By Tony Zoellner
An insatiable focus on your customer has been the primary subject of thousands of business books, but it shouldn’t necessarily be yours. So where should you spend your time? The water cooler…..
Ahhh…. say what!
Aren’t your customers the people writing your paycheck? Shouldn’t I be attentive to tailoring products and services to their needs? Companies become successful using many different tactics and strategies but they all share ONE common component, great people to develop and execute them.
Understanding what your true role is in your company is the most important discovery you need to make.
The water cooler, synonymous with engaging with your employees in one-on-one communication, is what you should be working on. If you’re an owner or high-level manager, this shift of attention is critical to do and important to understand why.
Attention=Motivation:
In High School, I was on our school’s track team and one of my better events was Long Jump. Sounds fun right 😊? It was to me and I worked on it diligently.
My average jump was around 18’ and the event usually occurred in the early part of the Track Meet before any of the more popular running events started. So the number of people (fans) watching Long Jump usually averaged around…..zero.
My girlfriend came to one of my Meets to watch me jump. With her watching, I jumped 19’, one foot longer than I had ever jumped. Why? Because someone was watching that meant a lot to me.
Your employees, like every other human on the planet, want attention. And if you’re watching, they’re going to perform better because you’ve shown an interest in them and because you’re an important person to them.
Attention=Needs=Results:
Your employees need tools and resources, whether they’re warehouse workers moving boxes around or high-level managers sending out important emails and conducting meetings.
If you start walking around asking simple questions like, “Do you have everything you need?” you will learn a lot.
At the beginning, you may get awkward and peculiar looks as they’re not used to you walking around and asking questions. But with a continued use of this technique, they will become more comfortable with you being around and start telling you what they need to do their job.
Sound weird? Try it (at least once) and discover what I mean. They may not immediately respond to you the first time you ask, but will if you ask often enough, or at least appreciate the fact that you cared enough to ask.
But here’s what will surprise you the most. They usually won’t ask for more pens, paper, notebooks, software, or any other tool. It will often be their frustration(s) at trying to get their job done through other people.
Companies are full of broken systems and processes that involve interacting between departments and it’s usually not the process that is broken but one person in the chain that’s disrupting it.
If you pay attention and solve THESE uncovered problems you’ll get real results. Pay attention, get them what they need, and they’ll deliver.
Attention=Connection=Stories
In dissecting any book on networking, influencing people or building relationships, there is one common thread in all of them. It’s NOT ABOUT YOU. Telling everyone about you will not build connections or bonds that last.
Ask them how their weekend went or how their daughter did in that competitive cheer competition (They drove 150 miles and two nights in a hotel to attend).
Find out what matters to them. Most importantly, try to understand what gets them up every morning to work for you. What do they do when they’re not working? In short, be interested in them.
Having people on your team who feel listened to, empathized with, and understood, will be happy and productive and deliver the best customer service possible.
Easy?
A simple change in thinking for sure, but executing, not so much. The pull will always be towards spending time with customer-oriented activities. It’s natural and what we’ve all been trained to do and is certainly important to do.
However, your job is driving the company bus, communicating with all the people on the bus, solving their problems and then getting out of their way. Sometimes, it’s also about getting the wrong people off the bus. The people that disrupt your flow and processes.
Not focusing on your customer could be the best move you ever make.
Check out Shabnam Banerjee-McFarland’s article on Servant Leadership for another take on this philosophy.
Stop doing the work that you hired people to do and do your job.
Hire right, praise and motivate. Rinse and repeat.
Stop losing your best employees to your competitors and download my free Staff Survey Checklist and Development Guide to harness the power of your employees. It is just one piece of my Simple Steps Roadmap I use with my clients. Book a free 30-minute call with me to see if I can help you move from overwhelmed and spinning your wheels to working with focus and intent.
Often times, embracing that your company or department is broken is the essential step to revitalizing it. Progress starts with a vision. If you don’t know where you’re going, you’re never going to get there. Is it worth a FREE 30-minute call to discuss?