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While it’s so easy to pass on information to 1,000s of people in an instant, we’re losing the ability to truly connect on a human level with other people.

As a service provider, this can be your downfall. In this age of abundance, consumers have too much choice of who to buy their products and services from. If all the products are the same and cost the same – where will they go? Where they get the best service. Where they are treated well. Where they get help in a friendly and quick way. Where they feel appreciated for being a customer.

Trying to think of creative ways to “change the customer’s behavior” and prevent them from complaining on twitter, facebook, etc. is futile. That’s trying to change a symptom without treating the cause.

Customers’ opinions on social media are symptoms. They are results, outcomes of experiences they had with your company. They can be good. They can be bad.

If you’re not happy with the symptoms, how about trying to change the cause?

You want customers to talk about you on social media. They can be your strongest sales force, your most powerful marketing allies! …If they talk about you positively. So what would it take for you to have them talk positively about you?

Improve your customer service.

Focus on changing the behavior of your customer service staff. And remember that their behavior is also a symptom: if they do not deliver the outstanding service you expect – why is that? Do they lack knowledge, skills or motivation?

Do they know how to truly connect with your customers on a personal, human level? Do they know how to surprise your customers with genuine customer “care” – something that we don’t get to experience often anymore it these fast times?

Your employees are your most important customers

And most importantly – do they care? Are they interested in giving your customers the best service? Only a happy employee will create a happy customer.

Your employees are your most important customers. Are they happy? Are you showing as much interest in them as you show into your customers? What does it take to motivate and engage them again? How can you be a better service provider to your employees?

Type “customer service” into twitter. You’ll see how the negative “avoid this company”- tweets outnumber the “go to this company, I highly recommend them”-tweets.

What would it take for your company to turn this around?

Turn it into a game! Let your customer service staff be the players!

How can you involve your customer service staff to turn this into a game and set goals to leave their customers so happy, that they’re going to tweet about it to the whole world?

Have positive social media coverage about your company be a result.

Let your outstanding customer service be the cause.

If your staff currently is not creating pleasant experiences for your customers, a training on “How to give better service” might not be the solution.

Most people intrinsically know the “HOW”. They just need a good enough reason to get creative. And that is exactly what is lacking in many employees these days: the WHY.

Why should I give better service? Why should I care about my employer’s clients? One client more or less won’t make me lose my job…

As a business owner, this is the first inquiry you should engage in: ”WHY should my staff give better service to my clients? What’s in it for them? I am passionate about my business, but are they?”

Ask the HOW question to yourself:

How can I can give better service to my employees?

Your employees are your number one customer. If you fail to turn them into loyal, happy employees, how could they possibly transmit this positive feeling, enthusiasm and experience to your customers?

So much money is being wasted by pushing knowledge about the HOW into your staff.

Start by pulling knowledge about the WHY (or WHY NOT?) out of your staff first.

• Show interest in them.
• Pay attention to their needs.
• Take them seriously and respond.
• Create new solutions WITH them (i.e. use their input to train their managers to treat them better).
• Then reap the benefits.

It’s exactly what you’d do with your customers:

• What do they (the “market”) need?
• Adjust your services accordingly and give them what they need.
• Then reap the benefits.

Ask. Give. Receive.  

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Need help? Yellow Umbrella can assist you in diagnosing dissatisfiers, suggesting solutions and solving issues through coaching and training.

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In a quest to improve people management skills, Google had a team analyze countless performance reviews and feedback surveys, turn them into code and hard numbers over a period of several months, only to come up with the following:

“… [They] found that technical expertise — the ability, say, to write computer code in your sleep — ranked dead last among Google’s big eight.

What employees valued most were even-keeled bosses who made time for one-on-one meetings, who helped people puzzle through problems by asking questions, not dictating answers, and who took an interest in employees’ lives and careers…”

Oh really?

Now there are certainly going to be responses popping up all over the place, resonating with Stever Robbins, who says, “Wow. That’s an eye-opener. I’ll bet no one’s ever observed that before.”

Admittedly my first reaction was the same. The time and money it must have consumed to come to a result of “Duh!” …

On the other hand, being familiar with personality types, it occured to me that we do have to recognize that an organization like Google consists to a large percentage of data-driven analyzers. It comes with the territory. If you’re very data driven, something has to give – that’s usually people skills. It’s the very reason why “data geeks” often are not great people managers (by nature. That doesn’t mean they can’t become very good at it.)

And let’s not ignore that the opposite is true, too: Try to keep a “people geek’s” attention long enough to explain them a simple Excel sheet…

People only become motivated to change, when the reasons for change make sense to them.

The only way to convince a data geek to change is with data-driven analyses and statistics. They need proof that makes sense to THEM (=numbers, data), in order to “get it” and see a reason to change. Geeks need geeky measures

So if this approach made the managers “coachable” and open for change; if  they’ll become better people managers to their staff now, then this “waste of time” might have been an effective means to a good end, don’t you think?

“You can lead a horse to the water, but you can’t make it drink.”

The trick is to make it want to drink.

