Business mentor: Staff need confidence to handle gripes

Q. I'm keen for my staff to take responsibility for fixing customer problems. How can I encourage them to take the initiative?

Leah Fisher from TMI New Zealand responds:

A. Encouraging staff to take responsibility for customer problems is critical for customer service excellence.

We often make the mistake of thinking that if we have staff who are good with people, then they'll be good at handling customer problems.

Unfortunately, many businesses overlook the importance of providing staff with the right information first.

One place to start with your staff may be to look at the type of information you are giving them.

Our research from the 2001 National Complaints Culture Survey showed that staff received very good information about new customers and on who the top customers were. However, nearly a third believed they received no information and another third only some information about how many customers the business lost, and, more importantly, why they lost them.

Providing information to your customer-facing staff is a good way to start getting them to understand the impact of service levels.

While it's great to hear about the successes, it's equally important to hear about the disappointed customers. Better information means staff are in a better position to to assess how their actions contribute to the loss of business.

Some information that would be useful to staff:

* Customer acquisition - the number of new customers acquired. This will provide staff with an understanding about the success of attracting new business. If possible, it would be useful to examine and explain why the customers have chosen your business.

* Customers lost - how many customers have stopped using the business and why have they left? Providing comprehensive information will give staff the ability to determine if their actions have contributed to customer dissatisfaction. Using this information positively can prevent further attrition.

* Complaints - what is the nature of complaints and what is being done about them? Staff need to see that the company is willing to listen to customer complaints and do something about them. This gives staff confidence that the company is open to improving and will encourage them to seek feedback from customers, knowing that something will be done.


* For more information about improving customer service, contact Leah Fisher at TMI on (09) 376-4123
email Leah@tmi.co.nz

* Send us your Business Mentor questions. Answers will be provided by Business in the Community's Business Mentor Programme.