Company Culture

Your business is your brand and it acts as a relative indication of who you are as a boss. Not only that but you can look at your corporation as a second home and family to your future employees, where they work well alongside each other and be accountable for each other’s actions. Not everyone will fit into your company’s philosophy, but those who do should surely feel like a part of a bigger picture when they step into the office to carry out their daily roles. Remember, it doesn’t feel like work if it feels like fun!

Transparency and Loyalty

Be clear with your expectations and what you offer to them, and stick to it! Work-related information shouldn’t be hidden from them if it directly impacts the time they put in with you. Nobody likes being blindsided nor left out of the loop especially when they are also giving their time to work under your supervision. This way, nobody can say that they did not know and everyone is clearer on the main goal to be achieved.

Interesting Job Content/Offering Variety

Working can be tiring but working on the same thing over and over can be depressing. Most employees don’t really wish to do the same job, the same way for more than 2 years. Providing different approaches or better yet, offering the ability to explore other similar bits of work can sometimes be a breath of fresh air. Switch it up a bit but make sure the job gets done.

Balance

Your staff has other things to do as well and sometimes these other things can become quite demanding where it builds pressure on them to complete both office work and personal work. Be mindful of this and consider the fact that if they have enough time to handle their work, it gives them an enough time to complete yours! Another common option would be using milestones where employees are asked to deliver on within a set time. Be sure to politely follow up and make sure you know if they need any assistance if you recognise that they may be having difficulty.

Bring staff and managers together on projects

Be able to have frequent moments where you and your staff can discuss projects together. Remember to value and respect their opinions as much as you would value your own. Their perspectives may highlight a major flaw in your own judgement or spark inspiration towards a greater result. After all, they will probably be the ones doing a lot of the hands-on work towards building it so their assistance should be greatly appreciated and recognised.

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Here are a few factors which can influence happiness levels in the workplace:

Communicative Environment – Other than your home, you spend more time in the office than anywhere else. Along with that, humans thrive on interaction and communication; therefore companies which allow an open and communicative environment usually enjoy better relationships internally. This nurtures the basic need for us to form bonds and hence keeps employees happy in the long run.

Recognition – During childhood, we thrived on the A-pluses that we got in school. But why? That’s because it encouraged us to keep up the good work and to continue pressing on even when it seemed difficult. The same applies to adults. The working environment is quite difficult (and sometimes tedious), therefore, to receive that acknowledgement lets us know that we are indeed doing a good job and that our efforts are being recognized. At the same time, feedback is also critical because not only the task would be carried out to the necessary standard but it would allow you to grow and be well rounded.

Potential for Growth – Not everyone is cut from the same cloth, but most career-oriented people do not put in that effort to feel stagnant. Therefore, companies who provide development opportunities, as well as chances for promotion, show that the employee cannot be replaced because they are indeed valuable.

Independence – There are two distinct categories of employees, those who constantly need to be told what to do and those who do not need to be told that. Firstly, recognize the difference between the two and realize that those who do not need constant attention can successfully complete tasks without managers who breathe down their necks. And at the end of the day, if you felt comfortable enough to hire employees to do particular tasks, you should also feel comfortable enough that they can fulfil such without constant supervision. Your staff would feel as though they are trusted and capable of doing their duties, some would even go beyond what was asked of them because they would feel comfortable to do so.

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While it is true that this construct is a state of mind, organizations can certainly have an impact and here is how:

Make Enhancements to The Company Culture – This should be the first point of attack as a good internal culture can transform how your staff views your entire company. Investing in a gym or decent healthcare can certainly make your staff feel as though they are valued and wanted. You should also talk to your employees and try to find out what they require. This, without a doubt, will make a major impact on employee happiness.

Treat them the Way You’d Want to Be Treated – Companies get it wrong in believing that money is the answer to every problem. Rather, it is more of the admission into the firm as that’s what initially draws you in. But employees also want to feel respected, therefore, if you treat them poorly, you should not expect for those same members of your work force to be productive or even happy.

