Motivating employees sounds like a daunting task. If your goal is to be the go-to name in your field or industry, you won’t achieve that level of success unless you can truly engage your customers and clients, and keep them interested in your products and services. And the only way to do that is to get your employees to engage those customers and get them to commit to creating an exceptional experience for customers so they do business with you, instead of buying from a competitor.
The big question is: How to get your employees to focus on the customer? Try these three tips in this issue of Promotional Consultant Today.
1. Give them luxury: For your best-performing associates, give them a little bit of something special. Maybe it’s a box of especially good chocolates at the end of a hard week. Maybe it’s a bottle of Scandinavian water they weren’t expecting. Maybe it’s a 30-minute massage. Maybe it’s an opportunity to attend a professional development course. Maybe it’s just a handwritten thank-you note from you, the boss, mailed to their house. Ultimately, it doesn’t really matter what the luxury is. It only matters that you took the time to think of them and to personally thank them for their amazing work in an impromptu fashion.
People want to feel important. If you have good people on your team, make them feel important, and they are more likely to stay on your team. To put a finer point on it, the more important or special you can make them feel, the more likely they are to make your customers feel important.
2. Give them time: Time is our most precious resource, and there is no sweeter way to reward one of your sales team than to give them a few hours of their time back. So for your top performer this month, give a half or full extra day off—with pay. Do it without any fanfare. Just let this person stay home, sleep late, take care of their kids or go to a movie while you cover for them. Don’t make a big deal about it. It’s not a contest; it’s a gift that you are giving.
Also give them your time. Spend extra time with them to share industry knowledge, discuss career goals and just brainstorm on even better ways to engage the customers. They appreciate the time and attention.
3. Give them space: If you’ve seen the movie Office Space, then you understand the importance of a red stapler. It represents something that is yours. Even if it’s only a stapler, you have earned it. Office space—literally—can feel very much the same. It is home. When you designate physical space to an employee, you are telling that person that they have a place, a permanent place. You are telling them they matter. This is not a small thing.
For your best employees, carve out a place where they can set their photos of their kids and their dogs, a place for them to pin ridiculous things they might print out from Facebook—whatever. The ultimate goal is to let employees feel at home when they are at work.
You can’t motivate a rock to move—no matter what you try. If you feel stuck with certain unmotivated employees, don’t give up on motivation but do get rid of the rock-like employees.
Then when you have done the hard job of whittling down your applicants, onboarding them to your culture and giving them sales training, your No. 1 job is to see what helps them stay motivated and change it up often. Allow them to focus on extending themselves for your customers’ benefit.
Source: Bob Phibbs is the CEO of The Retail Doctor, a New York-based consultancy. As a speaker, sales consultant and author of The Retail Doctor’s Guide to Growing Your Business, Phibbs has helped thousands of businesses since 1994. With over 30 years’ experience beginning in the trenches of retail and extending to senior management positions, his presentations are designed to provide practical information in a fun and memorable format.