised branches what to do.
Was I responsible? Yes because I represented the Bank, I took her call and I was this customer’s last line of help.
Was every department that shuffled her off to another department responsible? Yes they failed to serve the customer.
Everyone in your company has some responsibility for customer service. Owners should ensure all staff know what role they play and what roles others in the company play.
If a customer has a problem and you take the call, do the responsible thing and commit to providing your customer with a solution within a reasonable time frame. Then go after everyone in the company who can help solve that problem and get their commitment to do it. Tell them you are going to follow them up in a specific time and that you will be the contact point to provide status reports to the customer.
Great service comes only through great commitment.
Saturday, February 16, 2008
THIS JOB IS YOURS!
I’ve been asked many times over the years to produce Job Descriptions for individuals and organizations, and they are usually surprised at what they get.
The Job Description is the basis upon which people first apply for a job, then the guide for doing the job, if they are hired. Despite what you may say, what will take place after the person is hired into the job is whatever it says in the document. “It’s Not My Job!” usually means that IT is not in the Job Description.
At Critical Path Business Solutions, our version of the Job Description is a “Responsibilities and Commitments” document that is truly unique in the workplace.
Job Descriptions are supposed to be objective and impersonal right?
WRONG! While Job Descriptions must be written based on the needs of the company, they should never be objective and impersonal.
If you want your staff to be disconnected from the quality of customer service or products/services that you sell, or the overall objectives of your company, give them a Job Description. These documents lack Personality and Commitment. They list the Accountabilities of the JOB, the Skill Sets required on the JOB and perhaps one or more of the following JOB-related areas: Working Conditions, Key Factors, Signing Authority and Activity List. The document may not even call for a signature….a key indicator of Commitment.
But what if a job applicant looks at a Responsibilities and Commitments document and sees that the company is committing to provide them job with training upgrades to not only help them do the job but also to progress into the next job?
What if the applicant is being asked to commit to do the job to the best of their ability, to continually look for ways to improve the job, and to commit to the overall objectives of the company? I believe most good employees want to make a difference. As an applicant, they would be impressed while weaker applicants will not even apply.
By employing the Responsibilities and Commitments method, you are telling your employee “This is your job. I commit to help you in any way I can. Now go and do it.” The employee is saying “This is my job. I commit to do it in the very best way I can. I may need some help from you but I believe in what I’m doing.”
Once you are on this track, measuring and managing employee performance becomes an easier matter. And Critical Path has some very logical ways of handling that too.
For more information, please check out “The Hands-On Performance Management System ©” on http://www.criticalpathbiz.com.
The Job Description is the basis upon which people first apply for a job, then the guide for doing the job, if they are hired. Despite what you may say, what will take place after the person is hired into the job is whatever it says in the document. “It’s Not My Job!” usually means that IT is not in the Job Description.
At Critical Path Business Solutions, our version of the Job Description is a “Responsibilities and Commitments” document that is truly unique in the workplace.
Job Descriptions are supposed to be objective and impersonal right?
WRONG! While Job Descriptions must be written based on the needs of the company, they should never be objective and impersonal.
If you want your staff to be disconnected from the quality of customer service or products/services that you sell, or the overall objectives of your company, give them a Job Description. These documents lack Personality and Commitment. They list the Accountabilities of the JOB, the Skill Sets required on the JOB and perhaps one or more of the following JOB-related areas: Working Conditions, Key Factors, Signing Authority and Activity List. The document may not even call for a signature….a key indicator of Commitment.
But what if a job applicant looks at a Responsibilities and Commitments document and sees that the company is committing to provide them job with training upgrades to not only help them do the job but also to progress into the next job?
What if the applicant is being asked to commit to do the job to the best of their ability, to continually look for ways to improve the job, and to commit to the overall objectives of the company? I believe most good employees want to make a difference. As an applicant, they would be impressed while weaker applicants will not even apply.
By employing the Responsibilities and Commitments method, you are telling your employee “This is your job. I commit to help you in any way I can. Now go and do it.” The employee is saying “This is my job. I commit to do it in the very best way I can. I may need some help from you but I believe in what I’m doing.”
Once you are on this track, measuring and managing employee performance becomes an easier matter. And Critical Path has some very logical ways of handling that too.
For more information, please check out “The Hands-On Performance Management System ©” on http://www.criticalpathbiz.com.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
.jpg)
