Networking engages staff

The second annual New Zealand KiwiHost/JRA Customer Service Pulse findings released today make an extraordinary claim which, like most pearls of wisdom, is obvious when you think about it – customers are more concerned with how they feel during the buying process than they are with price and product.

We know from the survey that most Kiwis will tell between four and six people about a bad experience, and 75% will give a company only one or two chances to stuff up and, worse still, more than 80% will seldom – if ever – complain.

The whole finding about how customers are made to feel underscores my earlier blog about this being the time to build trust which is, after all, a very powerful feeling. Again, all the more reason why referrals are set to become even more influential in people’s buying decisions.

For the second year running, the New Zealand KiwiHost/JRA Customer Service Pulse found that the top three factors that defined good customer service from the customer’s perspective were:

1. Show a willingness to help me;

2. Listen to me and understand what my needs are;

3. Take responsibility to ensure my needs are met.

Within our referral networks we usually make an extra effort to ensure those in our networks are well looked after, but the system sometimes fails because our staff don’t have the same relationship, nor are they always as engaged in the business as they should be.

Hence my point… What are you doing to cultivate an engaged, relationship orientated team in your business?

In fact, JRA (NZ) Ltd has found in their unlimited/JRA Best Places to Work in New Zealand Survey that the companies that competed well in that survey, also featured well in the customer service pulse.

Here are five tips that will engage both your staff and therefore your customers:

1. Send your staff along to your networking meeting/BNI or take them along as a guest with you (even if they belong to another BNI) – it is a powerful engagement device for your staff and your network related customers.

2. In BNI we call it a dance. Inviting a person from your network to spend 45 minutes at your premises to learn more about you and your business. But, make sure they meet all your staff or colleagues as well – perhaps over snacks and tea?

3. Encourage your people to join other BNI chapters or networking groups.

4. Training – equipping your staff to do a better job helps their personal development and ensures you can deliver a better level of service.

5. Empower your staff to make decisions and to take responsibility for helping a customer. Help them to feel like they have a stake in the company and its future. We also know from the customer service pulse that customers most want somebody to take responsibility for their needs.

Relationships during and post recession will be critical. Up-skilling has never been more important, because at the moment it all boils down to the relationship you have with the customer and whether your staff are skilled enough to form those relationships and if they have the right attitude.

Encouraging your staff – even those not involved in sales – to join BNI or another network is a huge personal development opportunity for them and a great business opportunity for you.