Be Flexible – Members of the work force appreciate malleable bosses and hence tend to show their appreciation by being loyal. Imagine your child happens to fall sick and your employer gives you time to nurse your child back to health. These things show that companies do not always need to be so rigid but humane.

Reward Your Staff – Lastly, acknowledging the efforts that are made by your employees to ensure that your organization succeeds is the icing on the cake. After all, when the company succeeds, everyone succeeds and while employees do not need constant approval and rewards, it’s the thought that counts. So tell them when they are doing a good job, reward them when they have done such and actively seek to ensure that your team strives to do a good job for not only the business but themselves too.

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Knowing all of this, the equation is pretty simple:

Employee happiness = Customer happiness.

Happy employees are, basically, the foundation of a successful company, which also builds solid customer relationships.

Here are some reasons why happy employees are equal to happy customers:

Better Relationships With Customers

Some key elements when you’re trying to achieve goals like better customer relationships are presence, attentiveness, and attitude. A happy workplace makes an employee be more present and more supportive and faster in attending customer needs.

Besides that, in a happy workplace, there’s a way better attitude towards work. This good attitude is carried by employees and passed on to customers.

Happy employees tend to give a high-quality service which usually results in increased customer loyalty and happiness.

Knowledgeable Service

In addition to the above, happy employees are used to staying with a company for a longer period of time. Being this good for business, it’s also good for customers.

Employees who have worked in a place for a long time not only just have more experience, but provide better customer service as well.

The Company’s Best Face Shows Off

Besides a positive attitude which promotes positive customer experiences, employees who are happy with their workplace actually want to see the company they work for do well.

Being motivated tends to make employees innovative and will push them to provide customers with an amazing experience.

How To Create A Happy Workplace

Creating a workplace which promotes employee happiness is one of the best things you can do for your company or business. Studies have shown that employees who feel engaged and happy at work tend to be even more productive and innovative.

There are some steps that you can follow to get your business on the happiness train, such as continuously collecting feedback on core areas of employee experiences; then, facilitating an open platform to address the issues and discussing ideas to improve the company; and finally, it’s imperative to implement the mentioned improvements.

An example of all that’s been already said is the incredible success of food chains such as Starbucks or McDonald’s, which mainly focus on their employees’ happiness.

A happy workplace has too many effects on a company’s performance, ranging from better relationships with customers, which is awesomely important, to showing the best face of the business.

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The rise of technology has made things easy for the consumer; every customer wants to feel as though their interaction with a brand is tailored just for them.

With that in the forefront of our minds, here is what’s in store for customer experience in 2019.

Deeper Connection and Personalization

In recent times, consumers are creating relationships with brands and vice versa. In 2019, brands will continue to invest in creating such experiences because not only does it build trust but it also builds loyalty. Companies can only tap into such a resource if they are willing to learn what their consumers require of them.

The Use of Mobile Applications

At the rate with which technology continues to advance, so will the need for it within organizations. That is due to the fact that this form of interaction is one which refuses to slow down but rather would continue to grow. While it is not a substitute for other platforms, it is certainly one where relevance and emphasis are geared to increase success.

Increased Privacy

With that being said, even though the use of technology continues to grow in an exponential rate, so does the likely hood of security breaches. Therefore, consumers need to feel reassured that their data is protected at all times. After all, such data is not so easy to obtain, and if your customers are willing to share their data with you, then companies must also provide and maintain strict privacy measures. A strong emphasis on improving data security is expected in 2019.

Automation

We are also in the era where everyone wants their tasks to be completed within lighting speed. Therefore, the use of automated services would continue to gain ground within the years to come at it helps businesses automate repetitive tasks. Hence, staff would have more time to concentrate on those things that truly matter when developing a resilient customer experience. This, in turn, will increase efficiency and decrease cost.

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Here’s a look at a few tips to help you deliver fantastic customer-first experiences.

Understand your target audience – First and foremost, it doesn’t matter what you are selling, you will need to ensure that you understand your target audience in order to put them first. If you sell men’s clothing for example, you need to understand which types of men you are targeting. Are you selling activewear to young men aged 18 – 35 or are you targeting the more mature gentleman aged 40 – 60? Understanding your target market allows you to engage with them on a more intimate level. It ensures you understand who they are and what they want. The more you know about your target demographic, the better you can customize your products/services to meet their requirements.

