employee experience | BILL QUISENG | Deliver the World's Best Customer Experience

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February 1, 2023 · 12:00 pm

BUSINESS LEADERS FORBIDDEN PHRASE: We’ve always done it that way.

BUSINESS LEADER FORBIDDEN PHRASE: “We’ve always done it that way.”

If your customers and employees are raving about you as a customer service leader, then that’s GREAT! But if they’re not saying anything at all about you, then that’s not. Satisfied people feel that your customer service leadership is good, not better, just average. Nobody raves about average. And satisfied people won’t return as soon as they find something better. So be GREAT out there! Otherwise, well …

A complaining customer would ask you, “Well, if you’ve already done it that way, why don’t you guys fix it?”

Business competitors would say to their people, “Well, if they’ve already done it that way, then we’ll just do a little better to WOW their customers with us.”

Your employees would say to themselves, “Well, if you’ve already done it that way, then we’ll go somewhere else that pays more.” or “We’ll go somewhere else where they communicate, support, and motivate us,” or “We’ll go somewhere else where they recognize and appreciate us for our team and individual achievements, accomplishments, or personalized acts of customer service.”

Instead of serving your customers on what they expect and leading your people on how they are treated, ask yourselves, as leaders, to envision “What if?”. And don’t just think and talk about it. Thinking and talking about customer service leadership doesn’t make it happen; doing something does. Customer service leadership is action, not attitude.

Focus on creating a GREAT experience for your employees as much as you do for customers and you will earn the loyalty of both. Soon, without a focus on profits, profits will grow. And everyone will be enriched, literally and figuratively.

Satisfying current customers’ and employees’ needs and innovating to consistently deliver WOW customer and employee experiences will maximize the ROI of CX. So do more than what you always have done. Do better than what you always have done. And be GREAT out there!

#leadership #customerservice #customerexperience #employeeexperience #employeeengagement #custserv #custexp #cx

When It All Comes Down to Business, It’s “People First”

For many years, there has been a stranglehold of the “Profits over People” mentality in business. Senior executives care about top-line revenue, product and labor costs, market share, the stock price, bottom-line profits, and even their competitors, more than their people. Listening to the sweet cha-ching sound of profits, these bad bosses do not hear their grumbling employees and complaining customers many hierarchical rungs below. Even if bosses could hear, they would wear noise-canceling headphones, oblivious to the employees’ concerns and customer complaints. And “Profits over People” bad bosses would demand “My way or the highway” to the employees. Bad bosses didn’t care much about employees and employees could care less about their bosses or customers.

Today, instead of focusing on “Profits over People”, envision “People First” as the solid foundation for everlasting business success. One caveat is “Employees First”. Managers will always see people as “employees”. Despite preaching “Employees First”, senior leaders would always have the rank and file employees “first”, on the bottom of the ladder, well below the leaders.

Recognizing “People First”, leaders will CARE for their people.

COMMUNICATE openly, transparently, interactively, and frequently any information that their people need and want to know. Listen empathetically to the people’s suggestions, concerns, and complaints. Express compassion with their recommendations and encouragement.
APPRECIATE the important roles, responsibilities, and efforts of their people.
RECOGNIZE, honor, and offer accolades for individual and team achievements, accomplishments, and acts of service to colleagues or customers.
EMPOWER people to make the right decisions for themselves, their colleagues, customers, and their business.

Whether it’s the turmoil of the pandemic, Skimpflation, or The Great Resignation, businesses will invigorate the New Normal with the “People First” culture. No longer are people taking second or third seats to customers or profits.

This cultural transformation of “People First” and the leadership commitment to CARE will enthuse and energize people to be engaged with their colleagues, customers, and the business.

When we create a great experience for people as much as we do for customers, we will earn the loyalty of both. And soon, without our focus on profits, profits will grow.