Train your managers how to look for the right service behaviours, and encourage them and their teams

In recent newsletters, we have been looking at the Gallup organisation’s ideas about tactics to engage your customers so they keep coming back.
 
We recently talked about the importance of setting customer service standards. But there’s no point in having customer service standards if you and your staff aren’t applying them. So, how do you encourage your people to apply your customer service standards?

One of Gallup’s customer engagement tactics is to train managers how to look for the right service behaviours, and encourage those behaviours and their teams. You need to let staff know when they’re doing the right thing, and to recognise them for doing so.

It sounds easy. But if you get it wrong, you can have negative consequences. So here are our tips for getting it right.

Why bother?
You may be thinking: "Do I really need to recognise my staff?” Often managers think that if their staff are ‘doing the right thing’ so there is no need to take any action. But your staff not only want good pay and benefits, they also want to be valued and appreciated for their work.

By recognising your people you can increase their levels of engagement, morale and subsequent work performance. You also send them a clear message about what’s important and what behaviours are valued. When employees know their work will be noticed and appreciated, they’ll put in extra effort and take initiative.

Do it immediately
If you see someone doing something right, let them know what a good job they did as soon as possible – ideally then and there. They will link your praise to the behaviour much more strongly than if you leave it to the end of the day – or the week – and be much more likely to repeat the behaviour.

Be specific
Make sure you are specific about the behaviour you are recognising. Saying "you handled that customer really well” doesn’t tell your staff member what they did that was effective. Whereas saying "when that customer asked X, and you replied by telling them Y, that was a great demonstration of our customer service standard on taking the initiative to resolve customer service issues” – is much more likely to encourage the person to repeat that behaviour.

Do it often
It’s important to give recognition at every opportunity. Research from the Ross Business School suggests that for top performing teams there is a ratio of 5:1 for positive comments compared to criticisms. That is, while you need to give negative feedback to correct people’s behaviour, there needs to be much more recognition to balance it. People remember – and dwell on - negative feedback much more than positive, so there needs to be plenty of recognition.

It is important, however, that your recognition is genuine, and spontaneous. If you automatically recognise someone at the end of each shift, this becomes predictable and creates a sense of entitlement. And if it doesn’t happen, it can create a sense of disappointment.

What about negative feedback?
Of course you also need to let people know when they’re not doing the right thing – and to provide them with constructive feedback on the need to change their approach. We canlook at that in a future newsletter.

Contact us
Mystery Customer’s reports will help you identify areas where your staff are performing well, as well as areas that need improvement. If you’d like to talk to Mystery Customer, contact us …