Engage with your customers – Whether you deal with customers online, in person, or both, in order to help put them first it is always important that you take the time to engage with them personally. Don’t just give them one-word responses, don’t ignore their questions, and don’t treat them like cash cows. Get to know them, and interact with them. In person or on the phone, ask them about their day and show genuine interest. Online, try to crack a few jokes with them, interact with them, share a laugh or two with them and try to show them that you are genuinely interested in them. It may not sound like much but it still makes a whole lot of difference.

Be friendly – Not only should you engage with your customers, you should also make sure that you’re friendly with them at the same time. If they can see you, be sure to smile and share a laugh or two. If you engage on social media, crack a few harmless jokes and perhaps utilize emojis to indicate that you are smiling in response to them. It is however, important to remember that you’re not trying to make new friends here, so don’t try too hard and don’t treat them as if you’re best friends. This comes across as slightly awkward and desperate and it can actually harm your business reputation.

Focus on customer service – In business, there will always be times when things go wrong. This is inevitable, but it’s how you respond that could make or break you. If a customer has an issue, a complaint, or a question in general, listen to them and do your very best to come up with a solution, and don’t be afraid to bend the rules slightly. Basically, do whatever you can to come up with a solution that will make your customer leave happy. If that means a partial refund or a store credit, despite the fact that legally you don’t have to, we strongly advise that you do it.

Putting the customer first is a great example of how small changes made here and there can make such huge differences. By putting the customer first, you are showing them that they are valued, and that you truly care, which in turn builds loyalty and respect. From a business perspective, the benefits are as clear as day.

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Responsive customer service is imperative to the business of all sizes. Quality customer service enhances customer loyalty to your business and brand. A business that responds to customer questions and needs can gain a significant advantage.

With the advent of technology, customer service has also seen a significant transformation. To keep up with the latest in customer service, it’s important to incorporate technology into your operations.

Utilizing Technology to improve customer service

If utilized correctly, technology can play a significant role in improving your customer service quality. Below are some tips to get you started:

• Get the Most out of Websites

Do you have a business website? If yes, then you must maximize its effectiveness. Make the FAQ page useful and easy-to-read and provide valuable information on your website so that your potential customers can easily get all their queries answered without having to call your call center.

• Take Advantage of E-mail

Website leads to excellent customer service and high ROI. But it’s not enough. Incorporate the use of e-mail into your customer service solutions. Dedicate an email address to receiving customer queries and assign a customer service agent to handle all the queries and requests in a timely fashion.

• ChatBots

Social media has completely changed the way how business communicate. You can now also setup a messenger chatbot to answer all the general queries related to your business. You just need to make sure that the chatbot is well designed and equipped to handle the customer queries.

• Utilize Software

As your business grows, your data gathering tools should be more sophisticated. You must integrate customer relationship management software into your operation as this will help you manage customer relationships more effectively

Provide Relevant and High-Quality Services

Well, the primary goal of your business when it comes to client interactions is to generate long-term relationship and loyalty. There’s no better solution to do that than to provide superb services. It is also vital to be responsive when dealing with potential or prospective clients.

As new technologies come to the market, it’s simpler for companies to enhance customer service. It is also easier to increase the variety of channels. Experts suggest businesses employ technology to improve the quality of service with a focus on data management, analytics, marketing automation, and self-service optimization.

Once you have got your customer service on track, you’ll eventually see an improvement in your sales and reputation.

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Fostering And Nurturing Relationships
Interpersonal relationships are important as friendships in general as it encourages and fosters wellness and extends life. A Gallup poll recently found that when people have close relationships with their colleagues at work, their satisfaction with their job increases by 50%.

Businesses should therefore initiate the engagement of interpersonal work activities in order to create better relationships among staff members. This could be through social activities such as luncheons or picnics. Team-building training exercises should also be initiated within the office, which would help the employees and their coworkers alike, to understand how to better work with each other in a relaxed atmosphere.

