Tattoos and Piercings at Work
Posted by Barbara Jones on November 19, 2008 – 6:12 pm -Much of what is appropriate dress for work depends on the type of work and the type of business in question. It isn’t always just clothing that creates problems. The popularity of tattoos and piercings has brought many new issues into the workplace. Business owners may have strong feelings about what their clients expect or will tolerate. Managers and supervisors can be the ones on the front lines trying to communicate standards without giving offense. There can be legal considerations as well. CNN’s Jennifer Westhoven (”Small Business Success”) has some sound advice for supervisors, managers, and business owners about “Managing Employees With Tattoos and Piercings.”
Tags: business dress, Piercings at Work, Tattos at Work
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Unintended Effects on Customer Service
Posted by Barbara Jones on July 30, 2008 – 10:01 am -BizCustoms views customer service as one of the ways a business practices business etiquette. BizCustoms recently asked to customer service experts, Bob Hettel and Danny O’Malia to describe for us the unintended effects short term planning can have on customer service.
by Bob Hettel, Owner, Searchlight Solutions:
Short term planning almost always has long term implications. Take the cuts that many companies are currently making. Companies are looking to cut staff and improve the bottom line. Many of these cuts are being made in so called “administrative” positions. While this may look good to a company’s bottom line today what impact will this have on your customers? What impact will it have on the remaining staff? Often this impact will take months to become evident. It can show up in decreased morale, increased turnover and ultimately in decreased business.
As
by Danny O’Malia, Chief Customer Service Officer, Trustpointe
Short term planning is almost always disastrous when it comes to Customer Service. Giving good service requires CONSTANT attention and emphasis to the topic of customer service. When companies think in the short term, customer service gets short shrift. It’s not part of the company’s culture—it’s a mere afterthought or platitude.
Want a specific? Let’s talk about product availability in the grocery business. Short term thinking (prevalent in larger, publicly traded companies) demands strict attention to keeping inventory levels at the lowest possible level—especially when that dreaded quarterly inventory comes around. So pressure is brought to bear on Store Managers and Department Heads to lower inventory to levels that will cause excessive (and maddening) out of stock conditions.
The short term result FOR THE COMPANY? Because inventory levels are temporarily low, profits look good. Shareholders are happy (for now).
The short term result FOR THE CUSTOMER? He/she must go to another store to find the product(s). He/ she is probably angry. He/ she is likely to buy more than that one product at the new store. And, since the new store HAD the product, he/ she is more likely to switch his/ her shopping pattern.
The long term result for the company? Likely a loss of a CURRENT customer. Since, to quote Dick Shcaaf, “The best customer is the one you already have,” short term thinking and planning and policy are anathema to Customer Service. And very damaging to the long term BOTTOM LINE as well! And that will lead, in the long term, do dissatisfied shareholders.
Sphere: Related ContentTags: Customer Service, customer service consequences, short-term planning
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Employee Training by the Golden Rule
Posted by Barbara Jones on July 10, 2008 – 4:29 pm -Every employee who has to sit through the training you are planning hopes you will remember the Golden Rule. In this case, “Do unto others…” means don’t bore them, don’t waste their time, and don’t make them sit through a presentation you would hate. Successful training takes the employee into consideration at every stage. Here are a few suggestions.
Plan to provide training at a time when employees can get the most out of it. Avoid scheduling training programs during peak times, near deadlines, or at the busiest times of the business cycle.
Plan to provide training during work hours. Requiring employees to attend training outside of work hours increases their commuting costs, requires special arrangements, and creates resentment. From their point of view, if you really value the training you will find a way to hold it during work hours.
When thinking about content beware of speech-making or lecturing. Lectures and training presentations are different animals. Lectures are directed at employees who listen passively - and are often bored. Training presentations treat employees as participants, involve practice exercises, and provide feedback on performance from instructor and other participants.
Lectures can be educational and can lead employees to embrace new ideas. However, after a lecture each employee may apply the new ideas in different ways and no change to behavior may be visible. After a training program employees returning to work will perform new tasks, or perform old tasks in new ways. Supervisors and managers will be able to observe these new behaviors, encourage them, and discourage old ways.
