FRAM SYSTEMS ^blog

Have you ever called a business to ask a question about a product or service only to have the person on the other end of the phone act like they had no idea of what you were talking about or where to get the answer? Did you ever get the idea that the person you were talking to could care less about you, a potential or current customer? One interaction like that could easily cost a business many thousands of dollars in lost sales, especially if the competition excels in customer interactions. So what can you do to keep this from happening in your business?

Some time ago I worked with an office furniture company. They were a small family owned and operated business but because they were growing size of their staff couldn’t always keep up with their workload. The company was very good at selling and and had a strong sales force who normally fielded inquiries from potential clients as well as requests from their customers. But when the salespeople were out of the office and things got busy, all the inquiries went to Barbara in billing. Now Barbara happened to be the wife of one of the owners. She also knew just about everythning about the business and the products. In fact some folks there thought she knew more than some of the sales people so she was a natural to answer product inquiries. Trouble was Barbara could not be bothered. She considered every customer call an interuption in the important work of billing and collections and she treated those people who called as a disturbance. Barbara complained loudly to the receptionist that she didn’t want those calls but she didn’t know that her husband, “The Boss” had told the receptionist that Barbara was to handle all product inquiries when there were no sales staff available, he just didn’t tell Barbara.

Now even though new business was important and Barbara more or less an owner of the company and knew that, she was not the right person to field those calls. The solution to this problem was rather simple and it came with a new phone system that included voice mail.

So what if you have rude, incompetent or uncaring employees? If a business owner can act poorly towards potential customers, what about them?

Knowing how to hire the right employees is becoming more critical, as well as how they’re trained to handle different situations that come up in your business. It’s surprising how few businesses have regular staff or employee training meetings. And for those who do, most of their meetings have to do with administrative duties, and are “reactive” in their approach. By changing your focus and conducting “proactive” meetings – how to deal with certain situations, sell more effectively, show interest in customers, and so on, will do a lot to not only improve your company’s image, but will also be a contributing factor to your profitability.

So what’s the answer?

MAKE MEETINGS MANDATORY. Put it right in the employee handbook or contract. Make it clear that attending meeting is a requirement of the job.

MEET OFTEN. How often? I am a proponent of clear and open communication. Meeting no longer have to be face to face in one room. Services like GoToMeeting make holding meetings easier, especially for people in distant locations. Meetings could and perhaps should be held daily.

BE EFFECTIVE. Your meetings should be small - teams of 4 - 8 at most, short - never more that 15 - 20 minutes, organized and cover topics that include discussions of what happened the yesterday, daily challenges and reinforcing company ideals and ideas. Keep your meeting format consistent and allow everyone a voice. Use these meeting to mete out praise and never get personal.

Monitor customer interactions. “This call is being recorded for quality assurance and training purposes”. Have you ever heard that? Do it. Managers, listen to the calls! Then have your teams listen to their calls together and have your reps help in each in improving them. Just having that much input is rewarding to your people.

If you want to learn more about building dynamic and effective teams that increase employee productivity and your business, give us a call.

Fram Systems 888 823 2620