customer loyalty « Fired Up!

Posts Tagged ‘customer loyalty’

Core Values – They Tell The World What You Stand For

Monday, July 25th, 2011

Once a year, on January first, my family’s tradition was to celebrate the new year with a walk to the beach (we lived on Cape Cod), have a great dinner (we’re Italian – food is the way to celebrate everything) and then get to writing New Year’s resolutions. This was the one formal time of year we were reminded that to advance in life, not only do we need a plan, but we need to be clear about who we are and what we stand for.

Most organizations could benefit from a similar process of clearly defining their core values – what they stand for. Company core values can do the following:
1. They clearly define the behaviors the organization commits to in its day-to-day activities – it defines beliefs and performance commitments.

2. They tell job applicants what they can expect in the workplace – and attracts A-level talent (great employees want to work for organizations who share your values – and to share the values, they must know your values).

3. They share with clients or customers the core behaviors customers will find in dealing with employees (and creates a standard of performance).

4. Distinguishes the organization from others and openly shares its commitment to excellence.

Core values are so critical that in the Zappos culture, all job interviewing includes an assessment of the candidate’s talents/skills as well as an assessment of values fit. Both components are required for an employee to not only get the job but also to keep the job.

Here are the 10 core values of my organization:
1. Consistently deliver an extraordinary client “experience.”
2. Embrace and drive change.
3. Be creative, solutions-focused and open-minded.
4. Build a positive team and family spirit.
5. Always learn and grow.
6. Communicate openly, honestly and respectfully.
7. Be accountable – do your share.
8. Add value and make a difference.
9. Be a force for good in the community.
10. Have fun and keep it real.

Values create organizational culture; culture inspires employee performance and customer loyalty. At least once a year, like my Italian family, go through an exercise of defining (or redefining) your guiding beliefs and values.

What are your values and what do they tell the world about your organization, workplace, client experience and focus on excellence? Why should the best work for you or buy from you?

Tags: company values, core values, customer loyalty, employee performance, workplace culture
Posted in For Managers | No Comments »

Ordinary or Extraordinary – Your Choice

Monday, July 11th, 2011

I was on a Southwest Airlines flight last week. One of the flight attendants had great one-liners, an amazing singing voice and outrageous and entertaining lyrics; she raised the quality of the service event. And why not? If it could be ordinary or extraordinary, why do ordinary?

I was recently at a Starbucks. I watched as one of the staff danced around the store to some really upbeat and fun music, handing out samples of this week’s coffee. It was fun and completely extraordinary.

I was at a great Italian bakery this week – artisan bread and pastries that are incredible. Yum! I asked about one pastry I did not recognize. The woman behind the counter took it off the plate, cut it into pieces and offered one to me and to the others in line, then told us with great passion how it was made. Extraordinary.

I was talking to colleague whose child has an amazing teacher. As they study geography, this teacher brings in authentic food, plays the country’s music and introduces some of the language. The kids are captivated and interested. They learn. Extraordinary.

Notice that I did not bring up the ordinary events – I don’t remember them. They are bland, boring and leave no impression. If you want to get noticed in the workplace, you have to do something “extraordinary.” If you blend and are boring, you lose. Your business loses. No one remembers. They expect you to get it right; what they don’t expect is that you do some form of Wow! They remember the Wow.

The employees in the above situations chose to do extraordinary things. In fact, they did far more and far better than anything management could have suggested. They chose to make the service event personal, engaging and extraordinary. They chose to show up, step up and stand out. Doing the extraordinary is rarely about spending more; it is almost always about contributing greater effort, creativity, interest or passion. It is about choice.

Management can inspire employee greatness when they define the outcome (“do extraordinary things for our customers”) but not the steps to achieve it. Micromanaging the response takes all the life, energy, and “extraordinaryness” out of it – and stops employees from thinking through (and having some fun in) their workday. Hire the right employees then have them go impress your customers. Don’t impose limits – create expectations.