Whether it’s employees, business partners or networking contacts  whose support you need – recognizing other people’s importance to you and your success, and treating them accordingly will pave your way to gaining their sympathy.

Gatekeepers belong to the group of people whose sympathy you want – they are receptionists, secretaries and personal assistants for example. They are that last “one degree of separation” between you and that important contact you want to get to.

They are the keepers of their boss’s time – your most desired commodity.

Why should you pay attention to the gatekeepers?

Well, just recognize the power they have over you: they might be inferior to you in job title and income level, however if they don’t like you, they won’t let you in. It’s as simple as that.

Recognize their value: they are the keepers of your most desired commodity: their bosses’ time. They are sitting on the treasure that you came here to hunt – and that makes them superior to you. They can either give you a piece of that cake or not.

They are also the ones who can make or break your reputation by painting their boss a good or a bad picture of you. The better they talk about you, the higher your chances for success.

So how can you get them to like and rave about you?

In the same way you get a date to like you, or a potential client, a recruiter – anyone!

Show interest in them. See them. Treat them with respect. Build a relationship with them.

That’s it. Want more?

Make them important enough to take a few minutes out of your day for them.

Remember their names. Ask them how they are when you see them or speak to them. Smile. Ask them about something that they mentioned to you the last time you saw them (“So how was your son’s first birthday party? Did you manage to arrange everything in time?”) Make them go, “Wow, you remember that?”

Watch how Jake Gyllenhall in “Love and other drugs” does it (only be genuine and consistent, and continue being nice even after you received a favor…). You want them to turn to their colleagues and go, “He is sooo nice!” as soon as you leave the room. You want them to look forward to seeing you again. You want them to want to do you favours.

Remember them and they will remember you.

Say thank you, bring a little gift every now and then if appropriate; make them feel appreciated.

Be the person they’d wish their bosses to be!

Treat them with as much respect as you treat their bosses. Make them feel good!

WOO: Win Others Over

All this will help you to become memorable and stick out from everyone else who considers themselves too important to speak with secretaries and assistants. It’s how you authentically WOO: Win Others Over. You get where you want and you make another person feel good in the process. How’s that for a great win-win situation?

Are you a gate keeper yourself? Great, then it’s easiest for you! Imagine how you’d wish to be treated or think of a person who always makes you feel good when they walk into your office. And then do exactly what they do!

Or learn from the people who don’t treat you with respect: they teach you how NOT to do things and you can just go out and do the opposite!

Let’s lead by example! I invite you to join in – from today on.

If I had to give it a name I’d call it “Recognition-based Management Style”. And – if you’ve been here before – you know that by Recognition I do not mean “Rewards” which many people misinterpret at first.

The Recognition Based Management Style

If we recognize what employees expect of their manager – information, decisions, support, recognition (of their needs more than their achievements) – we’ll always know what style is called for in a particular situation or with a particular individual. That makes the recognition based style an eclectic style.

Responding To Needs Brings Out The Best In People

Recognizing how people like to be treated; what training, information or tools they need to do their job; what their ambitions, talents, personality type and motivational drivers are, helps us to respond to them in a way that brings out the best in them. This is what “Before-the-fact-recognition” is all about – the “fact” being an achievement or a decision being made.

Most people only practice “after-the-fact-recognition” – which is rewarding people for achievements. Rewards are great, however they are only a trade (first you achieve something and then I reward you for it) and they only cause short term motivation (if the rewards stop coming, performance will decrease as well, because the trade is out of balance).

Before-the-fact-recognition engages people. It makes them feel heard, valued, involved and important. All this assures sustainable motivation, as it speaks to the “higher” human needs – whether there will be rewards or not. Companies & managers who practice before-the-fact-recognition survive financial crises with motivated staff. Others, who only rely on rewards (if anything), which they don’t have any money for anymore in a recession, will probably have to deal with de-motivated staff.

I am all for rewards! However “after-the-fact-recognition” should always be a bonus on top of “before-the-fact-recognition”.

Responding Does Not Equal “Accommodating”

All of the above does NOT mean that we constantly have to accommodate people. No. The coaching management style, democratic and participative management style – they are all great styles 90% of the time, however there are of course situations when an authoritarian style can be called for – when there is a decision to be made NOW.

If we’re coming from a recognition point of view, though, we’ll recognize people’s need for explanation, learning and growing and it will make us go back to them as soon as things have calmed down, to clarify, explain and maybe even apologize sometimes:

“Here’s why I had to stop you short and overrule you: […]. If I hadn’t, the consequences would have been [x]. With this decision, we achieved [y]. I hope you understand and I’m sorry if I appeared to be “rude” in that moment. Next time, we can prevent this situation by doing [z].”

I have created the selfcoachingcards for managers completely based on this philosophy. They help you to constantly practice positive before-the-fact-recognition and become the best manager you can be, with the most engaged team.

“Can we only keep our good employees by giving them a raise or are there other ways?”