This brings up a key point in applying the Golden Rule to training. Make it very clear to employees what changes are expected. Be prepared to incorporate and reinforce change as soon as training is complete. If a week goes by without the opportunity to practice newly learned skills, much of what was learned will be lost.
One of the greatest myths related to learning is that smart people only need to hear something once to learn it. People need to hear new information as many times as they need to hear it. It has nothing to do with intelligence and everything to do with reinforcement and retention.
Give employees something in writing or online that they can take away from training and use for reference when they are trying to practice new skills. Don’t let supervisors or managers fall into the habit of being impatient or overly-critical. Everyone needs to be prepared for lots of repetition and lots of judgment-free feedback when introducing change.
In some industries employees must attend legally-mandated training (OSHA, FDA). Bosses, supervisors, and managers need to be aware that their approach to requiring attendance, and even the way they talk about such training, tells employees whether compliance is important or not. If management disparages safety training, for instance, there will be little compliance with safety standards.
It is surprising how many of the issues related to employee training are the same as business etiquette issues. Be considerate, be respectful, don’t bore people, don’t waste their time. Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.
Sphere: Related ContentTags: Business Etiquette, golden rule, training
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Training Helps Businesses Focus on Customer Service
Posted by Barbara Jones on June 16, 2008 – 2:05 pm -Training should reinforce all of the things your business does right and reduce the number of things that drive customers away. In tough economic times that can make a big difference. Business owners can be tempted in tough times to reduce staff and try to do everything themselves. No one has time to do everything, of course, and training often gets neglected. Employees lack direction and their work begins to show it.
Training does not have to cost a fortune or be elaborate and time-consuming to be effective. Here are some ways a business owner can manage training to reduce costs and help your employees focus on customer service.
Use slow times. If business is slow take advantage of the time to do additional training. There are fewer interruptions and more time available to practice desired skills. Use the available time to build a stronger, more motivated organization.
Work with inexperienced staff: New staff members require frequent interaction and feedback about their performance from management. Be sure someone is there to give it or staff may not realize they are off track. Interaction with management makes employees feel like part of a team and more likely to support your cost-saving goals.
Support real priorities. Take those elements of your business customers most like and communicate about them to employees. Make sure your employee handbook, job descriptions, and performance goals are consistent with each other in emphasizing these elements. Inconsistency wastes time and staff resources on non-priorities and poor choices.
Teach customer recognition. Train everyone to recognize your best customers and find others like them. Frequent, consistent communication between management and workers is essential to excellent customer service.
Empower Employees. Teach your staff to listen and talk to customers in a way that produces feedback. Make sure the feedback goes up the chain. Empower employees to deal with less than perfect experiences. Empowering employees can be scary so go in small steps. Try something simple, see how they do, then try another step.
Reduce Staff Carefully: Make sure there is someone left to deal with customers. Make sure you do not eliminate the staff responsible for the elements of your business most popular with customers. Don’t put yourself in the position of no longer being able to do what appeals to your customer.
Sphere: Related ContentTags: customer service training small business etiquette
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Do the Right Thing - Return That Call! NOW!
Posted by Barbara Jones on May 27, 2008 – 12:32 pm -
by Danny O’Malia, Chief Customer Service Officer, Trustpointe
To give great customer service, a company must build a CULTURE OF SERVICE. That’s what the late Joe O’Malia did at O’Malia’s. That culture of service must permeate everything throughout the company. And IT STARTS AT THE TOP. If the boss sets the tone, everyone else will follow. If not, you know how that turns out!
And one of the basic tenets of building a great customer service culture is to teach everyone to return every phone call or e-mail. Not just to return it but to return it UNBELIEVABLY FAST. Because it’s the right thing to do. And because you’ll be one of the few companies doing it, which is truly sad. I don’t know how often I returned a call from a customer in my days at O’Malia’s and the first reaction was, “I can’t believe you actually called me back!” or “Thanks for calling back so quickly!”
How many times have you, as a customer, been ignored when you called a business? What has your reaction been? I get angry and then I tell lots of other people, “Brighthouse failed to return my call!” See? I just did it again!
When a business returns a call in a timely and helpful manner, it’s done the right thing. It can learn a great deal about how it’s doing for its customers. If the call is a complaint, it’s an
Want to find out more? Call Danny at 317-845-0041!
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