No. 4. in a series on Enlightened Service Leadership

Study says front-line reps would trade gift cards for more praise from their supervisor

Imagine that a friend asked for your advice about how to repair his troubled marriage. He shares his strategy for saving his marriage. “I thought I’d take her on a cruise or send her to a spa. Or maybe buy her that bracelet she has her eye on.”

You can’t believe your ears. It’s absurd to think that bribing his wife to stay with him would actually work. You want him to understand that what she really needs is his time and his attention. He needs to let her know by his actions that he values her.

Now think about what you do to reward and recognize your employees. If the way you typically show your appreciation is to give them goodies, you may want to think again. While there is nothing wrong with giving out gift cards or having a celebration during Customer Service Week, what really matters to front line employees is genuine, on the spot recognition from their supervisor.

Ascent’s 2009 Reward & Recognition Best Practices study bears this out. Front-line reps ranked “praise” as most important. Tangible gifts came in fourth. The study also found that praise is best delivered on the spot. “Recognition and rewards can be formal or informal. Informal recognition, meaning, spontaneous or immediate — simple thank you’s or expressions for a job well done. In fact, most of a company’s recognition activity should be informal. Informal recognition is a critical component in human nature and the social structure — it’s a major motivator and results in people feeling good about themselves and their achievements.”

The report pointed out that while some supervisors are naturals, most don’t know how to reward and recognize their individual employees. “Managers and supervisors should receive the proper training that will develop the skills needed to praise and reward desired behavior and performance.”

This week stop by and give your employees a complement for a job well done. It will do you good.

Enjoy your week and the 4th of July Holiday.
Look for the next Monday Aha! on July 12.

Resources:
For information on how you can transition your supervisors from ineffective “firefighting” mode to a service model that is proactive and intentional.

It’s just as true now as it was in the 60′s when Bob Dylan wrote the lyrics to, “The Times They Are A-changin’.” But this time we aren’t urging a generation to heed the call for social justice; this time we are urging companies to heed the call of customers who want a more enlightened approach to customer service.

If you are in the service delivery business (and who isn’t?), you may have noticed a gradual rise in customers’ expectations. Gone are the days when customers were okay with being transferred from department to department to get an answer. Heck, they were just grateful to be able to call you on the phone instead of having to write a letter or fax in their complaint and wait a week for a response. Or, worse, having no choice but to physically show up at your place of business.

Fast forward to today when customers are more infinitely more savvy and sophisticated. Today’s customers expect convenient web-based self service options accessible 24/7. On those rare occasions when they do have to call to fix a problem, your customers want to talk with an intelligent, knowledgeable representative who has the authority to solve their problem on the spot. Oh yes, one other thing, customers to be treated like a human being.

How did this rise in expectations happen? Blame it on companies like on line retailer, Zappos. When your customers receive a “wow!” service experience from a company with great service (even if it’s a company that offers a very different product or service), that experience instantly becomes the new standard for what they believe is possible. So, when customers call you and don’t get a great feeling, they wonder why. If Zappos can do it – why can’t you?

In my recent visit to Zappos’ call center, their upbeat, “let’s get it done and have fun” culture, reminded me of a newly hired employee who enters a company all bright-eyed and optimistic; convinced that they have found a place where they can really shine. Their positive can-do attitude gets noticed and they are fast-tracked to a promotion, leaving the other employees in the dust, scratching their heads and wondering – what’s he go that I don’t ?

The good news is that your company has what Zappos’ has – smart, talented people who want to give their all. Give them the opportunity to shine. Power to the people.

“Please heed the call
Don’t stand in the doorway
Don’t block up the hall
For he that gets hurt
Will be he who has stalled
There’s a battle outside
And it is ragin’.
It’ll soon shake your windows
And rattle your walls
For the times they are a-changin’.”
– Bob Dylan, poet and songwriter.

Think about it.

No. 2. in a series on the Fundamentals of Enlightened Service Leadership

The best leaders walk the talk.

It was the busy season at on-line retailer Zappos’ call center. On this particular day the number of calls waiting in queue was climbing and customer wait times were steadily rising. As hard as the reps tried to catch up, they were losing ground by the minute. Christina, a newly appointed supervisor, sent a message of encouragement to her team and got on the phone to take calls. Somewhere around her third or fourth call she looked over at a new team member who was staring at her in disbelief. Once the surge subsided, the rep came over, sat down and said, “I will do anything you want me to do. I’ve worked in several call centers but have never seen a supervisor get on the phone when it was busy and take calls along with us.”

This was an example provided by Christina Colligan to illustrate what it means to live the “L” in the “LEADER” [See photo at right] philosophy at the world’s largest (and most successful) on-line shoe store.

Christina was one of the Leads (supervisor) in the Zappos’ Customer Loyalty Team (their name for their call center) I had the pleasure to meet a couple of weeks ago when I visited Zappos’ headquarters near Las Vegas. I was so impressed with Zappos’ common sense approach to customer service I followed up with Christina to learn more about what they do to create an inclusive culture in which “Wow” level is service is the norm.

In summing up Zappos’ philosophy she shared a quote from a recent learning session in which they share best practices of other companies and books by thought leaders: “People will follow people who show skills and character. Not one or the other — but both.”

Speaking of walking the talk. At Zappos it’s not just the supervisors who hop on the phone to take calls when it gets busy, everybody in the company helps out — including Tony Hsieh, the founder and CEO.

This week be an even more effective leader by not just “talking it” but “walking it.”

Look for more ideas on what you can do to create a new, more enlightened customer service paradigm in coming weeks.