The best customer service comes from people who are excited to work and happy to help. Here’s how you can motivate the people who work with customers.
Managers can encourage employees and improve service with these proven tips from renowned management consultant Paul Glen:
- Assign wisely. Assign work to people based on what they’re interested in doing. We know it’s not always possible, but when you can, allow employees to take on more of what they like and less of what they don’t. It shows you care about what interests them.
- Manage the meaning. Give everyone a sense of what’s most significant about their work. Regularly explain how their work plays into the company’s mission and results. Ask fellow managers to speak about how reps’ efforts affect their departments’ — and the customer experience — positively.
- Encourage some isolation. Teamwork is great, but most people need some alone time to concentrate and become more creative. Give reps time away from the phones and the group to work on special assignments. Offer guidance when necessary.
- Control resource availability. Whether it’s money, people, time or training, leaders need to balance the work environment to maintain the group’s enthusiasm. Too little of any resource will raise stress and decrease morale.
- Make them accountable to each other. It’s one thing to work toward the company goal or an imposed deadline. It’s another to work for the good of those around you. In war, they call it the foxhole mentality: Soldiers fight for their buddies, not the war. At work, assign work in a way that colleagues rely on each other to get it all completed.