I was asked this question today by a manager who works for an organization that couldn’t give raises to their staff in a while, due to the financial crisis. Here is my response:

People do not only have a need for money – there are other motivational drivers that are way more important (as long as they have enough money to cover their basic needs – see Maslow’s Hierarchy of Human Needs or Dan Pink’s Talk on “The surprising truth about what motivates us”).

Employees want to feel heard, they want to be respected for who they are and what they know and they want to feel valuable by making a difference. So my recipe for your particular situation is this:

1. Share & Communicate openly

Explain to them that you are aware they haven’t received a raise in a while and that you can’t foresee when you’ll be able to give them one. Give them reasons for it. The “why” is very important (in as much as you can, without giving away confidential information). If it “makes sense” to them, it will lead to acceptance.

2. Make your staff feel valuable & appreciated

Tell them how much you appreciate them and that you’re concerned about them leaving. Tell each individual what you appreciate them for, so they all go, “Wow, my manager DOES see me and recognizes my talents, knowledge and needs.”

Do NOT generalize, as in “You’re all appreciated.” You need to reach every individual, even if you speak to them in a group meeting.

3. Involve them

Ask them what they (each individual) need from you, in order to stay and be happy even without a raise for a while. Some might want a more challenging project, others might want an hour off per week to take an online course, others might want to become mentors to junior colleagues and some might be happy just because you’ve been honest with them and shared your concerns and let them know they’re important to you.

4. Take their needs and concerns seriously

Respond to each individual’s requests/needs you found out above. That doesn’t mean that you have to accommodate them all. It just means that you get back to them and tell them, eg. “I looked into it, however there’s no project available for you at the moment. I’m really sorry, but I promise you I’ll let you know as soon as I hear about something!”

What discourages people is when they’re being surveyed and then nothing ever changes or nobody ever gets back to them. Most of them do realize you can’t work wonders and accommodate their every wish. All they want is to be heard and taken seriously.

5. Repeat the cycle from point 1

Keep communicating this way. Keep them involved. Keep repeating this process and ask about their needs. Use this time to really connect with your staff and always let them know how they have been making a difference in your team.

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The only way to keep employees in a company by recognizing their needs and responding to them. This is “Before-The-Fact-Recognition” and creates sustainable motivation that will last even through a financial crisis – as opposed to “After-The-Fact-Recognition” which consists mainly of rewards (for achievements) and only gives short boosts of motivation (as long as the rewards keep coming).

If you give people a chance to grow, to be involved, if you make them feel valuable by giving them a chance to make a difference (to the company, their colleagues, your clients, etc.), if you ask them for their opinion, so they feel respected and important and if you openly communicate your concerns and that you do recognize their needs – then you’re creating a relationship (a psychological and emotional bond) with your employees that they won’t break just because someone offers them more money.

Thank you for being a concerned manager!

What would it do for your employees if they came home to partners every evening, who tell them, “Wow, you’re so lucky to work for that company!”

What would it take for you to achieve that? Get some ideas here.

Recognize the significance of the significant others

Find out what and who is important to your employees.

Respond.

Smiling At Strangers

I spend a lot of time in other company’s offices. And that means I walk up and down hallways, and make eye contact with people I don’t know. I’ve been doing this for 20+ years, and about the only thing that’s changed is the dress codes. One of the things that hasn’t changed, even though I had hoped and wished it would, is how so many people look right at you without smiling. For some it’s a personality thing, for some I’m pretty sure they’re engaging in a power move: “I don’t have to smile at you, I outrank you.” Regardless, though, it’s all ineffective. It happened to me recently. I was in a hallway, and walked right by a guy. He looked right at me, looked into my eyes, and gave no indication that he had seen anyone. He certainly didn’t smile. He acted as if I didn’t even exist.

An hour later, though, he knew I existed. My client, his boss, had just introduced us to each other. I could see the look on his face when he realized that he had just ignored me. He knew it, and I knew it. What he didn’t know was that after he left his boss’s office, his boss asked me what I thought, and I told him he wasn’t a nice guy. In his role, managing 15 people, lots of whom were friendly and outgoing, it was going to be a problem. The boss then said, “yeah, we’ve been getting complaints”.

Look, you’re going to come into contact with folks you don’t know. If you think that not smiling is a good thing, you’re wrong. It’s rude. It doesn’t matter what your standing in the company is. If you come in contact, even in passing, with another person, the appropriate and professional thing to do is smile.

You don’t have to start a conversation. You don’t have to care about them. You don’t have to know who they are. Your smile is not an obligation to be someone’s best friend. It’s not a sign of weakness, or lack of strength (in fact, just the opposite). It’s not a start down a slippery slope that ends with you hanging out together. A smile is just a non-verbal professional greeting. The lack of a smile is perceived as a slight by many in your organization, particularly if you’re a senior person or an executive. You D’s and C’s, this isn’t normal for you. We know. Too bad. (Spreadsheets aren’t normal for I’s and S’s, and we expect them to be proficient with them nonetheless.) The obligation of a minimal professional greeting isn’t applied only to those to whom it comes easily. It applies to everyone. Smile at strangers. Hey, they might know your boss.