How to attract & retain more customers [and employees]

I am obsessed with customer service and always have been. I think it stems from my high school years working in retail, the continuation of my career in the retail industry and later moving into healthcare where there can be no more important a customer than a patient who needs care or lifesaving medication.
Whether it is front line service in a retail store or a business partnership with a supplier or service provider, I always have high expectations, which unfortunately, are not always met. Having said that, I can guarantee that there are no companies out there that set out to provide poor service. So why does it sometimes fall short? What is lost in translation from an organisation’s customer vision to the execution of that vision.

A paramount factor in the equation is employees. How well do they understand the organisation's vision, the customer ethos? How empowered are they to execute that vision? Do they have the right tools and resources, quality products and services, effective processes, and the time to meet or exceed customer expectations.

​Every employee has a role to play in attracting and retaining customers. Every employee touch point (similar to the marketing reference - moments of truth) in your organisation can affect the customer experience. Back office functions can have as big an impact as your sales & marketing and frontline service teams.

The processes you put in place to attract, manage, develop and retain high calibre staff has a direct correlation to the attraction and retention of more customers, growing your market share, and differentiating your organisation from the competition.
 

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What can you and your employees do to attract and retain more customers? 

• Provide superior levels of customer service
• Be knowledgeable on the organisation’s product and service offering
• Demonstrate operational efficiency 
• Have an innovative approach
• Generate client leads and convert into sales
• Build strong customer relationships
• Understand customers’ needs
• Deliver and respond to customers and keep promises
• Provide internal feedback on customer requests
• Provide solutions to customers problems
• Source/develop the right products and services
• Develop efficient systems and processes

How do you achieve this through your people? 
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Recruitment
A well written job ad will attract the right candidates with the required attributes and skills to deliver to your customers. Effective screening, shortlisting and interview techniques will narrow down the list to those best suited to deliver to your customers. Finish off with pre-employment checks to reduce the risk of making the wrong hiring decision.

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Employment offer
Ensure that the pay and benefits offered are compliant, fair and market-related to attract the right employees that will meet and exceed the needs of your customers.
Onboarding
Your customers want consistency in the people they deal with. Don’t lose your employee in the first few months because you haven’t set up a comprehensive onboarding program to orient your new employee and train them in their new role. This is the first (but not the last) opportunity for your new employee to gain an understanding of the company’s vision and values, it’s products, services and customer ethos.

Policies and procedures
Employment policies and procedures set the expected standards of behaviour. How your employees behave at work and treat their fellow employees can have a direct impact on customer service.

Learning and development
Increasing employee capability has obvious benefits for customers. Knowledgeable employees have the capability to perform better and are more productive and engaged. Learning can range from company information, process, systems, product and technical skills to personal development courses. A learning organisation creates a culture of sharing information and minimises the risk of relying on a few key employees.

Feedback
Providing employees with regular feedback and coaching on their performance will boost performance and engagement. Seeking feedback from employees on customer requests, process inefficiencies and improvement ideas will provide greater insight into your customers wants and needs. Don't forget the old adage "you get what you measure" and recognise employees whose efforts have a positive effect on customer service levels.

Job design
Employees thrive when they understand how their job, and what they do, contributes to the organisations objectives. Make the link obvious on how each employee has a direct impact on customers.
The design of  jobs and staffing structures is also important to ensure that internal processes do not hinder the customer experience but rather have a positive contribution.

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Safe work environment
A safe work environment (physical and psychological) will reduce absenteeism, minimise costs and maximise productivity. 

Employee engagement
Engaged employees put in more discretionary effort and are more likely to go above and beyond for customers.
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Employee exits
A professional employee offboarding process will go a long way to ensure that if an employee leaves they will not bad mouth the company or its leaders and hence damage the reputation of the organisation.

An integrated approach
There are many facets to attracting and retaining customers beyond the sales and marketing process. An integrated approach encompasses all components and a view that every employee contributes to the organisations customer objectives. Your people are your competitive edge.

​We can work with you to set up or build upon HR systems and processes to harness the talents of your people. Contact me via our contact form or email [email protected]