Tags: creativity, customer loyalty, employee effort, employee performance, extraordinary, hire the right employees, management, performance expectations, Southwest Airlines, Starbucks
Posted in For Managers | No Comments »

Would You Recommend Us to Your Friends?

Sunday, November 14th, 2010

One of the great things about today’s intellectual economy is the questions you need to ask customers are the same as the questions you must ask your employees. Both the service event and the workplace now are “human-based” – these events are personal and emotional – both benefit from questions that ask about our humanity, our sense of belonging, and whether we feel important.

Consider asking these questions of both customers and employees to assess and ultimately activate their emotional connection. Emotional connection inspires loyalty.

1. Would you recommend us to a friend? To a customer, is your service so exceptional you would put your reputation on the line to recommend the company? To an employee – is the workplace dynamic, engaging and personalized enough to suggest your friends work there as well?
2. What is the best thing we do for you? For both, knowing this allows the organization to repeat successful behaviors.
3. What is not working for you right now? For both, inviting the discussion to share negative things that may not be addressed without the prompting.
4. At our company, we focus on making others feel like family; how have we made you feel like our family? For both, activating the sense of connection to family and belonging is key to creating personal relationships and activating loyalty. Behaviors identified in the responses can be repeated.
5. What information do you hear from your social networks and do you see in the world around you that would help us be a better company? Customers and employees are the eyes and ears of all great companies. Loyal employees and customers openly share what they hear, think, value and see. Organizations dramatically expand their connection to their world by using engaged and loyal customers to observe and assess their worlds. This keeps companies informed, current and aware of what is truly important.

Customers and employees both require a personal and emotional relationship to activate their best performance and loyalty. The more connected management is to employees, and employees are to customers, the more important and valued both feel.

In a service workplace, success is built through relationships. Valued employees create valued customers. Disconnect from employees and customer and performance, innovation and loyalty suffers. Develop a culture that constantly asks great questions of each, and uses the information to improve, engage and activate loyalty.

Please forward this to someone who can benefit from it and contact me to help you build a workplace that inspires both customer and employee loyalty. It will show in your bottom line. More information at www.LiveFiredUp.com.

Tags: ask questions, customer loyalty, customer survey, emotional connection, employee loyalty, employee survey, great service
Posted in For Managers | No Comments »

What Do You Inspire?

Monday, October 4th, 2010

Is your workplace committed to extraordinary…to greatness? Or does it accept average, bland and boring performance? What do you inspire?

An organization takes its lead from its leaders and managers. Consider these questions as you assess your role as company “inspirer:”

1. How compelling and clear is your vision and mission? Does it attract people who believe what you believe about service, value and performance?
2. What is the organization’s perspective of customers? Are customers critical to the success of the organization and deserve consistently extraordinary service? Does the organization consistently pull out the stops to do stand-out and exceptional things for customers as the only way of conducting business?
3. What is leadership’s and management’s perspective of employees? Are they viewed as assets to invest in or expenses to manage? Are they well chosen, well supported and well developed? Are employees valued as the means to create customer loyalty, which drives the bottom line?

The best organizations are those whose leaders have created a powerful employee-focused workplace culture that treasures its employees and holds them completely accountable for creating a consistently strong customer-focused organization. They inspire the best from each employee by hiring them into roles that play to their talents, strengths and passions; they share critical information; they establish clear performance expectations; they believe in their people and expect them to do what is right.

We are in a service economy. Success in this kind of economy is created in the quality of relationships we establish (and inspire) – employee/customer, employee/employee, employee/leader, employee/manager. Inspiring employees to play to their greatness helps employees not only develop the skills and confidence to do great things for customers, it also earns the manager and leader great employee loyalty.

We always watch others to learn how to approach the changes that happen in our days. Customers watch employees. Employees watch managers. Managers watch leaders. Everyone is watching…what do you inspire?

Please share this with someone who can benefit from it and contact me to learn how to be your company “inspirer” by learning how to attract, hire and retain today’s best employees.

Tags: customer loyalty, employee loyalty, employee relationships, inspire, mission statement, vision statement
Posted in For Managers | No Comments »