Reducing Stress
Much of the stress that employees perceive that are management related are directly related to management style. An autocratic and inflexible management style can lead to staff feeling as though they have no control over their work, that they are blamed when things go wrong and that there is no support for them to develop their skills or career. A study by the University of Wisconsin found that happy people developed 50% more antibodies to the flu vaccine, therefore, the happiest employees took one-tenth the sick leave of their least happiest colleagues.

Promoting A Healthy Work/Life Balance
In this day and age, people find it hard to ‘switch off’ and genuinely rest, and in turn, with remote working technology, people are expected to be ‘on-call’ at all times, without being allowed to have a life outside of work. But, people want downtime, as well as a job that recognizes and supports so that their life continues when they have left the office.

If you focus on keeping your workforce happy, productivity levels will increase and employee turnover rate will also eventually decrease.

Promoting Career and Personal Development
Providing development opportunities shows that you’re willing to invest in them as a person as well as their future. If they feel as though their future is bright within your organization and that your organization actively supports and helps pave a path towards upward mobility, this support will show that you are just as committed to your employees as you hope they would be to you!

Happiness in the workplace is important as a business is essentially nothing without happy and productive employees. Since your employees are a direct representation of your business, if they’re not happy, it’s highly likely that your customers won’t be happy either.

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One of the best ways of building and establishing your business is to establish and maintain a strong business relationship with your customers. A happy customer is likely to be a returning customer, so here’s a look at a few examples of the importance of customer satisfaction in the work place.

Returning customers –
Okay, think of the following scenario: You go out to a restaurant for a meal. Your waiter is rude to you, the kitchen gets your order wrong, the food is disgusting, and you find that you’ve been overcharged when you receive your bill. Are you likely to be satisfied? No, of course you’re not. Are you likely to return for another meal at the same place? No, you’re not.

If, on the other hand, you’re met with a friendly and helpful waiter, your meal is perfect, it tastes wonderful, and you wind up having a fantastic meal, will you be satisfied then? Yes, you will. Will you likely return for a meal again? Yes, absolutely. The same can be said for any business. If your customers are satisfied with the service and/or goods you provide, they will likely return to you again and again.

Recommendations –
Another benefit of customer satisfaction is the fact that satisfied customers are more likely to recommend your business. If your customers feel that they’ve had an awesome shopping experience with you, and they’re impressed with the goods and/or services they have purchased, they will likely recommend you to others. This not only applies to friends and family members, but they may also recommend on social media by leaving you a positive review with good feedback. The more positive reviews and recommendations you receive, the more likely your business will be to succeed.

Profit –
Let’s not beat about the bush here, although you hopefully take great pride and enjoyment from your work, the main reason you run your business is to earn money and to earn a living. If your customers are satisfied and are impressed with your business, they’ll likely spend more money with you. They will also recommend you to others, which will also help to drum up interest and increase your sales. This means your business makes more money, and who wouldn’t want that?

Stand out against your competitors –
No matter what industry you are in, you will always have competitors and rivals in the workplace. A little business rivalry can be beneficial, though it’s important to ensure that you are beating your competitors. If your customers are satisfied, word of mouth quickly spreads, as do positive reviews, recommendations, and feedback. The more satisfied customers you have, the more you will stand out against your rivals.

As you can see, it’s not difficult to pinpoint the importance of customer satisfaction in a business environment. Your customers are valuable commodities. In fact, without them you wouldn’t be in business, so do everything in your power to ensure they’re satisfied after every exchange they have with you.

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If you never really paid attention to the customer service level of a restaurant or other facility, you can learn a great deal by becoming a mystery shopper. If you are interested in knowing more about mystery shopping, read below for some of the things that you will learn about customer service via mystery shopping:

Taking care of the customer is the number one priority
You’ll notice that your experience is significantly diminished if the staff is not concerned with taking care of the customer. As a mystery shopper, you have to evaluate the staff and make sure that they are catering to your needs as well as the needs of others.

