UTurn^TV

Many thanks to Gavin Elliott for the inspiration to today’s blog.

It’s often all too easy to forget that whatever work you do that somewhere you have a customer. Even if you don’t come face to face with them they are always there at the end of some process. Does your team spend too much time on non-productive work and forget that who they are serving?

Love to hear from you.
Jules

Yesterday was a lovely sunny day and my friend and I decided to have a day out at the seaside.  However, when I walked out of my front door I noticed rather a lot of cigarette ends lying either side of the front steps.  I live in a big old house that has been converted into 5 apartments and as most of the folks who live there are renting we get to see new faces on a relatively regular basis.

Obviously tenants agreements will state that no smoking is allowed inside the building which means that smokers need to stand outside the building when they want to smoke.

Truthfully my initial reaction to seeing all of these cigarette buts was one of offence.  It makes the approach to the building look awful (in my opinion).  Worse that many of the buts were littered underneath my bedroom window which is on the ground floor.   Fortunately my bedroom window has been closed recently but won’t be from now onwards as the weather improves.

It’s obvious that what I consider to be acceptable standards of behaviour is not the same as for other people.  I do know that if I was a smoker I wouldn’t drop my buts at the front door and take the risk of offending others.  If I want it to stop I’m going to have to do something about it.  I’m not sure what that might be yet as I don’t know who is responsible and what might be a good approach that would not cause offence in return.

Whilst mulling this tiny problem it reminded me of managers that I have worked with who don’t take the time to define acceptable standards and behaviours for their teams.

Too many businesses have publicised their standards of ‘excellent customer service’, and thereby acceptable behaviour, because they have worked out how they can deliver their service cost effectively and within the boundaries of current resources.

The most effective teams I have ever worked with have been those who have defined and communicated what they consider to be acceptable standards and behaviours whilst at work.  Attending to the detail of how a team behaves shows elegant team management.

What is acceptable behaviour?  In my experience acceptable standards and behaviour tend to be driven by customers needs.  For example, some customers like an informal chatty approach on the telephone but others would find this unacceptable and would prefer a more formal approach.  As the manager, if you don’t communicate this to your team and leave them to their ‘best efforts’ it could sour future relationships and have long term repercussions.

The best and easiest way to identify what your customers want in terms of behaviour is to ask them.  It seems fairly obvious but not many team managers I know have gone to these lengths.  What is ‘excellent customer service’ to you isn’t necessarily ‘excellent’ to me.  One of my customers was quite happy to be kept informed of updates and progress via email with minimal words and was happy with just facts and figures.  I found this out by calling him and being told, in a very straighforward manner, that he didn’t have time for ‘chatting’.  Other customers felt happier if phone calls were made so that a nice, ‘get to know you’ conversation could take place.

Taking the step of asking your customers how they would like the service delivered to them would ensure several things:

1. You would have a vehicle for discussing acceptable standards with your team
2. You will be able to communicate clearly with and to your team about what is acceptable and thereby, what is not
3. More than likely, you will have impressed your customers by the fact that you have taken the time to ask them what they want
4. You will have created the potential for discussions about increasing business or selling other services with your customer

In approaching team management in this way you are doing everything you can to improve the image of you and your team.  For those team members who don’t want to play the game, you also have a vehicle for managing performance or managing them out of the business if need be.

With the increase in internet/social media marketing it’s never been easier for your customers to find an alternative supplier so it’s critical that you create great relationships with them that secures their loyalty for the long term.  Taking the time to understand what they consider acceptable in your team’s behaviour may take a bit of time but will ultimately reap the greatest rewards.

I would love to hear your views and thoughts on the above so please take the time to comment.  It would be greatly appreciated.

Jules

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For those of  you out there who run your own businesses as I do you will understand some of the challenges that I sometimes face.  The continuing search for clients, balancing the books, delivering a quality service or product and just generally staying consistently on top of your game can be a real battle.  As  I work in the personal development and training arena which means we have the added challenge of having to ensure that I check in on my work/life balance and make sure it’s not overly tipped one way or the other, otherwise I could easily be seen as a hypocrite.

So far, the majority of my clients have come to me either through recommendation from existing clients or because they met me face to face and instantly ‘got me.’  This is wonderfully gratifying and it means that I know that everyone I deliver to is there because they understand that they will have a moment of clarity about the issues they are facing and be in a much better state of mind than when they first came to me.

In the last few weeks as I have been upping my game I have had a number of conversations with others where I have had to stand still and check in on what I am doing to make sure I am still on track. Given my line of work it is inevitable and right that I should do this.  I’m sure most of you out there do the same thing but I wonder how often you change direction, even by a tiny amount, based on how influenced you have been by outside forces.

Clearly there are some outside forces, such as the economy, which many of you have had no choice but to adapt to in order to survive.  However, I do wonder how much we are influenced to change direction and later regret it because we didn’t stay true to our core beliefs, what we are truly good at and what we love doing.

Whilst I will never have a problem with change for the better I think sometimes it’s very easy to think that an idea proposed or an opinion given should be cogitated over, absorbed and implemented.  For those of you who run your businesses alone, not having someone to bounce ideas off when these new shiny things jump up and down at you can be a much greater challenge.

I know that sometimes from the outside my work can be seen as ‘namby pamby’, ‘weird’ or just plain daft.  Added to that I tend to approach things in my own quirky, unique way which may look unconventional but really really works for me and my clients.

I never check out ‘the competition’ because I know it would be a waste of time and energy, and whilst some businesses need to do this to survive, it will never work for me.  I don’t do suits.  I would probably lose the will to live if I had to wear a suit to win a piece of business.  I don’t do brochures because I know that the majority of them will end up in the bin and a piece of paper could never express who I am. I dare to be different.  And it makes me very happy to work this way.  And ultimately, isn’t that the point?

I am so looking forward to growing my business in the way that I have chosen to do.  And what if I fail I hear some of you cry?  Not an option.  I love what I do too much for the money not to follow.

I would love to hear from you and particularly if you have some daring ideas on how you want to run your business but think it might be a bit too ‘out there’.

I wish you much love and joy and hope that life is treating you amazingly well.

Jules