With mystery shopping, you’ll probably take note that your competitors are constantly asking customers if they need anything. Managers will be making their rounds to ensure that everyone in the facility is getting the absolute best service that they can offer. By reviewing your competitor’s and your own organization’s customer service, you’ll be better able to adjust your customer service strategy accordingly.

Training is vital for customer service
The best companies are the ones who have a solid training program that revolves around servicing the customer. It is quite evident when an organization does not place an emphasis on training. As a mystery shopper, you will probably be able to tell which companies have a lackluster training program. The ones that go above and beyond are the ones with the right programs.

Customer Service isn’t always easy
There’s a lot to be said for people that can satisfy their customers on a daily basis. It can be a time-consuming and difficult job, especially at a busy organization. You cannot play favorites with one customer over the other and must treat everyone with equal respect and strive to get the job done no matter what. Some customers can be difficult to handle with multiple requests and complaints, but every employee must do everything they can to meet their needs. This is highly important in the business world, and you’ll definitely learn a lot about this, as a mystery shopper.

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Read on below for some tips on how to map a quality customer experience.

Analyze all of your touchpoints
When getting started with customer experience mapping, you need to make sure that you are aware of all your touchpoints and how they affect the customer. This includes social media sites, your company website, radio and television advertisements, and telephone calls. Create a list of all of your touchpoints and make sure you know how they are working.

Identify the purpose of every interaction
If you are reaching out to customers through phone calls, social media posts, and television ads, you need to ask yourself why. Every time you make contact, there should be a direct purpose and goal in mind. This could be as simple as trying to make a sale to something more complex like gathering demographic information and gauging their feelings on a marketing campaign. Either way, you should have a solid reason behind every point of contact.

Analyze Your Data
After you have properly categorized every touchpoint and established a goal, you can start analyzing your data. This can be data brought in through surveys, market research, industry analysis, or web forums. Anything you have that gives insight into your company is valuable for helping you to map a high-quality customer experience.

Create a Layout
Now you can start mapping the customer experience. This can be done through timelines and wheels that help you to understand when and where the customer makes contact. Focus on things like customer lifespan, brand life cycle, and the moment that you contact the customer.

Create content
There are many different things that identify a customer and their journey with your company. Here, you can create content that represents those things and relates them to your company. These are things like emotions, needs, and triggers. You can make note of the customer’s actions and the touchpoints they have with your company. This will help you to create a fully functional customer experience map.

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For customers, nothing is fulfilling than interacting with skilled agents. Giving qualitative training to your call center agents to deal with different kinds of customers is really important for sales growth.

Below are some golden rules of call center agent training:

Intensify the Skill

The training sessions should focus on developing the agent’s skill. Newbies should learn clear intercommunication, empathy, and first call resolution. They should articulate words clearly during the call and avoid jargons to convey the right message.

It is also a must to treat the customers professionally. Look through the matter and offer them with a responsive help. Every customer hates calling an agent over and over again. Not only does it cost them money, but this also becomes a burden. So, it’s really important to perceive the importance of first call resolution.

Make them Product Influencers

Providing the agents with enough product knowledge is essential. Aside from knowing the product, they have to believe in it for a high return on investment to sound credible. At the end of every call, they can impress the customers and establish trust.

Record the Results of the Training Sessions

Training sessions should be target-oriented. It is also necessary to identify a way for supervisors to record the training plans and agent’s growth. This is a great solution to determine the status of problems and opportunities for continuous skill development.

Practice makes you Perfect

Theoretical knowledge is not enough. Make sure the agents implement the lessons in their workstation. For instance, calming down anxious clients is not a simple task. Show it in a demo to give them an idea how they can deal with furious customers. Facilitate and supervise your customer representatives. Plus, don’t forget to provide them with feedback on the steps that can be taken to improve their skills.

Create an Ongoing Training

Both, newbies and seasoned call center agents, require regular training to hone their abilities and deliver an outstanding customer experience. Ongoing training plays a vital role in improvising every customer representative’s skillset. So, make sure you provide regular training sessions to your call center agents and also ensure that the training is relevant to your goals for the best results.

Training new call center agents is difficult; it requires your time, money and effort. But once you train them well, the results will be worth it – not only for your organization but for your employees too.

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